Wexford, Dublin and Kerry vie for celebrating Thomas Moore’s ancestry

The Thomas Moore Tavern on Cornmarket, Wexford … the home of Thomas Moore’s mother, Anastasia Codd, until weeks before the poet was born (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

Who has the greatest claim to Tom Moore: Wexford or Dublin? Or even Co Kerry?

Sometimes, the ‘Meeting of the Waters’ in Avoca seems to claim Tom Moore all to himself, although he has no family connections with Co Wicklow.

After recent visits to Moore’s ancestral home in Wexford, his birthplace on Aungier Street in Dublin, and the Moore family graves in the ruins of Saint Kevin’s Church on Camden Row, Dublin, I am still wondering whether Wexford or Dublin – or even some unknown place in Co Kerry – has the first and foremost claim on the great poet and songwriter.

Two pubs compete for recognition as his ancestral home: the Thomas Moore Tavern on Cornmarket, Wexford; and the Thomas Moore Inn at 12 Aungier Street, Dublin.

Of course, Thomas Moore was born in Dublin on 28 May 1779, but he had no Dublin ancestry. His father, John Moore (1741-1825), was from Co Kerry, but there is no record of where in Co Kerry; his mother Anastasia Codd was from Cornmarket in Wexford Town, and she only moved to Dublin weeks before her son’s birth.

The bard’s father was born in Co Kerry, but where was he from?

A report in the Kerry People in 1904 recalled how Moore visited Ardfert in 1823, travelling in a party that included the Marquis and Marchioness of Lansdowne. Young and old flocked to see them when they arrived in Ardfert.

Michael Pierce, a local classical teacher in Ardfert, was the guide for the party. They visited Ardfert Cathedral and the graveyard, and also visited the ruined Franciscan Abbey.

The group travelled to Lixnaw and Listowel on the following day, when it was said Moore’s father was from the neighbourhood of Listowel, ‘where a few descendants of the family still reside.’ In Listowel, Moore was met his first cousin, Garrett Moore, a well-to-do farmer who introduced his three sons.

When the Listowel writer Bryan MacMahon (1909-1998) delivered a lecture delivered in 1952 to mark the centenary of Moore’s death, he claimed that Moore’s father came from Newtown Sandes, or Moyvane, and this detail has been narrowed down in more recent times to the townland of Cloonbrane – although it is open to debate whether Cloonbrane might be described as ‘the neighbourhood of Listowel.’

The Thomas Moore Tavern and still claims to be one of Wexford’s oldest bar (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

But, while the poet knew little about his paternal ancestors, we can be more certain of his maternal links with Wexford and his family connections with the town.

His father John Moore married the considerably younger Wexford-born Anastasia Codd in 1778. She was the daughter of Thomas Codd, known as ‘Honest Tom Codd,’ of Cornmarket, Wexford. Thomas Codd lived in a three-storey house in Cornmarket in the centre of Wexford. From there he ran a grocery and spirits business. His future grandson Thomas Moore would refer to his grandfather as ‘my gouty old grandfather Tom Codd,’ and Anastasia Jane Codd was born in this house in 1764.

However, we know little about how John Moore met Anastasia, who was 23 years his junior. They married and lived above the shop in Cornmarket for some time before moving in 1779 to then fashionable Aungier Street in Dublin.

In Dublin, John Moore opened a grocery shop of his own on the ground floor in Aungier Street and he was also a barrack master in Islandbridge.

Thomas Moore, who was named after his Wexford grandfather, was born above the shop in Aungier Street in 1779, just weeks after his parents moved from Wexford to Dublin. This means Anastasia was only 15 when Thomas was born and John was 38.

Thomas>Moore’s birthplace at 12 Aungier Street, Dublin, is now the Thomas Moore Inn (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Thomas Moore studied at Trinity College Dublin, where he was a friend of Robert Emmet. He graduated in 1799 and moved to London to study law.

A prolific writer, poet, singer and balladeer, Moore set his poems to ancient Irish melodies. They later became known collectively as ‘Moore’s Melodies’. His works were hugely popular in Britain and Ireland and across Europe and America. They included ‘The Minstrel Boy,’ ‘The Last Rose of Summer,’ ‘The Harp That Once Through Tara’s Halls,’ ‘The Meeting of the Waters’ and ‘Oft in the Stilly Night.’ He became a close friend of the poets Byron and Shelley and .had many friends in inner circles of political life in England.

When he was on the stage in Kilkenny regularly in 1808-1810, Moore met the English actress Bessy Dyke, and they were married in Saint Martin in the Fields in London in 1811. They moved to Wiltshire in 1818 and went on to have five children.

Moore’s visit to his ancestral home in Wexford in 1835 seems to have been more successful than his visit to Co Kerry over a decade earlier, in 1823.

The grave of the Moore Family, the family of the poet songwriter Thomas Moore, in Saint Kevin’s churchyard, near Wexford Street, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

When Moore came to Wexford on 17 September 1835, he visited his mother's former home in Cornmarket. He also visited his friend Thomas Boyse at his recently completed Bannow House in Grange. On his visit he planted a myrtle tree in the grounds of the Presentation Convent where he played the organ and sang some of his lyrics.

Nicky Rossiter, in his book Wexford – Ireland in Old Photographs, notes how Moore avoided the bustle of the inn by staying at a private house of a Mr N Sparrow in the Bullring that his friend Boyse had sometimes used as lodgings. There he received visitors including the Mayor, a lawyer named Cooper who was an old friend of the family, a musician named PF White, and the editors of the ‘two liberal Wexford newspapers,’ Mr Greene and Mr Devereux.

John Moore was described as a former barrack master of Islandbridge, Co Dublin, when he died on 17 December 1825 aged 84; Anastasia (Codd) Moore died on 8 May 1832 aged 58 or 68; they were buried in nearby Saint Kevin’s Churchyard on Camden Row, off Wexford Street, Dublin.

The family gravestone in Saint Kevin’s churchyard records Moore’s parents and refers to six other children who died young and his sister Helen, who died 18 February 1846, ‘deeply mourned by her brother Thomas Moore, the bard of his much beloved country – Ireland.’

The e plaqueon the the house in Cornmarket, Wexford, where Anastasia Codd was born (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

A cut-limestone plaque was erected in 1864 on the first floor of the house in Cornmarket where Anastasia Codd was born to mark the 100th anniversary of her birth.

The inscription reads:

‘In this house was born and lived to within a few weeks of the birth of her illustrious son Anastasia Codd, the wife of John Moore, and mother of the poet Thomas Moore, and to this house, on the 26 August 1836, came the poet in the zenith of his imperishable fame, to render homage to the memory of the mother he venerated and loved. These are his words, ‘one of the noblest-minded as well as most warm-hearted of all God’s creatures was born under that lowly roof.’

‘Erected Dec 27th 1864, John Greene, JP, Mayor of Wexford.

‘Erected by the Uí Ceinnsealaigh Historical Society May 16th 1926, to replace original tablet damaged by weathering.’

Thomas Moore and his wife Bessy (Dyke) were predeceased by all five of their children. This took its toll on Moore’s health and he eventually fell into senile dementia when he was 69 and died on 25 February 1852 aged 72. He is buried in the churchyard of Saint Nicholas’ Church, close to Sloperton Cottage, his country retreat at Bromham in Wiltshire for 35 years. Bessy died at Sloperton Cottage on 4 September 1865.

