Saint John the Baptist Church, Clontarf, has links with Celtic saints and Templar knights

The Church of Saint John the Baptist on Seafield Road, Clontarf, was designed by Welland and Gillespie and built in 1864-1866 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford

I was in Clontarf last weekend, speaking at the Clontarf Ecumenical Conference in the Church of Saint John the Baptist on Seafield Road.

I was in the church many times in the past, on Sunday duty for a previous rector, the late Revd Derek Sargent. But Sundays seldom appropriate opportunities to photograph a church and to inquire about its history.

This Church of Ireland parish church was built in 1864-1866 to replace an earlier church about 200 metres away on Castle Avenue, on the edge of the grounds of Clontarf Castle. But the first church in Clontarf is said to have been founded in the sixth century by Saint Comgall, Abbot of Bangor, Co Down, as part of the early Christian developments across north Dublin, perhaps from a base at Saint Mobhi’s Church in Glasnevin.

Inside the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Clontarf (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Saint Comgall became the Patron of Clontarf and remained so until the 14th century, when the parish came under the oversight of the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem and Saint Comgall was replaced as patron by Saint John the Baptist.

Clontarf was a central location of the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 between Brian Boru and the Vikings. The remains of a well supposed to have been used by Brian Boru are still pointed out on Castle Avenue, about 500 meters from the parish church.

A royal head on the west door, perhaps recalling Brian Boru and the Battle of Clontarf (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

During the reign of Henry II, the lands of Clontarf passed to the Knights Templar, and when that order was suppressed in 1312, this became a preceptory of the Knights Hospitaller of Saint John of Jerusalem, by then based on the island of Rhodes.

The Turks captured Rhodes from the knights in 1522, and the order re-established itself on Malta in 1530. Throughout those two centuries, Clontarf remained a possession of the Knights of Saint John. But at the Reformation and the suppression of the monastic houses, their house was disbanded in 1542, and the last Prior, Sir John Rawson (ca 1470-1547), became Viscount Clontarf.

Rawson was born in London and joined the order in 1497. who was appointed Prior of Kilmainham in 1511 and became Lord Treasurer of Ireland in 1517. He was also an experienced soldier and took part in the Siege of Rhodes in 1522. Despite being ordained, he had fathered several illegitimate children. At the Reformation, he surrendered all the order’s properties, including Clontarf, in return for a pension and the title of Viscount Clontarf.

A memorial in the church recalling members of the Vernon family of Clontarf Castle (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

An early church on what is now Castle Avenue, close to Clontarf Castle, was rebuilt in 1609, and this remained the parish church of Clontarf for over 250 years.

Over a period more than 130 years, between 1680 and 1811, the parish had only three rectors, all members of the one family: Adam Ussher (1680-1713), who was also Archdeacon of Clonfert; his son Frederick Ussher (1713-1766); and John Ussher (1766-1811), who was buried in Clontarf when he died at the age of 92 in 1829. And another Adam Ussher was curate of Clontarf from 1743 until he ‘died of fever and pleurisy on [a] Sunday morning’ in 1745.

Abraham Stoker, son of Abraham and Charlotte Matilda Stoker of The Crescent, Clontarf, was baptised in the church on 30 December 1847. He was later known as Bram Stoker, the author of the Dracula novels. The Stoker family later moved to Artane Lodge, but Bram Stoker’s younger siblings were also baptised in Clontarf.

The East Window in the Church of Saint John the Baptist, Clontarf (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

A key arrival in the parish was Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness (1798-1868), the grandson of Arthur Guinness, and a partner in running the brewery, who bought lands in Clontarf and Raheny to form Saint Anne’s Estate. He married his first cousin Elizabeth Guinness and all their children were baptised in Clontarf parish.

His cousin, Dr Arthur Grattan Guinness (1813-1897), practised and lived in Clontarf from 1843 to 1848, and many of his children were baptised in the parish.

Meanwhile, the church beside Clontarf Castle had become too small for a growing suburb, especially in the summer. The trustees, including John EV Vernon of Clontarf Castle, drew up plans in 1859 and raised funding to build a second church at the Dollymount end of the parish.

However, the Rector of Clontarf, the Revd William Kempston (1854-1862), told Archbishop Richard Whately of Dublin that the existing church was adequate for the needs of the parish, and the project was abandoned.

When Kempston left Clontarf in 1862, he was succeeded by the Revd James Pratt, and plans were drawn up for a new and larger church on the present site on Seafield Road.

The turret leading to the tower and spire in the Church of Saint John the Baptist, Clontarf (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

The church was designed by the architects Welland and Gillespie in 1864-1866. William Joseph Welland and William Gillespie had been appointed joint architects to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in May 1860, following the death of Joseph Welland.

Both men were already working for the commissioners, and they held this appointment until the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland on 31 December 1870.

During their 10 years in office, they developed an increasingly personal and idiosyncratic version of Gothic in the churches they designed. They are also known to have routinely signed designs for churches designed by other architects, often signifying their approval rather than work.

Inside the turret leading to the tower and spire in the Church of Saint John the Baptist, Clontarf (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

The foundation stone of the new church was laid on 9 August 1864 by John Vernon of Clontarf Castle, who had presented the site. The cruciform church, with a belfry and spire could accommodate 700 people, and was completed over the next two years.

