06 October 2023

An era comes to
an end in Wexford
as Brendan Howlin
decides to stand down

With President Michael D Higgins and Brendan Howlin at the launch of the Wexford Ambassadors programme in Iveagh House in 2011

Patrick Comerford

I felt a tinge of sadness this morning as a read the announcement by George Lawlor that Brendan Howlin is to retire as a TD for Wexford at the next general election in Ireland.

Brendan Howlin has been elected member of Dáil Éireann continuously since 1987, and before that was a Senator from 1983. During those years, he also been Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. He has been a Cabinet Minister in three governments, he has witnessed the positive transformation of Ireland, both economically and culturally, and he has had the opportunity to introduce into law many important and transformative pieces of legislation.

Brendan Howlin was born in Wexford in 1956. I first got to know him during the 1973 general election, when I was living on High Street, Wexford. His father, John Howlin, one of Wexford’s best-known trade union activists, was the election agent for the Labour leader, Brendan Corish. Indeed, Brendan Howlin was named after Brendan Corish. John Howlin was the secretary of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union in Wexford, for 40 years, working from the Corish Memorial Hall.

Our friendship continued in the 1970s and 1980s when he was active in the movement against plans for a nuclear power station at Carnsore, Co Wexford, as chair of Nuclear Opposition Wexford (NOW). Later he was also involved with me in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).

In political life, he was has the Minister for Health (1993-1994), Minister for the Environment (1994-1997), Deputy leader of the Labour Party (1997-2002), Leas-Cheann Comhairle (2007-2011), Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2011-2016), and Leader of the Labour Party (2016-2020).

We continued to meet in Wexford over the years. He launched the Wexford Ambassador programme in Iveagh House in 2011, alongside the chair of Wexford County Council, Councillor Michael Kavangh.

Four well-known Wexford personalities have been appointed as Wexford Ambassadors – the authors Colm Tóibín and Eoin Colfer, the Irish rugby international star Gordon D’Arcy and the Irish soccer international Kevin Doyle.

The ambassadors’ programme honours the achievements of Co Wexford’s iconic ambassadors, supports young and emerging Wexford talent and promotes the culture and heritage of the county.

The variety of Wexford people at that launch included the playwright and author Billy Roche and his wife Patti recalled poetry readings in the 1970s in Wexford YMCA. The writer Colm Tóibín hitched to from Enniscorthy as a schoolboy that night to an event that paved the way for the foundation of the Wexford Arts Centre.br />
That evening, Brendan’s brother, Ted Howlin, and another former Mayor of Wexford, George Lawlor, recalled John Howlin, Brendan Corish and some other politicians we knew and worked with, including Des Corish, who had died earlier that month.

With former Wexford Mayor George Lawlor

Daily prayers in Ordinary Time
with USPG: (131) 6 October 2023

Saint Michael’s Church, a former parish church in York city centre, dominates the south-west side of Spurriergate (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and the week began with the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVII, 1 October 2023).

The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today recalls the life and work of William Tyndale (1536), Translator of the Scriptures and Reformation Martyr. Before today begins, I am taking some time this morning for prayer and reflection.

The Church celebrated Saint Michael and All Angels last Friday (29 September). So my reflections each morning during Michaelmas last week and this week are taking this format:

1, A reflection on a church named after Saint Michael or his depiction in Church Art;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Church Lane runs along one side of Saint Michael’s Church, Spurriergate (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Saint Michael’s Church, Spurriergate, York:

Two of enjoyed last weekend in York, and during those few days one of the churches I looked at was Saint Michael’s Church, Spurriergate, a Grade I listed former parish church on Spurriergate in York.

The church stands at the junction of Spurriergate, Low Ousegate, Church Lane and Nessgate in York city centre. Spurriergate is a short street that follows the line of a Roman road that ran between the walls of Eboracum and the River Ouse. In the mediaeval period, it was regarded as part of Coney Street, sometimes distinguished as Little Coney Street. It was a narrow street, known for its spur makers, and by 1538 this led to it becoming known as ‘Spurriergate.’

The south-west side of the street is dominated by Saint Michael’s Church, and its churchyard once lay on both sides of the street. Two rows of cottages were built along Spurriergate in 1337, on part of the churchyard.

When the width of the street was doubled in 1770, all the buildings on the north-east side of the street were demolished, other than No 1 Spurriergate, and they were replaced by a terrace, that was itself demolished in 1959. The street was widened again in 1841, when the length of Saint Michael's Church was reduced, and all the other buildings were demolished and also replaced by a new terrace.

The street now forms part of the city’s central shopping area. It runs south-east, from the junction of Coney Street and Market Street, to the junction of High Ousegate, Low Ousegate and Nessgate. On the south-west side, there is a snickelway, the mediaeval common lane to the river. Notable buildings on the south-west side of the street include Saint Michael's Church, and the terrace at 4-24 Spurriergate, which is listed.

The north-east side is largely occupied by Spurriergate House. The City of York Council is critical of the building, which it describes as having a façade ‘with no interest or depth,’ while the corner is ‘overly dramatic.’

Saint Michael’s Church dates from the 12th century, with elements from the 14th and 15th centuries. It was reduced in size in 1821 by JB and W Atkinson. The foundation stone of the new wall of the east end was laid by the rector on 15 January 1821, and work was completed on 16 June 1822.

The tower was lowered in 1966-1967. The church was declared redundant and closed in 1984. The building re-opened as a restaurant and café in 1989. The conversion retained a small chapel upstairs that is used occasionally for worship, but it seems today the café is open only sporadically.

The exterior west end of the south wall contains a painted clock face. The clock mechanism inside is inscribed with ‘Reconstructed by GJF Newey in 1896.’ The clock was originally inset to the tower, but after its lowering in 1966, it was moved to its current location.