Because Moore’s children all died in his own lifetime, he had no direct descendants to clarify any recollections of his family origins in Co Kerry. On the other hand, the house where his mother was born and where his parents once lived has survived, and when I lived in Wexford it was known as Molly Mythen’s.

Thomas Moore’s birthplace in Aungier Street is now known as the Thomas Moore Inn. However, this hardly qualifies as an ancestral home. Nor has an ancestral home been identified in Co Kerry either. So, this honour must fall to the house in Wexford where his mother lived even in the months she was pregnant.

The bar on Cornmarket, in the heart of Wexford Town, has been restored in recent years as the Thomas Moore Tavern and still claims to be one of Wexford’s oldest bars.

The middle house is the birthplace of Anastasia Codd in Cornmarket and was known as Molly Mythen’s from the late 19th century (Photograph: Famous Wexford People in History)

Four houses on Spawell Road and links between Wexford and the Battle of Waterloo

Richmond House, the main house of the former Loreto Convent in Wexford, was first built by the Duke of Richmond in 1792 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

The main house of the former Loreto Convent in Wexford is now a sorry sight on Spawell Road, surrounded by steel fencing and security notices.

But this house, once known as Richmond House, is of architectural value, and has historical associations with both the 1798 Rising and the Battle of Waterloo, with the famous Lennox sisters, and with a celebrated Victorian-era Mayor of Wexford.

The former Richmond House, which gives its name to later housing developments in the Spawell Road area of Wexford, was first built in 1792 by Charles Lennox (1764-1819), who succeeded his uncle as the fourth Duke of Richmond in 1806. This three-bay, three-storey over basement house was built on a square plan, with the ground floor centred on a prostyle distyle portico.

Charles Lennox, who built the house, was a nephew of the Lennox sisters, four 18th century aristocrats who inspired Stella Tillyard’s book the six-part BBC mini-series Aristocrats.

These four sisters were: Lady Caroline Fox (1723-1774), 1st Baroness Holland, Lady Emily FitzGerald (1731-1814), Duchess of Leinster, Lady Louisa Conolly (1743-1821) of Castletown House, Co Kildare, and Lady Sarah Napier (1745-1826) of Celbridge House, Co Kildare.

This means the future duke who built Richmond House in Wexford six years before the 1798 Rising, was a first cousin of both Lord Edward FitzGerald, one of the leading figures in the United Irishmen, and General Sir Charles James Napier (1782-1853), famous as the captor of Sindh but also Governor of Kephalonia – ‘Captain Corelli’s’ island – and leading Philhellene during the Greek War of Independence in the mid-19th century.

Charles Lennox became the 4th Duke of Richmond on 29 December 1806, after the death of his uncle, Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond. In April 1807, he became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and he continued in office until 1813.

The duke took part in the Napoleonic Wars and in 1815 he was in command of a reserve force in Brussels that was protecting the city in case Napoleon won the Battle of Waterloo.

On 15 June 1815, the night before the Battle of Quatre Bras, his wife – the former Lady Charlotte Gordon – held a ball for his fellow officers. The glittering celebration became famous as the Duchess of Richmond’s Ball and is referred to by William Makepeace Thackeray in Vanity Fair and by Lord Byron in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.

Although the Duke observed the Battle of Quatre Bras the next day, as well as the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June, he did not take part in either, his role being in the defence of the city of Brussels.

Richmond became Governor General of Canada, then known as British North America, in 1818, but his time there was cut short unexpectedly. Richmond was on a tour of Canada, in 1819 when he was bitten on the hand by a fox. The injury apparently healed and he continued on the tour, but later in his journey the initial symptoms of hydrophobia appeared, a clear sign of Rabies. The disease developed rapidly, and he died 28 August 1819. He was buried at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Quebec.

The architectural value of Richmond House includes the compact square plan form centred on a Classically-detailed doorcase with good quality workmanship. The windows diminish in scale on each floor, producing a graduated visual impression.

In the Victorian era, Richmond House was the home of William White (1803-1865) and later of Alderman John Greene JP (1803-1890), seven times Mayor of Wexford and founder of the Wexford Independent.

Long before town planning, streetscaping and public water systems, Greene had a vision for supplying clean water to the people of Wexfcord town, raising the quality of life and the standards of living of Wexford’s growing population. When he was Mayor of Wexford in 1854, he erected ‘The Cock,’ the fountain on John Street that determines your identity and your place in Wexford, including who you supported in football and hurling – the John Street Volunteers or the Faythe Harriers.

The Loreto nuns moved into Richmond House in 1886, and their school grew up around the house. The ‘classical additions’ to the house in the early 20th century have been ascribed to the Dublin architect William Henry Byrne (1844-1917).

Until recently, the original house was well maintained, with the elementary form and massing surviving intact along with quantities of the original fabric, both outside and inside, despite the introduction of replacement windows in most of the windows.

The house, set back from the street, once stood in landscaped grounds and was part of a self-contained group alongside the adjoining former convent and school that once formed a pleasant ensemble on Spawell Road.

Wellington Cottage, also known simply as ‘The Cottage’ … built in 1863 ‘in the enriched Tudor style’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Another connection with the Battle of Waterloo on Spawell Road is provided by the gate lodge at Clifton which was once known as Wellington Cottage, or simply as ‘The Cottage.’

This gate lodge has been carefully restored in recent years. It has contributed positively to the group and setting of the Clifton estate, and was part of the continued development of the adjoining Ardara estate by Joseph Harvey (1809-1890).

In the Victorian era, it was admired as a ‘new and beautiful gate lodge in the enriched Tudor style’ that ‘excites in an especial manner the admiration of the visitor.’

It was built on a compact plan form centred on an expressed porch displaying the Harvey family coat of arms. Its picturesque appearance is enhanced by the multipartite glazing patterns, and the ‘spikey’ pinnacles embellishing the roofline.

It was recently restored after a prolonged period of being left unoccupied.

The cottage or gate lodge stands at the entrance to Clifton, a house on Spawell Road built in 1895 by Thomas Reilly on a plot bought from the neighbouring Ardara estate.

Clifton also has connections with Nicholas Byrne, one-time Mayor of Wexford, who died in 1951.

Clifton was built in 1895 by Thomas Reilly on a plot on Spawell Road bought from the neighbouring Ardara estate (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Close-by, Ard Ruadh Manor is a house that I have stayed in on Spawell Road. This house was built in 1893 by Mary O’Connor (1837-1927), an outstanding builder and developer in Wexford, who built a terrace of houses on Upper George’s Street, Wexford, in the 1870s and 1880s. She is an interesting example of a woman who was a property developer and building contractor at the end of the 19th century. She developed a number of other terraces of houses in Wexford, including Glena Terrace with eight houses on Spawell Road (1890-1895)

Ard Ruadh has eight bedrooms, a drawing room, kitchen-diner, family room, a lounge with bay, and mature, private landscaped grounds.