The new church was consecrated on 14 May 1866 by Archbishop Richard Chenevix Trench of Dublin.

The altar and chancel in the Church of Saint John the Baptist (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness’s eldest son, Sir Arthur Guinness (1840-1915), later Lord Ardilaun (1880), was elected to the Select Vestry of the parish in 1872. But in a letter from Ashford Castle, he declined the offer on the grounds of frequent absences from the parish. He also funded the building of All Saints’ Church, Raheny.

Another connection with the Guinness family came when the Revd Robert Wyndham Guinness served as curate of Clontarf in 1871-1874 until his appointment as Rector of Rathdrum, Co Wicklow.

The porch was designed by James Franklin Fuller (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

The church was originally built without a chancel. The Kerry-born architect James Franklin Fuller (1835-1924), who received many commissions from the Guinness family, including Farmleigh House, designed the chancel and porch that were added to the church in 1897-1899. The contractor was JF Lidwill. The chancel was dedicated by Archbishop Joseph Peacocke of Dublin on 17 March 1899.

The many parishioners who fought in World War I are commemorated in an illuminated scroll in the church and the War Memorial Cross erected in the churchyard.

The War Memorial Cross in the churchyard at Saint John the Baptist Church, Clontarf (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Clontarf quickly became one of the largest parishes in the Church of Ireland in the mid-20th century, and a new school opened in 1952.

The centenary of the church was celebrated in 1966, and a new Parish Centre was built in the church grounds in 2007.

The Revd Lesley Robinson has been the Rector of Clontarf since 2013.

A rainy Saturday afternoon at the Church of Saint John the Baptist, Clontarf (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

The Victorian legacy of a lodge in a corner in Saint Stephen’s Green

The Superintendent’s Lodge in a quiet corner at the at the south-west of Saint Stephen’s Green, Dublin, was designed by James Franklin Fuller (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Patrick Comerford

Saint Stephen’s Green enjoys perennial popularity among Dubliners and tourists alike. This 22-acre park plays an important role in Dublin city life, but also attracts over 5 million visitors a year.

The beauty of the gardens, the landscaping and the water features in the park, often mean that visitors miss the architectural significance of Saint Stephen’s Green, in a national context. But since its creation in 1663, Saint Stephen’s Green has become home to a significant number of architectural buildings that add interest and architectural variety to the Green.

These buildings were designed over the last century and a half, and they have been maintained to a high standard. These heritage features include the Superintendent’s Lodge or Gate Lodge, the Summer House, the Bandstand and the Fusiliers’ Arch at the Grafton Street entrance.

The Superintendent’s Lodge, built shortly after 1880 was designed by James Franklin Fuller. Fuller undertook considerable work for the Guinness family and Lord Ardilaun, most notably Kylemore Abbey in Galway, the refurbishment of Farmleigh House, next to the Phoenix Park, in 1881-1884, and the refurbishment of Iveagh House on Saint Stephen’s Green.

This may explain how Sir Arthur Guinness came to commission him to design the Superintendent’s Lodge or Gate Lodge in Saint Stephen’s Green.

The lodge stands just inside the south-west corner entrance, diagonally opposite the north end of Harcourt Street, at its junction with Cuffee Street. Fuller designed the lodge in the Queen Anne style. It has Farnham styled brick, decorative mouldings, and ornamental bargeboards.

The lodge was built at an estimated cost of £2,256, and Fuller also designed gate piers and shelters for Saint Stephen’s Green.

The Superintendent’s Lodge, with the Unitarian Church and other buildings on Saint Stephen’s Green West in the background (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Every schoolchild in Ireland knows the story, probably apocryphal, that during the 1916 Rising a truce was observed twice each day so that James Kearney, the Park Superintendent, could feed the ducks.

The lodge was captured in Easter Week by three rebels who positioned themselves in the upper bedrooms, from which they fired at troops. Later, a Cumann na mBan united under the command of Sergeant Madeleine ffrench-Mullen moved into the lodge, and when a medical unit that had been using the bandstand in the Green came under machinegun fire, they moved their makeshift hospital into the Superintendent’s Lodge.

But by Tuesday afternoon, most of the units in the lodge had made their way to the public house on the opposite corner, or had retreated into the premises of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland on the wt side of the Green.

A report from the Superintendent recalls how Countess Markievicz and her rebel officers ordered Kearney’s daughters to make tea for them in the lodge. When leaving, the Kearney family asked who was going to pay the bill, and were told: ‘Send the bill to the Irish Republic.’

The architect James Franklin Fuller (1835-1924) was an eccentric and snob who also wrote high-Victorian melodramatic novels. He claimed to have ‘carried out professional work in every county in Ireland’ and the Dictionary of Irish Architects lists over 200 of his works.

Fuller was born into a minor landed gentry family in Co Kerry in 1835. He was the only son of Thomas Harnett Fuller of Glashnacree, Co Kerry, and his first wife, Frances Diana, third daughter of Francis Christopher Bland of Derryquin Castle, Co Kerry.

Fuller was sent to school in Blackrock, Co Cork, alongside the architect Thomas Newenham Deane. After two years, the school moved to Dublin, where Fuller completed his schooling.

In 1850, Fuller went to England, where he spent a year’s apprenticeship with the mechanical engineers Summers, Day and Baldock of Southampton before entering the London office of Frederick William Porter. After serving his articles with Porter, he worked briefly for several architects in London, including William Burges, and then in Manchester and Sheffield, before returning to London.

