Archive of the Month01 May 26

Mystery in Miniature: Can You Identify This Unknown Church?

By Rachel Bennett, Assistant Archivist, RCB Library

Following on from April’s Archive of the Month, for the month of May we are returning to the remarkable illuminated address presented to the Rt Revd Robert Samuel Gregg in 1894. While the address as a whole is an impressive example of late 19th–century illumination, this time we focus on the detail of the miniature architectural illustrations by John Gilbert that are included within the address, with a brief examination of the buildings that inspired the artwork.

These miniature watercolours, which are of very high quality, depict a selection of churches from across the dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross. With the digitisation of the illumination, Bishop Colton disseminated the images throughout the diocese and with the help of various community members, we have now been able to identify eight of the nine buildings that are seen in the address, but we need your help to identify the final church!

The Cathedrals of Cork, Cloyne & Ross

The first three miniature architectural portraits to feature are St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork, St Colman’s Cathedral, Cloyne and St Fachtna’s Cathedral, Rosscarbery; which make up the cathedrals of Cork, Cloyne and Ross.

St Fin Barre’s Cathedral was designed in an early French gothic style by the architect William Burges in 1862. Construction of the cathedral started in 1865, with Bishop John Gregg, his father laying the foundation stone. The cathedral was consecrated on St Andrew’s day 1870. Prior to completion of the project, Gregg senior died at the palace in Cork in May 1878, and in the July, his son Robert Gregg was enthroned as Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross. Gregg junior took on the responsibility of completing the cathedral, a task of deep personal significance to him. The final stages of building, including the completion of the spire and tower, were finished in 1879.

The history of St Colman’s Cathedral can be traced back to monastic origins as early as the 6th century, with historians indicating the site may have originally been used as a monastic school. Extensive renovations occurred in the 18th century with significant improvements made both internally and externally, however the original 13th century cruciform remains the core of the current cathedral.

Similar to Cloyne Cathedral, the site of St Fachtna’s Cathedral in Rosscarbery can be traced back to monastic origins. However unlike Cloyne, there are no ruins that remain. Records indicate that a church has likely existed on this site since the 10th century, but in the mid–17th century, the original building suffered extensive damage with both the nave and tower being destroyed. The present building was erected in the early 19th century; however, the architect remains unknown. Notably, St Fachtna’s is the smallest of the Cathedrals in Ireland and features the only tower in Ireland which has a ringer’s gallery, meaning that the bell ringing can be witnessed by the congregation.

St Luke’s Church, Summerhill, Cork

St Michael and All Angels, Corkbeg

St Mary, Shandon (Sunday’s Well) 

St Mary’s Church, Shandon is the seventh image included in the address, with the illustration portraying a striking freestanding Gothic Revival Church. Designed by architect W. H. Hill the building was consecrated in 1879 and features a three–stage entrance tower with a limestone spire, a three–bay nave, and gabled transepts. The church displays a lot of typical gothic features and was a popular parish church until its deconsecration in 1970.

The Round Tower of Cloyne & St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny

The final two paintings differ slightly in focus. One depicts the iconic round tower at Cloyne, a striking early medieval structure closely associated with the historic cathedral site at St Colman’s, Cloyne (featured in figure 1). The round tower, which stands on a site opposite the cathedral originally stood at 102 feet in height, however a severe thunderstorm in January 1749 saw lightning damage the tower, with Bishop Bennett stating in 1813 that “the vaulted stone roof of the tower was never repaired but the height was lowered more than six feet.”

The other painting depicts St Canice’s Cathedral, which also features a prominent round tower as seen in Gilbert’s illustration. While the present building dates back to the 13th century, the round tower is believed to be significantly older, dating back to the 9th century. Although outside the dioceses of Cork, inclusion of St Canice’s attests to its personal significance to Gregg, who was the first bishop to be consecrated there since the Reformation, thereby connecting this otherwise geographically distinct site to the illuminated address.