Ard Ruadh was built on a deliberate alignment to maximise the scenic vistas overlooking rolling grounds and the estuary of the River Slaney. It is notable for its vibrant yellow brick Flemish bond walls offset by diaper work-like terracotta dressings, with a yellow brick running bond plinth with vermiculated yellow terracotta quoins at the corners, yellow terracotta sills, and yellow terracotta window surrounds with rusticated pilasters.

Here too, the windows diminish in scale on each floor, producing a graduated visual impression. The main rooms have polygonal bay windows, and there is a half-dormer attic. Other architectural features in the house include the decorative timber work, a high pitched multi-gabled roofline, contemporary joinery, chimneypieces; and plasterwork refinements.

The house has family connections with William Henry Hadden (died 1916), a leading Wexford merchant, and Dr James A Pierce.

Ard Ruadh Manor on Spawell Road was sold at auction for €850,000 in April 2003 by Wexford auctioneer John Keane. Bidding opened at €500,000 but was very brisk, with four different bidders, and concluded at €850,000.

The house was bought by a local person who planned to use it as private house. But the security signs I saw around the house at the weekend make me wonder whether it is in danger of being lost to future developments on Spawell Road.

Ard Ruadh Manor on Spawell Road was built in 1893 by Mary O’Connor (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Red-brick church in Riverchapel has links with the Gothic Revival and serves Courtown Harbour

The Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea, Riverchapel,Co Wexford, designed by JJ McCarthy and his son CJ McCarthy (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

On a visit to Co Wexford at the weekend, I stopped to see the Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea, Riverchapel, which is the Roman Catholic parish church for the seaside resort of Courtown Harbour.

It is said the history of the Riverchapel and Courtown area dates back to ca 600, when Saint Aidan, the first Bishop of Ferns, landed at Ardamine on his return from Saint David’s in Wales.

Saint Aidan established his first church at Kiltennel, although some sources say this was an earlier Christian foundation, founded in the late sixth century.

Inside the church in Riverchapel … it was built in 1881-1882 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Riverchapel started as a small village in the parish of Ardamine, just 5 km south-east of Gorey. The name comes from a small mud-walled chapel beside the Owenavorragh River that served the community in the 1700s.

Courtown developed into a fishing village in the 1830s, and was endowed with long sandy beaches, woodlands and the rock-cut gorge of the river.

With the arrival of the railway from Dublin to Gorey and the south-east, both Courtown and Riverchapel became popular tourist destinations in the 1860s.

Inside the church in Riverchapel, near Courtown (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea was built in the Gothic style with a bell tower at the north-west angle, to designs by the architect James Joseph McCarthy (1817-1882).

McCarthy had also worked on the ‘Twin Churches’ on Bride Street and Rowe Street, Wexford, and on Saint Aidan’s Cathedral, Enniscorthy, and claimed the mantle of AWN Pugin, the architect who introduced the Gothic revival in church architecture to Ireland.

Although officially JJ McCarthy was the architect of the church in Riverchapel, all the detail work was by his son, Charles James McCarthy (1858-1947), who made all of the drawings for the church in 1881, before overseeing its completion after his father died on 6 February 1882.

The foundation stone was laid on 1 May 1881, and the church was dedicated on 27 August 1882. James T Ryan of Waterford and Limerick was the contractor and Thomas Clifford of Enniscorthy was the clerk of works.

The church gable has a quatrefoil-detailed Rose Window with cut-granite surrounds (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

This church is an important part of late 19th century church history and architectural heritage of north Co Wexford. Its architectural composition has been compared with the earlier Catholic Church of Saint John the Baptist in Lispole, Co Kerry, with similar rectilinear plan forms, aligned along a liturgically-incorrect axis.

This is a six-bay double-height church, built on a rectangular plan with a six-bay, single-storey lean-to side aisle. It is built on a south-north axis, rather than the liturgically traditional east-west axis.

The church has red brick Flemish bond walls, red brick Flemish bond stepped buttresses in the corners, lancet windows and a pointed-arch front door. The gable has a quatrefoil-detailed Rose Window with cut-granite surrounds.

The church has red brick Flemish bond walls, red brick Flemish bond stepped buttresses in the corners (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The vibrant red brick was supplied by the Courtown Brick and Tile Works. The silver-grey granite dressings show good quality workmanship and also produce an eye-catching Ruskin-style Gothic palette. The slender profiles of the windows and doors underpin a mediaeval-style Gothic theme. The flèche-like buttressed spirelet embellishes the banded roof and provides a picturesque eye-catcher in the landscape.

Inside the church, the interior details include trefoil-detailed timber pews, replacement Stations of the Cross (1967) between stained glass memorial windows (1949, 1980), an exposed scissor truss timber roof on cut-granite beaded Cavetto corbels, wind braced rafters in the ceiling on a carved timber cornice, a replacement Gothic-style reredos (1980) and the stained glass ‘Trinity Window’ (1943).

The Trinity Window defines the chancel and has been attributed variously to Harry Clarke, the Harry Clarke Studios, and to the Earley Studios (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Like so many churches throughout the Diocese of Ferns and Co Wexford, this church has a fine collection of stained-glass, including windows attributed to Harry Clarke and the Harry Clarke Studios.

The elegant Trinity Window defines the chancel. This jewel-like window depicts Christ the King, with the Virgin Mary (left), and Saint Joseph (right). It has been attributed variously to Harry Clarke, the Harry Clarke Studios, and to the Earley Studios.

Other stained glass in the church is signed by Irish Stained Glass and George William Walsh of Dublin.

The interior of the church, including the sanctuary, was reordered in 1968-1969 along the lines of the liturgical reforms introduced by Vatican II (1962-1965). The church was restored once again in 1980-1981. The new porch was built in 1998, and the stained-glass windows were restored in 2004.

The windows and the memorials recall the association of Riverchapel and Courtown with the sea (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

A memorial commemorates members of Courtown lifeboat station, which opened in 1866 and which was re-established in 1990.

The growing population in the neighbouring parish of Ballygarrett led to the formation of the new parish of Riverchapel-Courtown Harbour in 1991, with the late Father Aidan Jones, who had served the parish from 1980, as the first parish priest (1991-1995).

This church has been well maintained, and the elementary form and massing survive intact, along with quantities of the original fabric, both inside and outside. It is set in relandscaped grounds on a slightly elevated site, and it makes a pleasing visual statement in this coastal village.

Saint Patrick depicted in the Dunne memorial window in Riverchapel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

‘A strange thread of events’ that links Gorey with the lost Caravaggio

‘The Taking of Christ’ by Caravaggio … bought by Dr Marie Lea-Wilson after her husband was murdered in Gorey, Co Wexford (National Gallery of Ireland)

Patrick Comerford

During my ‘road trip’ visit to Co Wexford last week, I visited Christ Church, Gorey, and last night in this blog (1 March 2022) I described the windows from the Harry Clarke Studios that are unique treasures in this Church of Ireland parish church in north Wexford. But the church and these windows also have an interesting link with one of the greatest art discoveries in Ireland in recent decades.

Two of the windows commemorate Percival Lea-Wilson, the District Inspector for North Wexford in the Royal Irish Constabulary, who was shot dead by the IRA on the streets of Gorey on 15 June 1920 during the War of Independence.

Percival Lea-Wilson was then 33 and was a marked man because of his alleged brutal treatment of Tom Clarke, one of the signatories of the Easter Proclamation, and other republican prisoners after the 1916 Rising.