In 1861, Fuller returned to Co Kerry with his wife, and in 1862 he became a district architect under the Irish Ecclesiastical Commissioners, moving to Killeshandra, Co Cavan.

After the Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1869, he set up his own office at 179 Great Brunswick Street, Dublin, where he remained for the rest of his life. His connection with the Church of Ireland continued: in 1871 he became architect to the Representative Church Body for the dioceses of Dublin, Glendalough, Kildare, Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin, and in 1882 for Meath, and in 1873 he also became architect to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.

Fuller was also architect to the Benchers of King’s Inns and to the National Board of Education, and in 1912 he was appointed assessor to the Ballsbridge Carnegie Library competition.

He resigned in 1913 because of ‘advancing years and failing health.’

Fuller was considered an authority on the Hiberno-Romanesque style, regularly supplied the Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette (now the Church of Ireland Gazette with news of all his latest works, and was also a prolific writer. But he kept no ledgers or books and made a point of destroying all letters marked ‘Private.’ He claimed never to have owned a razor, an assertion borne out by his full beard, ate only two meals a day and always slept with a window open.

He died at his home at Lissatier, 51 Eglinton Road, Dublin, on 8 December 1924. He is said to have ‘retained all his faculties and mental vigour to the end.’

In 1860, he had married Hélène (1838-1925), daughter of John Prosper Guivier, a French musician, supposedly descended from one of Napoleon’s marshalls. They were the parents of two sons and three daughters, and they are buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery in Dublin.

Fuller’s architectural legacy includes Kylemore Abbey, Co Galway, Ashford Castle in Cong, Co Mayo, the Great Southern Hotel, Parknasilla, Co Kerry, Saint Anne’s House, Raheny, and Farmleigh House at the Phoenix Park in Dublin.

His houses for private clients, particularly the Guinness family, included marble halls, stuccoed ceilings and galleries, grand staircases, colonnades and follies, and he loved steep Victorian gables.

The wonderful terracotta-decorated Gallaher building at the corner of D’Olier Street and Hawkins Street, Dublin, is also his – it was one of the earliest steel-frame buildings. His more restrained civic buildings include the former National Bank building on Arran Quay in Dublin, and he also designed the rectory at Saint Brigid’s Church, Stillorgan.

Even a cursory glance at a list of his projects shows that Fuller deserves to be better known. An exhibition at the Irish Architectural Archives last year marked the 180th anniversary of his birth, and featured many 19th-century photographs of some of his works.

The Fusiliers’ Arch at the Grafton Street entrance of Saint Stephen’s Green (1907) was designed by John Howard Pentland and built by Henry Laverty and Sons (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

On the north-west corner of Saint Stephen’s Green, the Fusiliers’ Arch at the Grafton Street entrance was designed by the Dublin-based architect and engineer, John Howard Pentland (1855-1919).

Pentland was born in Lurgan, Co Armagh, a son of Thomas Pentland, a bank manager, and his wife, who was a daughter of Thomas Carroll, of Dublin, and a sister of the architects Thomas Henry Carroll, Howard Carroll and James Rwason Carroll. He was a pupil of his uncle James Rawson Carroll from 1872 to 1877, and, from 1873 onwards, he also attended Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated BA and BAI in 1877.

For two years he was a working pupil of Sir Thomas Newenham Deane, before returning to his uncle’s office as an assistant in 1879. The following year he travelled in Normandy, and in 1882 he became his uncle’s partner in the practice of Carroll & Pentland. He worked from 176 Great Brunswick Street until 1884, when he was appointed an assistant surveyor of buildings with the Board of Works.

Later he became head of the Board’s architectural department, senior surveyor and principal surveyor. He designed several coastguard stations and post offices, and enlarged and remodelled the GPO in O’Connell Street only weeks before the it was destroyed in Easter Rising in 1916.

His best-known work in Dublin is the arch erected in 1906-1907 at the north entrance to Saint Stephen’s Green in memory of the soldiers and officers of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who died in the Boer War in South Africa. It was designed ‘in the manner of the Arch of Titus in Rome.’

Pentland retired in 1918, and died after a short illness in 1919.

A sculpture in the boating lake that adds serenity to Farmeligh

‘Unfurling’ by Anne McGill … adds a note of calm and serenity to Farmleigh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Patrick Comerford

Sitting on the decking outside the Boathouse Café in Farmleigh yesterday afternoon, enjoying a late Sunday lunch, I found myself once again enjoying ‘Unfurling’ Anne McGill’s floating sculpture, ‘Unfurling,’ in Farmeligh Lake.

While excited children and their amused parents are busy feeding the mallards in the former Guinness family boating lake, this work adds a note of calm and serenity to this corner of the Phoenix Park in Dublin.

This floating sculpture is an unfurling fern frond in the pond and was designed by Anne McGill, a sculptor living in Dublin who has also designed floating sculptures that have been exhibited in ‘Sculpture in Context’ in the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin.

Anne McGill lives and works in Dublin. She was born in Co Tyrone in 1952, and she studied architecture at Queen’s University, Belfast. She worked as an architect until 2008 and since then she has been working in sculpture full time.

Her sculpture has moved through different mediums, starting in ceramics and bronze, and she now works mainly with wood wire and flexible materials. Her work varies in size from large outdoor sculpture to small studio pieces.

