21 October 2021

Praying in Ordinary Time 2021:
145, Church Street, Dublin

The Capuchin Church of Saint Mary of the Angels on Church Street, Dublin, was designed by JJ McCarthy and built in 1866-1882 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Patrick Comerford

Before the day begins, I am taking a little time this morning for prayer, reflection and reading. Each morning in the time in the Church Calendar known as Ordinary Time, I am reflecting in these ways:

1, photographs of a church or place of worship;

2, the day’s Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

My theme for these few weeks is churches in the Franciscan (and Capuchin) tradition. My photographs this morning (21 October 2021) are from the Capuchin Church of Saint Mary of the Angels on Church Street, Dublin.

Inside the Church of Saint Mary of the Angels on Church Street, facing the liturgical east (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

The Capuchins began as a reform movement within the Franciscan tradition in 1525. The Capuchin Friars first arrived in Ireland in 1615, and established their first Friary in Dublin in Bridge Street in 1626. They moved to Church Street in the 18th century, and in 1796 they built a simple chapel facing the street.

The Capuchin Church of Saint Mary of the Angels on Church Street, Dublin, faces the Father Mathew Square public housing scheme. The church is named after a small church of the same name in Portziuncula, 2 km south of Assisi, where Saint Francis of Assisi died on the evening of 3 October 1226.

Building work began in 1866, the foundation stone was on laid 12 June 1868, but the church was not completed until 1881. The church was dedicated on the Feast of Saint Francis on 4 October 1882.

The church was designed in the Decorated Gothic style by James Joseph McCarthy (1817-1882), who saw himself as the architectural heir of AWN Pugin in Ireland.

The Gothic style of the exterior is very impressive, with its large lancet and rose windows and canopied statues. The street-facing façade is built of limestone, with Portland stone dressings, and the three gabled entrances have tall Portland hoods.

The large, pointed, relieving arch frames a rose window. Below it are two tall two-light windows in deeply-moulded frames, and a canopied statue of the Virgin Mary by Leo Broe, between canopied statues, also by Leo Broe, of the Franciscan saints, Saint Francis and Saint Clare, in the tall lower arches in the outer bays.

Inside, the church is oriented on a west-axis rather than the liturgically traditional east-west axis. This is a 10-bay hall with low, shallow lateral chapels and confessional niches, and a large, pointed-arch apse.

The interior is lit from the tall, graded triple-lancets with dark limestone mullions in the north and south walls.

There is a trefoil-profiled kingpost roof, with giant carved corbels of angels and saints.

The high altar and reredos are by James Pearse (1839-1900), father of the 1916 leader Patrick Pearse. The reredos depicts six Franciscan saints: Saint Clare, with a monstrance, Saint Louis of France, Saint Lawrence of Brindisi, Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and Saint Felix of Cantalice.

The mandorla-shaped Stations of the Cross are in oil on canvas, with inscriptions in Irish. The side altars are dedicated to the three patron saints of Ireland, Saint Patrick, Saint Brigid and Saint Colmcille.

The chapel of the Third Order of Saint Francis was added in 1891, the gallery and choir loft in 1906, the shrine of Saint Anthony of Padua in 1945, and the Lourdes Grotto in 1950. A north aisle, added in 1910 by Ashlin and Coleman, now serves as an enclosed hall and sacristy.

The Father Mathew Hall, beside the church, and the adjoining monastery were built in 1881.

Today the friars serve their local community through parish work and through the Capuchin Day Centre, founded in 1969 by Brother Kevin Crowley. From humble beginnings in the Friary gardens, it now provides over 700 meals each day and over 1,500 food parcels each Wednesday to the homeless and poor of Dublin. Pope Francis visited the Capuchin Day Centre during his visit to Dublin in August 2018.

The Capuchin Mission Office supports the work of Irish friars in Zambia, South Africa, New Zealand and Korea.

Saint Mary of the Angels is not a parish church, but the friars are responsible for Halston Street Parish, one of the oldest in Dublin city centre.

The Father Mathew Square housing scheme, facing the church, was designed in 1917 by JJ McCarthy’s son, Charles James McCarthy (1857-1947). It was named after the Capuchin temperance campaigner, Father Theobald Mathew, who gives his name to the Capuchin church in Cork.

Inside the Church of Saint Mary of the Angels on Church Street, facing the liturgical west (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Luke 12: 49-53 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 49 ‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided:

father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’

The high altar and reredos, depicting six Franciscan saints, are by James Pearse (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (21 October 2021, Global Media and Information Literacy Week) invites us to pray:

Lord, we thank you for the ability to communicate with Christians across the world through technology. May we use this technology wisely and safely, casting a critical eye over the information we receive.

The Franciscan cross beneath the organ and gallery (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Looking out onto Church Street and Dublin city centre (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

In search of Lichfield’s
hidden Tudor heritage and
timber-framed houses

The Tudor of Lichfield or Lichfield House on Bore Street … a visible reminder of a rich heritage (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Patrick Comerford

The Tudor of Lichfield or Lichfield House on Bore Street, the black-and white timber framed buildings on Quonians Lane, and the many timber-framed buildings in Vicars’ Close are the most visible reminders of the rich heritage of Tudor architecture in Lichfield.