It is said Michael Collins had seen Lea-Wilson humiliating and mistreating Tom Clarke in the Rotunda Gardens after the Easter Rising. Clarke was ordered to strip naked in front of the other prisoners, an incident depicted in the RTÉ drama Rebellion.

Collins got his revenge four years later when Lea-Wilson was gunned down in daylight after buying a newspaper at the railway station in Gorey.

The murder of Lea-Wilson is listed in the brigade activity reports for the North Wexford Brigade (3 Eastern Division) of the IRA as an operation sanctioned by IRA General Headquarters involving 10 men, of whom five took part in the shooting and five in scouting.

In his application for a military pension, Sean Whelan, an IRA activist in Co Wexford, said he shot Lea-Wilson in the shoulder during the attack, but added: ‘I was supposed to be the best shot and I was selected and it turned out I was not.’

The Saint Stephen window by Harry Clarke was erected in Christ Church, Gorey, in memory of Percival Lea-Wilson by his widow, Dr Marie Lea-Wilson (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Lea-Wilson had married Galway-born Marie Ryan in 1914. The effect of his murder on her life would become a key factor in one of the greatest art discoveries of the 20th century.

After her husband’s murder, Dr Lea-Wilson went on to train as a doctor at Trinity College Dublin, where she graduated in 1928. She was one of only three women in the class, and became a noted paediatrician at the Children’s Hospital in Harcourt Street, Dublin. Although she was described as somewhat stern, she attended Mass daily before work and was devoted to her four dachshunds.

Dr Lea-Wilson forged a strong connection with the Jesuit community in Dublin, receiving spiritual support from Father Tom Finlay at the Jesuit house on Leeson Street, which may explain her subsequent gift of an important painting to them in the 1930s.

Dr Lea-Wilson bought the painting at an auction in 1924, four years before she qualified as a paediatrician. She gifted the painting to the Jesuits in the 1930s in thanks for their support after her husband’s murder. She died in 1971.

Sergio Benedetti, a conservator at the National Gallery of Ireland, was invited to the Jesuit house in Leeson Street in August 1990 to look over the collection of paintings. It all seemed a matter of routine until he came to The Taking of Christ, then attributed to the Dutch painter Gerrit van Honthorst.

Benedetti was startled. As a specialist in Caravaggio and his followers, he was convinced that he was looking not at a Honthorst – he painted in the same style – but at Caravaggio’s long-lost original, which he painted in 1602 for the Mattei family, his patrons in Rome.

Three years of historical detective work began. Working through the Mattei archives, two Italian PhD students traced the history of the painting from commission to payment to the year 1793, when a careless archivist misattributed it to Honthorst.

Ten years after that it was sold – as a Honthorst – along with other paintings to a Scottish landowner, and a century later, having been turned down by the Scottish National Gallery, it was bought by an Edinburgh art dealer who sold it to an unknown buyer for £8.8.0 in 1921.

The painting was bought at an auction in 1924 by Lea-Wilson’s widow. Four years later, she qualified as a paediatrician in 1928. A devout Catholic, she gifted the painting to the Jesuits in the 1930s in thanks for their support after her husband’s murder. She died in 1971.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) painted The Taking of Christ in 1602 as a commission for the distinguished patrician and city official Ciriaco Mattei (1545-1614). The painting remained in the Mattei family, inherited by various family members, for the next 200 years. However, by the second half of the 18th century, Caravaggio’s name was no longer attached to the painting. At this time, a number of paintings in the Mattei collection were reattributed, and Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ was incorrectly attributed to a Dutch artist, Gerrit van Honthorst (1592-1656).

Honthorst was a follower of Caravaggio, and was particularly influenced by the Italian painter’s use of dramatic shadow and light (chiaroscuro) in his compositions. He painted many candle-lit scenes that earned him the Italian nickname Gherardo delle Notti (Gerard of the Night Scenes). However, in the Mattei archives his nickname was misspelled as Gherardo della Notte. This mistake, repeated in every successive document, was an important clue during the authentication process in the 1990s.

Duke Giuseppe Mattei sold The Taking of Christ, along with other paintings, in 1802 to William Hamilton Nisbet, a wealthy Scottish art collector in Rome. Records from this sale list the painting as Imprigionamento del N.S. di Gherardo della Notte. The mistake in spelling (Notte rather than Notti) was repeated on the gilt tablet made for the new frame.

The painting remained in the Hamilton family for 119 years, until it was sold at auction by Dowell’s in Edinburgh in 1921, and again in 1922. At this point, it was owned by Major the Charles Hubert Francis Noel (1885-1947), a younger son of Charles William Francis Noel (1850-1926), 3rd Earl of Gainsborough, and his Irish-born wife, Mary Elizabeth Dease. (For my story of Major Noel’s aunt, Lady Blanche Noel, and her marriage to Thomas Murphy, click HERE).

Dr Marie Lea-Wilson bought the painting in 1924 and brought it to Ireland. The first record of its presence in Ireland is a receipt for £20 for the restoration of its frame by James Hicks (1886-1936), of 5 Lower Pembroke Street, Dublin, a well-known furniture maker and restorer, in 1924.

When Dr Lea-Wilson presented the painting to the Jesuit Fathers of Leeson Street it was still attributed to Honthorst. It remained in their house, hanging in the dining room, for over 50 years.

In August 1990, Father Noel Barber SJ contacted the National Gallery of Ireland about assessing the works of art in the Jesuit House. A senior conservator, Sergio Benedetti, visited the house and noticed the potential in the dark painting hanging in the dining room. Even though it was obscured by discoloured varnish, he recognised the subject and composition as those of the ‘lost’ Caravaggio painting. Three years of meticulous research, analysis and consultation with international experts followed to authenticate and conserve the masterpiece.

After the discovery, Father Noel Barber played a pivotal role in the decision to place Caravaggio’s painting on indefinite loan to the Irish public from the Jesuit Community in Leeson Street, acknowledging the generosity of Dr Marie Lea-Wilson.

The Jesuits gave the painting on an indefinite loan to the National Gallery of Ireland, where it remains one of the most significant masterpieces on display and one of its most popular exhibits.

As Father Noel Barber said, it is ‘a strange thread of events’ that led to this magnificent painting finding its place on the wall of the National Gallery of Ireland.

The one-light window depicting Gideon by Joshua Clarke in Christ Church, Gorey … erected by Pericval Lea-Wilson’s colleagues and friends (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Christ Church, Gorey: a church in Co Wexford with a unique collection of stained glass

Christ Church, Gorey, Co Wexford … designed by Joseph Welland and with a unique collection of Irish stained-glass (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

During my ‘road trip’ visit to Wexford last week, I visited a number of churches including the mediaeval ruins of Saint Mary’s Church in Wexford town, the modern Church of the Annunciation in Clonard on the outskirts of Wexford, and Christ Church, Gorey, a Church of Ireland parish church with an impressive collection of modern Irish stained-glass windows, including works by the Harry Clarke Studios and An Túr Gloine.

Christ Church Gorey was designed 1858-1861 by Joseph Welland (1798-1860), architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners from 1843. The church replaced an earlier church, and at the time was seen as ‘blending the Norman and English styles of architecture [in] a vague and unseemly’ manner.