She has exhibited in many exhibitions over the years, including the RHA and RUA annual shows, and in the annual ‘Sculpture in Context’ exhibition in the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin.

Last month, Anne McGill showcased a collection of her new sculptural musical pieces at her studio in Clontarf [September 2016]. In this exhibition, ‘Taking Notes Apart,’ which was curated by Tony Strickland, she drew on inspiration from the elements of music to create her expressive abstract art pieces.

Anne McGill’s website can be visited here.

‘Unfurling’ by Anne McGill … by the Boathouse Café at Farmleigh in the Phoenix Park (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

‘Our intimacy with creation must never stop short at contemplative admiration’

The spire of Saint Andrew’s and the overhanging willows at Lucan reflected in the waters of the River Liffey late this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Patrick Comerford

After the wedding on Friday and Saturday in Macreddin Village, Co Wicklow, I returned to a busy working weekend in Dublin, teaching on the part-time MTh course and the Reader course.

During the course of one lecture, I was engaging students in the links between the Eucharist and the Creation.

Later, in an email, one student quoted the late Father Herbert Edwin William Slade (1912-1999), a priest of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist or the Cowley Fathers in Oxford, who wrote:

The Eucharist is the supreme model of an intimacy with nature which is universal. All creation is God’s body. God indwells all of his creatures. God’s Spirit is present in all that God has made. Therefore, our intimacy with creation must never stop short at contemplative admiration.

Autumn reflections at the boating lake in Farmleigh this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

After this morning’s Eucharist at the end of this intense working weekend, two of us decided to continue this ‘intimacy with creation’ and went for walks by the Boating Lake at Farmleigh in the Phoenix Park and later by the River Liffey and the weir in Lucan Village.

This had been a beautiful bright Sunday afternoon, and although the leaves on the trees are turning through the full range of autumn colours, the temperatures moved between 17 and 20 making it fell more like late summer than mid-autumn.

‘The hollow crown Nos 1, 2 and 3’ … Alex Scott, ceramic (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

At the Farmleigh Gallery, we went to see ‘Adaptations,’ an exhibition marking the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare in 1616. This was the last day of this an exhibition of new work by Alex Scott (Ceramics), Alva Gallagher (Glass), Helen McAllister (Textiles), Nigel Cheney (Textiles) and Seliena Coyle (Metals) – five very different practitioners who work in the Applied Arts.

This exhibition has interpreted and responded to Shakespeare’s work in a nuanced and particular way, sharing an affinity for making, for layered meaning and codified details through applied material based practices, taking very different approaches to his tragedies, comedies and historical dramas.

There were particular emphases on The Merchant of Venice, and – naturally, given the recent reburial in Leicester Cathedral – on Richard III. But here too were Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Othello, Troilus and Cressida, The Tempest, and As You Like It.

Later, after a late lunch in the Boathouse Café, we went for a another walk around the boating lake, and then drove through Blanchardstown and along the ‘Strawberry Beds’ for a walk by the River Liffey and the Village Weir at Lucan.

The bright blue skies above the river in the late autumn evening light was casting strong reflections on the waters of the river, reflecting the overhanging willow trees and the spire of Saint Andrew’s Church on the other side of the river.

It was natural to appreciate how ‘God’s Spirit is present in all that God has made.’ Before returning to a full working week tomorrow, my ‘intimacy with creation’ had not stopped ‘short at contemplative admiration.’

‘So wise, so young, they say do never live long’ … Nigel Cheney, Scarf, digital print silk chiffon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Wistfully wondering where this promised heatwave has gone

By the boating lake at Farmleigh in the Phoenix Park this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Patrick Comerford

After the recent flare-up on my lungs that almost meant losing my voice two weeks ago, I am now coming down with a heavy head cold.

This damp, foggy weather is not helping my lungs and seems to be aggravating the symptoms of my sarcoidosis. But after this morning’s early morning 5 km walk in Marlay Park, I was still determined to get out for another walk late this afternoon.

Two of us went for a walk around the boating lake at Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park, and went for late afternoon double espressos in the Boathouse Café, before taking another stroll around the lake.

Walking around the boating lake in Farmleigh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

This poor, unseasonable weather means few people were sitting out on the decking at the Boathouse Café, with just two or three small children being encouraged by their parents to feed the ducks and the moorhens.

I am now feeding myself with plenty of Vitamin C with large quaffs of honey and lemon, wistfully wondering when the promised heatwave is going to arrive.

Temperatures across England today were much higher, with figures in the high teens and low 20s from Lichfield to Cambridge to London.

But I must not complain. It was a beautiful afternoon in Farmleigh. And while I may have sarcoidosis, sarcoidosis does not have me.

The Boathouse Café by the boating lake in Farmleigh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Christmas with Vaughan Williams (14): four Christmas songs for Epiphany

The Wise Men at the crib in Farmleigh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Although the Christmas season is 40 days long, and continues until Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation [2 February], Epiphany traditionally marks the end of the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas.’

Already, the Christmas songs have long ceased playing in the shopping centres, most schools reopened earlier this week, most working people are back to work, and in many houses the Christmas tree and the Christmas decorations have been taken down. Even the Christmas cribs have been packed away, without waiting for the arrival of the three Wise Men.

Today is the Feast of the Epiphany [6 January 2016], and we are celebrating the feast with a special Choral Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, at 6 p.m. this evening.