The church had an organ by Denman and Son which was installed in 1890. It had nine stops on the Swell, seven on the Great, two on the Pedal and cost about £300. It was moved in 1972 to All Saints’ Church, Castleford.

The panelled reredos at the east wall was in form of Palladian arch with fluted Corinthian pilasters, a frieze with shell and palm mouldings carved in relief, and an enriched cornice. It incorporated round-headed boards displaying the Ten Commandments, the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer.

Other carvings included a dove in glory in the head of central panel, winged cherub heads over flanking panels, and Saint Michael slaying a dragon above, between urns.

The stained glass windows included early 15th century glass, reset in south aisle windows, and depicting Saint John the Baptist, the Nine Orders of Angels, the Tree of Jesse and panels depicting Noah building the Ark and Saint Margaret slaying a dragon.

The name of the church is retained in the name of All Saints Pavement with Saint Crux and Saint Michael Spurriergate, York. All Saints is the Guild Church of the City of York.

Saint Michael Spurriergate became a café in 1989 but seems to open only sporadically (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Luke 10: 13-16 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:} 13 ‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But at the judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum,

will you be exalted to heaven?
No, you will be brought down to Hades.

16 ‘Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.’

The exterior painted clock face at the west end of the south wall (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Today’s Prayer:

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Supporting Justice for Women in Zambia.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (6 October 2023) invites us to pray in these words:

Let us pray for the Church of the Province of Central Africa and its churches across Botswana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Collect:

Lord, give to your people grace to hear and keep your word
that, after the example of your servant William Tyndale,
we may not only profess your gospel
but also be ready to suffer and die for it,
to the honour of your name;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

God our redeemer,
whose Church was strengthened by the blood of your martyr William Tyndale:
so bind us, in life and death, to Christ’s sacrifice
that our lives, broken and offered with his,
may carry his death and proclaim his resurrection in the world;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The weathervane above Saint Michael Spurriergate … the tower was lowered in 1966-1967 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

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

Saint Michael Spurriergate was declared redundant and closed in 1984 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Saint William’s College
beside York Minster
has survived changes
over the centuries

Saint William’s College was founded for chantry priests in York Minister (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

Saint William’s College is a beautiful mediaeval building beside York Minster and a Grade I listed building. It is a unique example of the survival of a non-monastic religious building to survive despite its suppression during the Tudor Reformation.

The college was founded in 1461 as a residence for priests serving chantry altars in York Minster. It is named after Archbishop William Fitzherbert of York, who was canonised as Saint William of York in 1227.

The college was founded by George Neville and the Earl of Warwick to house a provost and 23 fellows or priests. Work started on the present building in 1465.

The courtyard structure may incorporate parts of two earlier houses. It included a great hall to the north, with a chapel to its east. The hall survives in part, but its ceiling has been lowered and the plasterwork was replaced in 1910. The posts of a screens passage also remain, the other side of which is the fireplace of the original kitchen. It has been suggested that doorways led off the courtyard to staircases, with rooms for the provost and fellows of the college leading off them.

Although the college was not a monastic establishment, it was affected by the Dissolution of the Monasteric houmes. Saint William’s College was sold after the Reformation, and the building was converted to a substantial house in 1548. A century later, the building was owned by Sir Henry Jenkyns in 1642 and housed the printing presses of King Charles I during the Civil War.

Later tenants included Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle (1669-1738), who commissioned the building of Castle Howard. In the 17th century, the ‘Bishop's Chamber’ was created on the first floor, to the west of the great hall, and it survives largely intact. Around the same time, a single main staircase that survives was added, while a room to the south-west has remains of wall paintings from this era.

Part of the ground floor was in retail use in the 18th century, and bow windows that were at the time still survive. Otherwise, the façade generally survives as it was built, with an ashlar ground floor and a timber-framed, jettied upper floor.

The doorway itself is a replacement, but the coats of arms above are from about 1670, and carvings of Saint Christopher and the Virgin and Child either side of the entrance also survive.

The building was bought by the Province of York in the Church of England in 1902 for use by the convocation, and it was restored by the Irish-born architect Temple Lushington Moore (1856-1920).

Temple Moore’s alterations at Saint William College included the creation of the Maclagan Memorial Hall in the upper part of the great hall, where the original roof structure can be seen, although much renewed.

Temple Moore was born in Tullamore, Co Offaly, the son of an Irish general. He grew up in Scotland and was articled to the architect George Gilbert Scott, Jr. He practised as an architect in London and is known for a series of fine Gothic Revival churches built in 1890-1917. He also restored many churches and designed church fittings.

His other works in York included the reredos behind the high altar, and the pulpit and its sounding board in Saint Mary Bishophill Junior, possibly the oldest surviving church within the city walls of York.

Temple Moore was an Anglican in the Anglo-Catholic tradition and has been described as ‘England’s leading ecclesiastical architect from the mid-Edwardian years.’ The architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner once said that Moore ‘is always sensitive in his designs and often interesting.’

One of Moore’s best-known works is Pusey House, Oxford, where he designed a large Gothic building around a quadrangle. The Chapel and part of the Library were complete by 1914, and most of the remaining portions of the building were finished in 1918. That year, Temple Moore’s only son, Richard More (1891-1918), was killed when the RMS Leinster was torpedoed and sunk off Dublin. Moore’s south range of the quadrangle at Pusey House remained unexecuted when he died in 1920, and was only finished in 1925 to sympathetic designs by John Duke Coleridge (1879-1934).

Since 1972, the Dean and Chapter of York Minister have been the Trustees of Saint William’s College.

The doorway itself is a replacement, but the coats of arms above are from about 1670 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)