Christ Church Gorey has been part the history of Gorey for 400 years, and dates back to the Revd Thomas Ram in 1610. A new bell was installed in the Market Square Church, as it was known in 1735, much to the delight of the people of Gorey.

A new church, Christ Church, was ready for use in 1819. It was a spacious building, blending the Norman and English styles. However, that church fell into disrepair in the 1850s. It was not being big enough for the area and seated 400 people, and was eventually demolished in 1858.

Inside Christ Church, Gorey, facing east … the churches on this site have been part the history of Gorey for 400 years (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

A new seven-bay, double-height church designed by Joseph Welland opened in 1861 and was consecrated in 1862. The church is built on a cruciform plan, aligned along a slightly skewed liturgically-correct axis. The rock-faced opus incertum stone work is offset by silver-grey granite dressings that show good quality workmanship and produce a sober two-tone palette.

The slender profile of the windows underpins a mediaeval Gothic theme, with the chancel defined by an elegant Trinity Window. A slender ‘candle-snuffer’ spirelet embellishes the tower and is a picturesque eye-catcher in the north Wexford landscape.

Christ Church is built on a cruciform plan, with a four-bay, double-height double nave opening into single-bay double-height transepts centred on a two-bay double-height chancel at the east end. The single-bay four-stage tower on the north side is built on a square plan, abutting single-bay five-stage turret on a circular plan supporting a conical spirelet.

Christ Church has pitched slate roofs, terracotta ridge tiles, roll-topped cut-granite ‘Cavetto’ coping on the gables, cut-granite ‘Cavetto’ corbels, and cast-iron rainwater goods. There are lancet windows, Rose windows, cut-granite sill courses, cut or hammered granite block-and-start surrounds.

Inside Christ Church, Gorey, seen from the chancel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The church has been well maintained, and the form and massing survive intact with substantial parts of the original fabric, both outside and inside.

The decorative work in the church includes encaustic tiles, an exposed timber roof, a cloaked altar attributed to Charles William Harrison (1834-1903) of Dublin, timber pews, classical-style wall monuments, a Gothic-style pulpit on an octagonal plan, a Gothic-style clerk’s desk, a pointed-arch chancel arch, and brass communion rails, all adding to the artistic integrity of the building.

The church has a rich collection of stained-glass windows by Joshua Clarke (1868-1921), Harry Clarke (1881-1939), Ethel Rhind (1879-1952), Catherine ‘Kitty’ O’Brien (1881-1963) of An Túr Gloine, Michael Joseph Cunningham Buckley (1847-1905) of Youghal, and William Dowling (1907-1980) of the Harry Clarke Studios.

The one-light Lea-Wilson memorial window depicting Gideon may have been designed by Joshua Clarke (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Joshua Clarke designed the one-light Lea-Wilson memorial window, and Harry Clarke designed three windows for Christ Church, Gorey, between 1921 and 1923. These windows are the one-light Lea-Wilson memorial window, the one-light window depicting Saint Stephen (1922), the two-light window depicting Saint Luke and Saint Martin of Tours with the Beggar (1923), and a Rose window (1923).

The Lea-Wilson RIC Memorial window in Christ Church is signed ‘J Clarke & Sons’ at the bottom left, and ‘33 Nth Frederick Street, Dublin’ at the bottom right. It depicts Gideon and though it is said to be the work of Joshua Clarke, other sources say it is the work of his son Harry Clarke.

Percival Lea-Wilson, who was a Deputy Inspector of the Royal Irish Constabulary and was murdered by Republicans outside his home in Gorey on 15 June 1920.

The inscription below reads: ‘‘To the glory of God and in honoured and loving memory of Percival Lea-Wilson DIRIC who was killed 15th June 1920. Erected by his companions and Brother Freemasons.’

The Saint Stephen window by Harry Clarke was erected in memory of Percival Lea-Wilson by his widow, Dr Marie Lea-Wilson (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The Saint Stephen window was erected in memory of Percival Lea-Wilson by his widow, Dr Marie Lea-Wilson. In January 1921, Clarke drew a preliminary sketch for the Lea-Wilson memorial window, and the commission for a one-light window depicting Saint Stephen was confirmed by Mrs Marie Lea-Wilson in April.

Harry Clarke worked on the Saint Stephen window with Kathleen Quigley. On 21 December 1921, he wrote to Mrs Lea-Wilson, telling her the window would be completed by mid-January 1922 and stating: ‘The window has come out extremely well and you will be pleased to hear that I have successfully carried out your views with regard to the crest, and the coat of arms.’

The background of the window is silver grey decorated with colourful flowers and foliage, and it is bordered by white rectangles and beads of white, blue and red.

The top panels of the window show an angel in robes of magenta, ruby and gold. Her arms are outstretched and a large silver crown is suspended above Saint Stephen, the first martyr, who is portrayed in blue, purple and magenta robes. He holds a large emerald book and a martyr’s palm. His features are pale and angular and his feet are clad in leather sandals. The stones used to kill him are woven into the pattern of his robes.

In the lower panel, a child-like angel is in crimson robes. She has long flaxen hair and a headband of flowers and holds a banner with Saint Stephen’s final words, ‘Lord, lay not this sin to their charge’ (Acts 7: 60). The badge of the RIC is to the left of the angel and on her right is the Wilson family coat of arms with the motto Facta Non Verba (‘Deeds Not Words’).

The window is signed ‘Harry Clarke, Dublin 1922’ above the bottom right border. The inscription in the lower panel reads, ‘To the glory of God and in honoured and loving memory of Percival Lea-Wilson DIRIC who was killed 15th June 1920. Erected by his wife.’

The two-light window by Harry Clarke depicting Saint Luke and Saint Martin of Tours with the Beggar (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The Rector of Gorey, the Revd WHT Gahan, commissioned the two-light window depicting Saint Luke and Saint Martin of Tours with the Beggar in December 1922 as a memorial to a local surgeon Francis Nolan. The two-light window was a memorial to a local surgeon, Francis Nolan. It is signed ‘Clarke Dublin’ and was erected in autumn 1924.

The windows are long and narrow and set closely together. The background of the windows is white with streaks of silver, and the borders are decorated with abstract and floral motifs and tiny blue beads.

The top panels of the first light depict Saint Louis IX, King of France, wearing a golden crown and carrying a martyr’s palm. He wears a blue cloak and robes of purple and gold. His arms are crossed and he is surrounded by a crimson halo of light and colourful blossoms.

The main panels depict Saint Martin of Tours holding an ornate silver sword. He wears a crimson and gold cloak over a silver-grey suit of chain mail and a helmet, denoting his early career as a soldier. A ragged beggar with a sad expression kneels before him, dressed in blue and grey scraps of cloth.

Saint Martin of Tours was enlisted in the Roman army in his youth. As his regiment was approaching a town, Saint Martin took pity on a ragged beggar and cut his cloak in two, giving one half to the beggar. In this window, he is depicted at the moment he cut his cloak to clothe the beggar.

The lower panel depicts the church in Marmoutier, outside of Tours, founded by Saint in the year 372 when he became Bishop of Tours. The church inset is decorated with blossoms and foliage.