The feast of the Epiphany is traditionally associated with three Gospel events: the arrival of the three Wise Men or magi at the stable in Bethlehem, which is today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 2: 1-12); the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan (see Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22), which is the subject of the Gospel reading next Sunday (10 January 2016); and the Wedding at Cana (John 2: 1-11), which is the Gospel reading for Sunday week (17 January 2016).

Throughout the Christmas season, I have been listening each morning to Christmas works by the great English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958).

As we come to the end of the 12 Days of Christmas on this Feast of the Epiphany, I conclude my Christmas reflections this morning [6 January 2016] by listening to four Christmas songs written by or arranged by Vaughan Williams: ‘The Salutation Carol,’ ‘The Cherry Tree Carol’ (parts 1 and 2), from music written for his nativity play, The First Nowell, and ‘Sweet Was the Song the Virgin Sang,’ written for his Christmas cantata Hodie (‘This Day’), which I was listening to earlier this Christmas season.



Yesterday’s reflection.

Series concluded

The sun sets on 2015 at the boating lake in Farmeligh

The sun sets on 2015 in Farmleigh late this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Patrick Comerford

This December has been the worst on record in Ireland, with six successive storms from A to F, and another storm and more heavy rainfalls predicted in the days to come. The Shannon, the Blackwater and the Slaney rivers continue to rise, many places in Ireland that were never flooded before are submerged tonight, and the risk of flooding remains severe in many places.

I think especially of places I know from my childhood and early adult days. At Cappoquin, the N72 Lismore to Dungarvan road was closed because of flooding.

In north Co Wexford, heavy floods have hit Enniscorthy and are threatening Bunclody.

The floods in Enniscorthy have closed Abbey Quay, Templeshannon Quay and Shannon Quay, Island Road is also closed and diversions are in place along the Coast Road. These floods have devastated homes and businesses in Enniscorthy, which is suffering the worst floods in recent memory.

The Quays are completely submerged, the underground car park at the Riverside Park Hotel was completely flooded as the river rose up to the door, and homes on Island Road were severely affected as the Slaney burst its banks.

It all made it impossible to get from one side of town to the other and roads are flooded right along the Slaney at Kilurin and Edermine.

Many roads across Co Wexford are badly flooded. In other parts of Co Wexford, the Castlebridge to Ferrybank road (R741) is flooded at Castlebridge and impassable, and the N11 Wexford to Dublin road is flooded at Ferrycarrig and impassable through Enniscorthy, and there are diversions on the N11 in both directions at Kyle’s Cross near Oylegate.

The floods in Enniscorthy this week are far more severe than those that hit the town in November 2014. Ironically, a deal was signed last month on the long-awaited work on building a flood relief scheme in Enniscorthy, but this is not set to begin until later next year (2016). Many people in the town must be angry that the plans are not already being put in place.

In November, Wexford County Council appointed the design consultants Mott Mac Donald from Cork and Roughan and O’Donovan from Dublin to begin working on the detailed design of the scheme.

The scheme combines a number of measures to prevent flooding in Enniscorthy, including river channel widening, river deepening, bridge relocation, and building extensive glass panelled flood walls through the town.

The proposed works will cover a 3.5 km length of the River Slaney, stretching from 1.5 km upstream of Enniscorthy Bridge to 2 km downstream, finishing just south of the Riverside Park Hotel. It includes deepening of the riverbed beneath the present Railway Bridge and the Old Enniscorthy Bridge; building a new road bridge over the River Slaney and the Railway Line, about 100 metres south of the Riverside Park Hotel, removing the existing Seamus Rafter Bridge and building a new pedestrian bridge in the town centre.

Only a few weeks ago, Enniscorthy was basking in the glory and attention from the movie Brooklyn, based on Colm Toibín’s book, with many scenes filmed in the town.

These floods have been caused by strong winds, heavy rains and high tides – the Slaney is tidal as far upstream as Enniscorthy and the Blackwater as far as Lismore.

But why are these weather symptoms causing such devastation and wreaking such havoc this winter more than any previous winter?

Anyone who doubts climate change and its effects on the planet only needs to visit Ireland, northern England and Scotland this week to see the consequences of global warming and how it is churning up these storms in the mid-Atlantic.

But surely too it has been aggravated by allowing building and development on flood plains and unsuitable sites, with a detrimental knock-on effect.

Tranquillity on the boating lake by the Boathouse Café in Farmleigh this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

I enjoy being by water – whether it is by the sea, on a beach, by a river bank, at a lake or on a canal bank. I said goodbye to 2015 this afternoon by water, but this time by the relative safety of the Boathouse Café, enjoying a double espresso by the boating lake in the grounds of Farmleigh, the official guesthouse for State visitors, on the edges of the Phoenix Park.

The Boathouse Café offers a stunning yet quiet haven close to Dublin’s city centre, and has been described as an “an Oasis of calm and tranquillity.”

I sat on the decking outside the café as the sun site on 2015. The setting sun to the west was casting beautiful lights across the ornamental lake and the surrounding woodlands.

I hope the sun rises on a 2016 that brings promise and hope to all the victims of 2015.