When it comes to architectural heritage, Lichfield may be better known for its cathedral and churches and for its Georgian buildings. But last week I only had to look at the backs of buildings on Market Street and Breadmarket Street to realise the large amount of 16th and 17th century architecture that probably survives in Lichfield.

The Tudor of Lichfield, or Lichfield House, is a Grade 2* listed black and white timber framed building, dating back to 1510 and the reign of Henry VIII.

Lichfield House is the oldest and longest serving coffee shop and restaurant in Lichfield and also sells luxury made chocolates, jams, marmalades, honey and biscuits.

Lichfield House, the picturesque black and white half-timbered residence was built when Henry VIII was king and still married to Catherine of Aragon ruled England, and before the little Cathedral town which was granted the status of City and County in 1553.

The house has been added to from time to time, but the main building is the original, including the two man reception rooms and the oak staircase that runs through the house.

During the Civil War, this was a prison for captured soldiers during the three sieges of Lichfield, some of whom left their signatures. In the concealed ‘Priests’ Hide’ on the top floor, two crosses have been scratched on the door. It is said an underground passage runs from the cellars of the house to the Cathedral – probably dug out by one side or the other during the Civil War.

Wilfred and Evelyn Burns-Mace and their son Jeffrey opened the Tudor Café in 1936. A restoration programme in 1975 secured the old Tudor building again. This restoration took many months and earned a European Heritage Award.

Nine new neighbouring shops, now known as Tudor Row, were built in 1980. Lichfield House remains a successful and charming restaurant run by the same family.

The timber-framed buildings on Quonians Lane date from the 16th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Another much-photographed Tudor corner of Lichfield is Quonians Lane, to the east of Dam Street. The lane is mentioned in the 1325 Book of Dean and Chapter Possessions, when it was said to lead to a well. This may have been a pilgrims’ path from the city to the Well of Saint Chad at Stowe.

The buildings on the left-hand side of Quonians Lane in my photographs date from the 16th century. The best-known building, now an antiques shop, still retains the sign of R Bridgeman and Sons, the stonemasons’ firm that had been in Lichfield since the 1860s that worked on the cathedral and many other churches.

Samuel Johnson went to school at Dame Oliver’s School on the corner of Dame Street and Quonians Lane.

No 45 and No 47 Stowe Street form a pair of Tudor timber-frame and brick houses (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Two houses on Stowe Street, No 45 and No 47, and the neighbouring Cruck House, stand out from the surrounding 20th century housing developments in an area south of Stowe Pool and immediately east of the heart of Lichfield’s city centre and main shopping streets.

These semi-detached houses were probably built in the late 16th or early 17th century, and have early 19th century alterations.

They form a pair of Tudor timber-frame and brick houses. The timber-frame and brick work on No 47 is covered in stucco work, but despite this alteration to the outside appearance, the houses are best described as one unit. They have a shared tile roof with brick stacks, are two storeys high and form a single four-window range.

The left half, known as Tudor Cottage, has a pretty flower garden in front. I believe that inside the houses the timber framing is exposed and there is a large fireplace.

Cruck House, Lichfield … a unique example of its type in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Nearby, Cruck House at 71 Stowe Street is a restored Grade II* timber-framed mediaeval cottage. It is an impressive sight on Stowe Street in the midst of modern residential and commercial buildings. Yet, despite first impressions, this is a surprisingly small building.

This jointed cruck and part-box-framed house fell into disrepair before it was rescued from demolition in 1971. It was discovered during the redevelopment of Stowe Street and was restored to its original state.

Many of the old buildings in Stowe Street were pulled down in the mid-1950s. During the demolition work, the Cruck House was revealed within the outer cladding of a building whose outer walls had obscured the framework supporting it. Whoever spotted the house during the demolition process and called a halt had saved a rare building dating back to the late 14th or early 15th century.

There were other examples of cruck-style buildings in Lichfield in the past. When an old pub was being demolished on the corner of Frog Lane and Saint John Street, cruck beams were visible in the party wall between the old pub and the building immediately to the north of it. It was swiftly demolished and removed, although not before the pieces were photographed before they were removed.

Tudor remains seen in the backs of houses facing onto Breadmarket Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Back on Bore Street, I walked into a laneway beside Barclay’s Bank and could see the timber-framed structures of the buildings on Breadmarket Street, probable evidence that these were built in the late Tudor period, and the Georgian façades on the street front may merely hide wonders and treasures inside.

Further west along the north side of Bore Street, a steep laneway leads into a private car park. But here too are the visible signs of a timber-framed Tudor house that may just be a sample of the many Tudor-era houses that survive behind the façades on the south side of Market Street.

I need to explore a little more of Tudor Lichfield when I am back again, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Parts of a Tudor house can be seen in a car park between Bore Street and Market Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)