The top of the second light depicts Saint Luke in a blue cloak and robes, surrounded by colourful foliage. He holds a book and a quill as the author of Saint Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.

The main panels depict the bearded Saint Luke, physician and author, wearing a blue cloak decorated with floral motifs, an elaborate turquoise collar, and a long golden sash. His outer robes are blue, purple and magenta, worn over garments of jade and grey. He holds a parchment in his hands. To the left of the saint is his emblem, the bull or ox, symbolising the first story in his Gospel where Zachary makes a sacrifice in the Temple.

The lower panel shows Saint Luke in blue robes decorated with white motifs and a golden sash, holding a staff and a lily, surrounded by rich-coloured blossoms.

The inscription on the window reads, ‘To the Glory of God and in loving memory of Francis Nolan PRCSI this window and the Rose Window in this transept are erected by some of his friends. Born Feb[ruary] 22 1870, Died March 25 1922.’

The 12-light Rose window representing the Apostles by Harry Clarke is a memorial to Dr Francis Nolan (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

At the same time, the Revd WHT Gahan also commissioned a 12-light Rose window representing the Apostles in December 1922 as a memorial to Francis Nolan. It was designed by Harry Clarke and was made by the Clarke studios in Dublin.

The window has 12 decorative abstract panels, denoting the 12 apostles. The central panel is a decorative hexagon in green and turquoise, with buds of red, purple and lilac.

The 12 main panels alternate between lights of deep crimson decorated with blue, lilac and green, and purple and blue lights decorated with magenta, ruby and gold. The outer section is made up of 12 small panels depicting green foliage.

The three-light East Window in memory of Lucie Catherine Owen by Michael Buckley of Youghal (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Other windows in Christ Church are by Shrigley and Hunt of Lancaster, Ethel Rhind and Catherine O’Brien of An Túr Gloine, Michael Joseph Cunningham Buckley of Youghal, and William Dowling of the Harry Clarke Studios.

The East Window is a three-light window in memory of Lucie Catherine Owen (1903) by Michael Buckley of Cox, Sons, Buckley & Co, of Youghal and London. The inscription reads: ‘Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest’ (see Matthew 11: 28).

Three scenes from the life of Christ in a window by Catherine O’Brien (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Catherine O’Brien designed the 1956 window in the north nave with three depictions: Christ in the Wilderness (top), Christ and Saint Peter walking on the water (middle) and Christ and the Disciples in the Storm (bottom).

The ‘Angel of Peace’ window … is it by Catherine O’Brien or Ethel Rhind? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The ‘Angel of Peace’ window (1910) in the south aisle, in memory of George Warren, is also attributed to Catherine O’Brien, although other sources say it is the work of Ethel Rhind of An Túr Gloine.

William Dowling’s window depicting Saint Brigid and the Beggar (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

William Dowling of the Harry Clarke Studios designed the south aisle window showing Saint Brigid and the Beggar (1922), commissioned by the Warren family.

The West Window (1864) in memory of James Thomas Stopford (1794-1858), 4th Earl of Courtown, was erected ‘by his tenants, neighbours and friends.’

The Good Shepherd window in the South Transept (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The Virgin Mary as Charity … a window in the South Transept (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Two windows in the South Transept were commissioned by the Ellis family and are by Shrigley and Hunt of Lancaster: the Good Shepherd (1885) and the Virgin Mary as Charity (1885).

An opus sectile panel by Ethel Rhind in memory of Arnold George Ellis (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

An opus sectile panel on a wall has been attributed to Ethel Rhind but appears to be the work of William Gasby (1863-1941). It shows two angels holding a scroll, and is in memory of Arnold George Ellis (1905-1924) of Ramsgate, Gorey.

Other monuments on the walls commemorate many parishioners, including monuments from the earlier churches to Colonel Lambert Theodore Walpole (1798) and Major Abraham Augustus Nunn (1805). Throughout the church there are many reminders too of the Ven William Samuel Parker, who was Rector of Gorey (1947-1986) and Archdeacon of Ferns (1971-1986), at a time when I was working with the local newspapers in Co Wexford in the 1970s.

Christ Church was renovated in 1983 and forms a self-contained group with neighbouring Christ Church Old School on Gorey’s Main Street. The church is set in landscaped grounds with cut-granite panelled piers and cast-iron double gates.

Today, Christ Church, Gorey, is open seven days a week and the Rector of Gorey is Canon Mark Hayden.

Christ Church, Gorey, Co Wexford … open seven days a week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Further reading:

Lucy Costigan and Michael Cullen, Strangest Genius (Dublin: The History Press Ireland, 2010)

Nicola Gordon Bowe, David Caron and Michael Wynne, Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass (Newbridge: Irish Academic Press, revised edition, 2021)

The Church of the Annunciation, a church in Wexford with a rich collection of artistic details

The Church of the Annunciation, a innovative modern church serving the new suburbs of Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

As I was leaving Wexford late last week, I decided to stop in Clonard and visit the Church of the Annunciation, a modern church I had never visited before but that was recommended to me because of its architectural design and its stained-glass.

The name Clonard (An Chluain Ard) means ‘The High Meadow.’ Clonard Castle, built in the 14th century, was associated with the Sutton family, while Clonard House was built in the late 18th century by the Hatton family, whose members included William Hatton (1760-1810), a leader of the United Irishmen in 1798, and was later associated with the MacQuillan family.

The Clonard area was still meadowlands a mile or so west of Wexford town in the 1950s. Residential and industrial development began in the 1960s, as Wexford town began to expand. German-owned factories opened in the area, and local enterprises moved to the Wexford Industrial Estate at Whitemill in Clonard.

Inside the Church of the Annunciation in Clonard, designed by Maurice Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald, Reddy and Associates (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The Catholic clergy in Wexford town realised the pace of change and proposed acquiring land in Clonard for a future church, initially as a relief church for the Church of the Assumption, Bride Street. The proposed site at Townparks bordered the GAA Park, Clonard Road, Clonard Avenue and Liam Mellows Park.

Kennedy Park School was built on the site, but it was not close enough to a growing population, and the church bought land once owned by the Mercy Convent that had been sold to Wexford Corporation. A decision was made to build a church and a community centre at the same time.

The new church was designed by Albert Lennon and Ceall Ó Dúnlaing. Lennon was a Wexford-born architect who had set up his own practice in 1956. The builders were John Ferguson & Sons. The foundation stone for the Church of the Annunciation and the Community Centre was laid by Bishop Donal Herlihy of Ferns on 23 December 1973.

The first church on the site was designed by Albert Lennon and Ceall Ó Dúnlaing and now serves as the Day Chapel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The architects described the church as small and intimate for daily use, with seating for about 220 people. This would extend to 770 people when the hall was included. In a novel concept, sliding doors would link the church with the hall. The innovative spire or fleche of fibreglass on steel latticed trusses was designed in similar proportions to the spires of the ‘Twin Churches’ in Wexford town. It looked striking, but structural problems developed later due to its new design.

The church furniture was inspired by Celtic designs. The richly decorated interior included a limestone-fronted altar that is no longer there but with a motif representing the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, inspired by the North Cross at Castledermot, Co Kildare. The tabernacle door depicting the Crucifixion is based on early Irish open bronze work. The cross on the ambo was repeated on the church door panels, but these too are gone.