Silhouettes in the trees as Farmleigh in the hours before 2016 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

The stories of two nations divided by a common language

“Folks don’t always lock their bikes” … bicycles outside Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge last month (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

It is amazing how conversations can eventually turn to rugby these days. After preaching at the Harvest Eucharist in Christ Church, Taney, this morning [4 October 2015], I found myself renewing many old friendships.

I had referred to my homesick travels through Wexford the previous day [3 October 2015], and inevitably some of the conversations tried to locate me.

We talked about boats in Courtown, crabbing in Cahore, former Rectors of Wexford, shared friends in Wexford, old family connections in Bunclody, and rugby in Enniscorthy and Wexford.

Some of the conversations managed to drift across to Achill Island or even (in one corner of the Sinnamon Hall) to Calne in Wiltshire.

But inevitably – and not only in male company – the conversations returned to the outstanding performance of Ireland in the Rugby World Cup.

A walk around the lake at Farmnleigh after lunch in the Boathouse Café (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Autumn flowers in the grounds of Farmleigh this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Later, two of us crossed the city to the Phoenix Park fora light lunch at the Boathouse Café in Farmleigh, followed by a walk around the lake. But I was back home in time to be ensconced in a comfortable position to see Ireland playing against Italy.

Despite a weaker than expected Irish performance throughout the game, it is comforting to see Ireland is holding on to its standing in fourth place in world rugby placings.

On the other hand, I find it difficult to comprehend how many Irish people are rejoicing at England’s exit. Looking at Facebook postings, it seems many Irish people were cheering for any side playing against England, and the gloating is both unhealthy and unneighbourly.

I have always felt comfortable in Ireland and in England, and while I am as aware as anyone of the differences that separate us, they are nothing compared to the shared similarities that should always make us the best of friends and the best of neighbours.

Five weeks ago [29 August 2015], while two of us were walking back to Trumpington after lunch in the Orchard in Grantchester, two pretty villages close to Cambridge, I heard the delightful observation: “There is something very, something very English about England.”

Yes, there is something very English about England, as there is something very Irish about Ireland. But the similarities are greater than the differences, and the differences do not create the same chasm as the one that exists, for example, between England and America.

Both Winston Churchill and the Irish writer George Bernard Shaw are credited with saying: “England and America are two countries divided by a common language.” Last week, the Revd Sally Hitchner, Chaplain at Brunel University, drew attention to a modern take on this saying when she reposted a Facebook posting by Scott Waters of Florida, who shared some interesting observations on a recent holiday in England.

I was amused by his observations that “soccer is a religion, religion is a sport,” and that in England “you’re defined by your accent.” What he says about trains and the hospitals, and very interesting comparisons of English and American experiences of racism and policing. Most telling of all, his repetitive observation: “There are no guns.”

He wrote:

I was in England again a few weeks ago, mostly in small towns, but here’s some of what I learned:

● Almost everyone is very polite

● The food is generally outstanding

● There are no guns

● There are too many narrow stairs

● Everything is just a little bit different

● The pubs close too early

● The reason they drive on the left is because all their cars are built backwards

● Pubs are not bars, they are community living rooms.

● You’d better like peas, potatoes and sausage

● Refrigerators and washing machines are very small

● Everything is generally older, smaller and shorter

● People don’t seem to be afraid of their neighbours or the government

● Their paper money makes sense, the coins don’t

● Everyone has a washing machine but driers are rare

● Hot and cold water faucets. Remember them?

● Pants are called “trousers”, underwear are “pants” and sweaters are “jumpers”

● The bathroom light is a string hanging from the ceiling

● “Fanny” is a naughty word, as is “shag”

● All the signs are well designed with beautiful typography and written in full sentences with proper grammar.

● There’s no dress code

● Doors close by themselves, but they don’t always open

● They eat with their forks upside down

● The English are as crazy about their gardens as Americans are about cars

● They don’t seem to use facecloths or napkins

● The wall outlets all have switches, some don't do anything

● There are hardly any cops or police cars

● 5,000 year ago, someone arranged a lot of rocks all over the place, but no one is sure why

● When you do see police they seem to be in male and female pairs and often smiling

● Black people are just people: they didn’t quite do slavery here

● Everything comes with chips, which are French fries. You put vinegar on them

● Cookies are “biscuits” and potato chips are “crisps”

● HP sauce is better than ketchup

● Obama is considered a hero, Bush is considered an idiot.

● After fish and chips, curry is the most popular food

● The water controls in showers need detailed instructions

● You can boil anything

● Folks don’t always lock their bikes

● It’s not unusual to see people dressed different and speaking different languages

● Your electronic devices will work fine with just a plug adapter

● Nearly everyone is better educated then we are

● If someone buys you a drink you must do the same

● There are no guns

● Look right, walk left. Again; look right, walk left. You’re welcome.

● Avoid British wine and French beer

● It’s not that hard to eat with the fork in your left hand with a little practice. If you don’t, everyone knows you’re an American

● Many of the roads are the size of our sidewalks

● There’s no AC

● Instead of turning the heat up, you put on a jumper

● Gas is “petrol”, it costs about $6 a gallon and is sold by the litre

● If you speed on a motorway, you get a ticket. Period. Always

● You don’t have to tip, really!

● Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Cornwall really are different countries

● Only 14% of Americans have a passport, everyone in the UK does

● You pay the price marked on products because the taxes (VAT) are built in

● Walking is the national pastime

● Their TV looks and sounds much better than ours

● They took the street signs down during WWII, but haven't put them all back up yet

● Everyone enjoys a good joke

● There are no guns

● Dogs are very well behaved and welcome everywhere

● There are no window screens

● You can get on a bus and end up in Paris

● Everyone knows more about our history then we do

● Radio is still a big deal. The BBC is quite good

● The newspapers can be awful

● Everything costs the same but our money is worth less so you have to add 50% to the price to figure what you're paying

● Beer comes in large, completely filled, actual pint glasses and the closer the brewery the better the beer

● Butter and eggs aren’t refrigerated

● The beer isn’t warm, each style is served at the proper temperature

● Cider (alcoholic) is quite good.

● Excess cider consumption can be very painful.

● The universal greeting is “Cheers” (pronounced “cheeahz” unless you are from Cornwall, then it’s “chairz”)

● The money is easy to understand: 1-2-5-10-20-50 pence, then-£1-£2-£5-£10, etc bills. There are no quarters.

● Their cash makes ours look like Monopoly money

● Cars don’t have bumper stickers

● Many doorknobs, buildings and tools are older than America

● By law, there are no crappy, old cars

● When the sign says something was built in 456, they didn’t lose the “1”

● Cake is pudding, ice cream is pudding, anything served for desert is pudding, even pudding

● BBC 4 [he means Radio 4] is NPR

● Everything closes by 1800 (6pm)

● Very few people smoke, those who do often roll their own

● You’re defined by your accent

● No one in Cornwall knows what the hell a Cornish Game Hen is

● Soccer is a religion, religion is a sport

● Europeans dress better than the British, we dress worse

● The trains work: a three-minute delay is regrettable

● Drinks don’t come with ice

● There are far fewer fat English people

● There are a lot of healthy old folks around participating in life instead of hiding at home watching TV

● If you’re over 60, you get free TV and bus and rail passes.

● They don’t use Bose anything anywhere

● Displaying your political or religious affiliation is considered very bad taste

● Every pub has a pet drunk

● Their healthcare works, but they still bitch about it

● Cake is one of the major food groups

● Their coffee is mediocre but their tea is wonderful

● There are still no guns

● Towel warmers!

● Cheers

“The English are as crazy about their gardens as Americans are about cars” … country flowers in a country garden in Chesterfield, a tiny village south of Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Why are German products being packaged to look like Greek food?

Greek olives on sale this evening in Rathfarnham (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Patrick Comerford

After some inquiries on social media during the week about where real Greek food could be bought in my area, I decided this evening to check out what Greek products were available in my local Tesco supermarket in Rathfarnham Shopping Centre.

I was surprised there was no Greek-sourced olive oil on the shelves, no Greek wine in the wine department, and no ouzo or Metaxa brandy alongside the spirits.

But at the deli counter I found Greek olives with lemon and garlic, Kalamata olives, and Halkidiki olives stuffed with garlic.

Greek yoghurt on the shelves in Rathfarnham (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

On the dairy shelves there was a good selection of Fage Greek yoghurt, both the original style and fruit flavoured. But the Müller yogurt nearby was labelled “Greek-style” with a UK address. Like most Müller products, it was probably made in Germany. If it was made in Greece there would have been no need to label it “Greek-style” – it simply could have been called Greek.

Müller products have similar packaging to Fage, but the ingredients include milk protein concentrate, modified food starch and gelatine. These additives make it high in protein like real Greek yoghurt and the gelatine and starch help to thicken this product. But it is not real yoghurt, and it is not Greek … indeed, with all those additives, calling it “Greek-style” stretches the imagination.

On the other hand, Fage contains only milk and yoghurt cultures.

Is Müller trying to capitalise on Fage’s branding and success? German success at the expense of Greece seems cruel at the moment.

Greek-made feta (above) and German cheese (below) … but this is not from Gazi in Athens or Gazi in Crete (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

The Greek Feta was Tesco’s own branded and labelled cheese, and was made in Greece. However, the Gazi-branded “Greek-Style Salad Cheese” was packaged to look Greek, with Mediterranean, Greek-looking blue-and-white packaging and images, and a fruiting olive branch in the background.

But it is not made in Gazi in Athens, or in Gazi which is 6 km west of Iraklion in Crete – like Müller brands, it is made in Germany.

The villages in the Gazi municipality in Crete include Fodele, the birthplace of the artist El Greco. But it takes some artistic creativity to package this “Greek-style” cheese so unwary customers think they are buying Greek. Surely the Germans are trying to squeeze enough out of Greece without also needing to pirate its yoghurt, its cheese, its olives and its images.

Barges and boathouses at Castleknock Marina and the Twlfth Lock (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Earlier in the afternoon, two of us were heading out for a late coffee at the Boathouse in Farmleigh in the Phoenix Park, when we took an unexpected route across the bridges over the Royal Canal and the railway line at Castleknock and spotted the barges and boathouses moored the Twelfth Lock.

Castleknock Marina looked appealing, with the swans and signets expecting to be fed by passers-by. The barges and boathouses looked pretty in the afternoon summer sunshine.

But the reality is that some of the barges moored at the marina are home to people who have been squeezed out of the housing market in Dublin by Ireland’s own brand of austerity. Let no-one in Greece imagine that the Irish economy is a model for Greek economic hopes and aspirations.