Two small windows on the north wall by the main door representing the Crucifixion and the Resurrection were designed by Stanley and Alan Tomlin of Irish Stained Glass Ltd. William Earley worked with the Tomlins in designing and producing the large, beautiful stained-glass window on the east wall representing the Annunciation.

William Earley designed the large window depicting the Annunciation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

In later changes, the two smaller windows and an adjacent row of six small windows were removed and stored, but the Annunciation window remains in the original church, now known as the Day Chapel. Over the years it has had minor repairs and restoration by Wexford Glass Company Ltd and the stained-glass artist Vera Whelan.

The church was dedicated by Bishop Herlihy on 8 December 1974, and Clonard became a separate parish in 1976, with the Very Revd Patrick Cummins as the first parish priest.

Fundraising were so enthusiastic in Wexford that a debt of over £100,000 in 1976 was reduced to £30,000 three years later. When the fundraising committee handed over to the finance committee, the amount raised was only £2,000 short of the target.

The church was consecrated on 25 March 1979, when Bishop Herlihy led prayers that the church might remain a gateway of peace, that it might never be without God’s blessing and that all those approaching might receive comfort.

The fan-shaped seating in the church brings the congregation as close as possible to the celebrant (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

An unusual ecumenical event took place on 12 April 1980 when the Lutheran Church held a confirmation service. Christine Sassmannshausen and her sister Mareike were members of the Clonard folk group, and Bishop Herlihy welcomed Pastor Kurt Pruessmann of the Lutheran Church in Ireland to the Church of the Annunciation.

Meanwhile, the needs for change were becoming apparent. The community centre and church were used to the full, but linking the church and hall created difficulties: sounds from the hall were often inappropriate during funerals or special prayers in the adjoining church, it was often necessary to adjust the timing of events, and discos in the community were discontinued due to ‘disturbance.’ By the early 1980s, the parishioners were anxious to have a new, larger church that was separate from the community centre.

Father Lory Kehoe, then parish priest, invited parishioners to a meeting in 1992 to discuss building a new parish church. Father Denis Lennon was appointed parish priest in 1993, with Father Colm Murphy as the new curate.

Maurice Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald, Reddy and Associates was the architect and Richard Browne and Sons of Wexford were the main contractors.

The church was designed to seat 650 people, with the furthest pew only 10 rows from the sanctuary and about 15 metres from the altar (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The priest and committee members travelled widely to see other churches and presented the architects with a list of 30 major considerations. The church was to be fan-shaped, to seat 650 people and to face the direction of Clonard Road rather than towards the GAA park.

The foundation stone of the new church was laid by Bishop Brendan Comiskey on 21 December 1996. The commemorative plaque reads, ‘The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ Our Lord.’

Maurice Fitzgerald envisaged an interlinking church and social centre that could operate independently. The church was to seat 650 persons in a fan-shaped seating arrangement, bringing the congregation as close as possible to the celebrant. The project was cost more than £2.5 million.

The plan was that ‘internally the atmosphere is to be intimate and prayerful, externally the building is to convey an image of refuge and peace.’ The original church would become a Day Chapel with seating for 60 to 80 people.

the Stations of the Cross by Gillian Deeny emphasise the role of women in the Passion story (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

A significant feature is the way the furthest pew is only 10 rows from the sanctuary area and about 15 metres from the altar. As the architect wrote, ‘This arrangement reinforces the intimacy of the relationship between the congregation and the celebrant. All have clear uninterrupted sight of the sanctuary area.’

The church was blessed and opened on 11 October 1998. Hilary Murphy wrote in the Wexford People that ‘it was a time for savouring the satisfaction of a job well done and for expressing admiration and gratitude for the Trojan input by so many and by certain individuals in particular.’

The architect selected American white oak as material for the Altar and the seating. They were made by Irish Contract Seating of Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim.

The design of the baptismal font emphasises that Baptism is in the name of the Trinity (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

In an unusual arrangement, the Stations of the Cross are set in the curved outer wall of the church in 14 windows designed by Gillian Deeny of Wicklow. In her windows, she emphasises the role of women in the Passion story.

Her windows were made in association with Abbey Glass, where she worked with the cut-out shapes of coloured glass, the pigment being a mixture of lead oxide, ground glass and colour. Each window is signed by the artist.

The stonework setting for the tabernacle is a cantilevered piece of Co Dublin granite. The baptismal font is of carved Carlow limestone. The design concept of the three bowls emphasises that Baptism is in the name of the Trinity. They are the work of sculptor Paddy Roe, who carved the small holy water fonts in the porches.

A relief work on the wall at the Candle Shrine in the Baptistry area represents the Virgin Mary and the Children of the World.

A Pascal Cross inspired by Armenian and Georgian icons (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The church has two interesting decorative crosses. One is a copy of the Reliquary Cross of Pope Pascal I, depicting the infancy cycle with baptism. The original dates from the ninth century and is in the Vatican Museum. The other is a Pascal Cross inspired by Armenian and Georgian icons.

The tabernacle door is the work of metalwork artist Jane Murtagh of Cratloe, Co Clare. Her door represents the bread from heaven, and is set into a granite surround that suggests the circular shape of the host. Her inspirations included plants in the Bible, Brother Brian Murphy’s Bible garden in Glenstal Abbey, and 20th century studies on the origins of the manna in the Exodus story.

She read how two professors at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem discovered that the manna was produced not by the tamarisk tree itself, but by two species of cochineal insect that fed on its leaves. ‘The viscous substance falls at night and appears in the morning as balls the size of a hazel nut. It has to be collected early before the ants get to it. The manna was eaten raw or cooked, sometimes mixed with meal.’

The Wexford potter Paul Maloney made and donated the ceramic altar vessels: a chalice, cruet set, ciborium and finger bowl.

Terry Dunne’s hanging in the east porch represents the blessed who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The hangings at the altar and the ambo were designed and woven by Terry Dunne in 1998. His other designs hang in the east and west porches: the hanging in the east porch represents the blessed who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb; that in the west porch depicts the Angels and little birds flying in mid-air gathering for the supper of the Lord.

The pipe organ is by the Wexford organ builder Paul Neiland. Some years earlier, when the Mercy Convent at Summerhill closed, the chapel organ was given to Clonard parish. The organ dated from 1870 and only some of the instrument was suitable for reuse. But a set of pipes was incorporated into the new organ along with other pipes that are now part of the pedal division.

The organ was built at the Neiland workshops, now at Newtown, Killinick. A considerable quantity of stock pipework was used and the finished instrument has a total of 1,093 pipes ranging in size from half an inch to 16 ft. The organ was installed at a recital on 8 June 2000, when Paul Neiland spoke about the organ and organ building and Eithne Scallan, the local historian who has written the history of the parish, introduced the music.

The pipe organ is by the Wexford organ builder Paul Neiland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

By 2006, the church could boast a second pipe organ. The small, single-manual Telford organ dating from 1843 came from the Presentation Convent in Enniscorthy, and is used in the Day Chapel.

When the church was being rebuilt, it became necessary to remove the original spire and it was agreed to have a real bell in a modern belfry or bell tower. An old bell procured from Hayward Mills in England came from Saint John’s Church (Church of England) in Great Marsden, Lancashire

The Very Revd Barry Larkin was appointed the Administrator of Clonard Parish last year (2021). Monsignor Denis Lennon is the parish curate. Sunday Masses are at 9 am, 10 am and 11.30 am.

The bell came from Saint John’s Church in Great Marsden, Lancashire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Additional reading:

Eithne Scallan, Clonard Wexford The Church Of The Annunciation 1974-2007 (Wexford: Clonard Parish, 2021).

The ruins of Saint Mary’s Church on Mary’s Lane, one of the finest mediaeval churches in Wexford

Saint Mary’s Church dates back to 1365 and was one of the finest mediaeval churches in Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

Walking along South Main Street in Wexford last week, I turned up steep, narrow Mann’s Lane, opposite Oyster Lane, and found myself halfway along Mary’s Lane, where it curves in a semi-circle around the walls and ruins of mediaeval Saint Mary’s Church, one of the mediaeval churches within the walls of Wexford Town.

Mary’s Lane is an old and narrow lane in the centre of the town. It runs parallel to South Main Street, stretching from Peter Street to Bride Street. In the past, it was also known as Bride Lane, named after Sain Bridget’s Parish.

Mary’s Lane is named after the old Norse-Irish parish of Saint Mary’s. The entrance to the ruins of Saint Mary’s Church, which was built during the Middle Ages, can be found at the southern end of the lane, close to the entrance at Bride Street.

The curve on Mary’s Lane encircling Saint Mary’s churchyard and the ruins of Saint Mary’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The mediaeval Saint Mary’s parish covered a mere 4.5 ha (11 acres). The parish was bounded by Saint Patrick’s parish to the north, Saint Peter’s and Saint Bridget’s to the west, Saint Doologe’s to the south, and Wexford Harbour to the east.

Peter Street (Gibson Lane) and Cinema Lane (Harpur’s Lane) marked its northern limits, Clifford Street was its western limit, and its southern boundary was at Stone Bridge. South Main Street, from Peter Street to Stone Bridge runs through the centre of this former parish. There is a reference in 1592 to Royal Street in Saint Mary’s Parish, although the street name has not survived.

The first reference to Saint Mary’s Church and its clergy dates from 1365. This is said to have been one of the finest mediaeval churches in Wexford. It resembled Saint Patrick’s Church in design, and though smaller was more beautiful in detail.

Like Saint Patrick’s Church and Selskar Church, Saint Mary’s Church had a double nave. The capitals of the pillars, the mouldings of the arches, the tracery of the widows were more ornamental than those of either Selskar or Saint Patrick’s.

Dr Nicholas French (1604-1678), Roman Catholic Bishop of Ferns (1645-1678), was the last Parish Priest of Saint Mary’s from 1638 until he was driven into exile in 1651. He lived in a large house at the top of Peter Street (Gibson Lane) that was later divided into two houses. The rear of his house is traditionally known as the ‘Bishop’s Garden’ and stretched down to the walls of Saint Mary’s churchyard.

The steps and locked gates leading into the ruins of Saint Mary’s Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Saint Mary’s was plundered and destroyed by Cromwellian troops in 1649. French was not living in his house in Peter Street at the time of Cromwell, but was ill in New Ross.

French wrote to the papal nuncio, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Rinuccini, then in Brussels, and in his letter described the attack on the priests, people and church of Saint Mary’s: ‘There before God’s Altar fell many sacred victims, holy priests of the Lord, others who were seized outside the precincts of the Church were scourged with whips; others hanged and others put to death by various cruel tortures.’

He went on the describe the Cromwellian slaughters in Wexford: ‘The best blood of the citizens was shed; the very squares were inundated with it and there was scarcely a house that was not defiled with carnage: and full of wailing.

‘In my own palace, a youth, hardly 16 years of age, an amiable boy, as also my gardener and sacristan, were cruelly butchered, and the chaplain whom I caused to remain behind me at home was transfixed with six mortal wounds. These things were perpetrated in open day by the impious assassins, and from that moment I have never seen my city or my flock or my native land or my kindred.’

A painting of the interior of Saint Mary’s Church by Gabriel Beranger in 1780

Bishop French went into exile in 1651 and became an auxiliary bishop of Santiago de Compostela (1652–1666), of Paris (1666–1668), and of Ghent (1668–1678). He died in Ghent on 23 August 1678.

It is said the bell from Saint Mary’s was given to the Church of Ireland parish church in Castlebridge.

A century later, the artist Gabriel Beranger painted the interior of Saint Mary’s Church during his tour of Wicklow and Wexford in 1779-1780. His painting shows the chancel arch of Saint Mary’s and elegant arches with round columns. The artist also recorded a tomb with the effigy of a woman.

The ruined walls of Saint Mary’s continued to stand against wind and weather until 4 June 1822 when they were struck by a thunderbolt in a storm that raged over the town.

Today all that stands is a single wall, a lonely sentinel guarding faithfully the tragic memories of the past.

Houses on Mary’s Lane beside the ruins of Saint Mary’s Church … the house with dormer windows was a Mass House during the Penal Law era (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The locked gates of Saint Mary’s Church and churchyard stand at the top of a flight of stone steps. Both ends of Mary’s Lane are occupied by residential properties.

In the 1841 census, Saint Mary’s Parish had a population of 413 people living in 75 houses. Mary’s Lane is one of the few remaining examples of how ordinary working class people once lived in small terraced houses in narrow lanes in Wexford.

The house with dormer windows mid-way along Mary’s Lane was used as a ‘Mass House’ during the days of the Penal Laws. When the prohibitions under the Penal Laws were relaxed, the house continued as a prayer centre. It was referred to as a chapel and school room in 1853, before the ‘Twin Churches’ were built on Rowe Street and Bride Street.

Until the ‘Twin Churches’ were built in the 1850s, Catholics in Wexford had no official parish church, and the town was served by this ‘Mass House’ and the Franciscan Friary chapel at the junction of School Street, Mary Street and Lower John Street.

The Catholic Young Men’s Society was founded in this house in the 1850s. when the CYMS moved to larger premises at Common Quay Street in 1856, the house returned to domestic use.

The Peter Street entrance to Mary’s Lane is flanked on both sides by old buildings that were originally used as malt houses, dating back to beginning of the 1800s. Today they are mostly used as storage facilities and as retail units by a local business, Colman Doyle Homestores.

Colman Doyle Homestores at the Peter Street entrance to Mary’s Lane (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Mary’s Lane should not be confused with Mary Street, which was not is Saint Mary’s Parish, but was divided between three parishes: Saint Iberius and Saint Patrick’s at the bottom of the street, and Saint John’s at the top of the street.

Mary Street is a small and sloping one-way street that runs from the junction of School Street and Lower John Street down to High Street. In the 1970s, I lived first on School Street, and later on High Street.

In the past, Mary Street was once known as Chapel Lane, because of its small size and its close proximity to the Friary.

In the Middle Ages, Mary Street was the location of Raby’s Gate, sometimes called Friar’s Gate, or Keyser’s Gate, one of the six public gates that provided access to the walled mediaeval town of Wexford.

The bell tower of the Franciscan Friary framed by the houses of Mary Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)