Beside the marina, the Twelfth Lock hotel and bar describes itself as a pioneering example of European café and hotel culture in Ireland, inspired by the hotels, cafés and bars of Paris and Amsterdam, in a cosmopolitan space in the unique environment at Castleknock Marina on the banks of the Royal Canal.

This hotel won the “Best New Hotel In Ireland” at the AM:PM National Hospitality Awards in 2004 and the “Best Presented Hotel and Surrounds” for two years in a row in 2004 and 2005 at the Fingal County Council Cleaner Communities Awards.

On the other bank of the canal stand apartment blocks that had once been the Blanchardstown Mills.

Swans under the bridge over the Royal Canal at Castleknock this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

We walked between the railway line and the canal, and found ourselves crossing the M50 motorway and the Wonderful O of the junction, with the Royal Canal crossing in the middle. Until today, I had only passed under the canal at this junction.

Work on the Royal Canal began in 1790 and took 27 years before finally reaching the River Shannon in 1817, at a total cost of £1,421,954. From Castleknock, the canal continues on through Maynooth, Kilcock, Enfield, Mullingar and Ballymahon, with a spur to Longford. The total length of the main navigation is 145 km and there are 46 locks along the length of the canal.

The Royal Canal Way is a 144 km long-distance trail that follows the towpath of the canal from Ashtown in Dublin to Cloondara, Co Longford. It is said to take three days to complete the walk. It is designated as a National Waymarked Trail by the National Trails Office of the Irish Sports Council and is managed by Waterways Ireland.

We eventually got to Farmleigh where we had double espressos at the Boathouse. It was a healthy afternoon, full of healthy exercise and pleasant surprises.

Coffee time at the Boathouse Café at Farmeoigh (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Wisteria brings the colour of spring and the promise of summer to Farmleigh

Wisteria on the portico at the State Guest House in Farmleigh this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Patrick Comerford

I have claimed my democratic privileges, exercised by franchise, done my civic duty and cast my ballot, voting in a way that I hope is going to do my country proud.

I spent much of the day marking undergraduate exam papers, working through lunchtime. By early afternoon I needed a break, and two of us headed into the city centre, across the river, and out to the Phoenix Park for a late lunch and double espressos in the Boat House Café at Farmleigh House.

Walking around the lake at Farmleigh with its water lilies and overhanging trees (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Later we walked around the small, tree-lined lake, with its artificial island and water-lilies. This was a boating lake for the Guinness family when they lived at Farmleigh, and then strolled through the Walled Garden.

A pair of elegant decorative wrought-iron gates lead into the four acres of the Walled Garden. Inside, a diagonal walk is lined with herbaceous borders backed by high yew hedges. South of the main crosswalk is a small orchard and potager while north of it there is a small rose and lavender garden.

The Walled Garden dates from the early 19th century, when Charles Trench owned Farmleigh. In the Victorian era, the walled garden had several glasshouses. The present cast-iron glasshouse was erected by Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh and great-grandson of Arthur Guinness.

The walled garden was first planned by Charles Trench and redesigned by Lady Iveagh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

His daughter in-law, Lady (Gwendolen) Iveagh, later created a new layout in the early 20th century, dividing the walled garden into compartments with old-style garden plants and herbaceous borders. A new traditional path led from the wrought iron gateway connecting the Walled Garden to the broad walk at the back of the house. This new axis of the garden was reinforced by tall yew hedges backing the long double herbaceous borders that she also planted.

A stone temple was created as a focal point of the garden by Benjamin and Miranda Guinness in 1971: it has six antique columns of Portland stone with a copper roof and ornamental weather vane. The main cross path either side of the temple has metal structures designed by Lanning Roper for climbing roses and wisteria similar to those in the Bagatelle Garden in Paris.

A paved rose garden was laid out to the north east of the temple backed by a yew hedge and looking across a lawn to the small orchard and potage. Lanning Roper suggested planting a quince, a mulberry, a catalpa, and a magnolia, to complete what he described as a Carolingian Quartet on this lawn. Lady Iveagh later planted the double herbaceous borders, which include yuccas, phormiums, paeonies, astilbe and euphorbias.

Hannah Deacon’s Wedding Scene, inspired by ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Hannah Deacon’s Sabbath Evening, inspired by ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

From the walled gardens, we walked back past the state guest house to the Gallery for the Intelligent Machinery Exhibition, with exhibits by Sofie Loscher, Jonathan Mayhew and Niamh O’Doherty.

Next door, the Cow Shed is hosting ‘Cross Over,’ this year’s end-of-year graduate exhibition for Ballyfermot College of Further Education. The exhibition opened last Tuesday and continues until Sunday.

I was particularly captivated by three scenes inspired by Fiddler on the Roof, the work of Hannah Deacon.

Wisteria in the Courtyard before leaving Farmleigh this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Before we left, I lingered a while in the courtyard to admire the wisteria which is in full bloom there and throughout Farmeligh.

Naturally, I particularly associate wisteria with the Courts of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where the wisteria has been in full bloom in recent weeks. The botanist Thomas Nuttall said he named wisteria in honour of Dr Caspar Wistar (1761–1818), an American physician and anatomist from Philadelphia, but I wonder why he changed the spelling.

Wisteria blooms in late spring, and is often at its fullest in early summer. Certainly, Farmeligh was filled with the promise of summer this afternoon.

Here are some extra photographs from the Walled Garden in Farmleigh this afternoon:

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