32 Six Boys from Ballaghadereen with the Same Parents … but who was Born the Legitimate Heir?

FIGURE 11: All Saints’ Church, Grangegorman: Charles French and Catherine Maree were married here for a second time in 1854 (photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

In 1869, six Irish brothers arrived as boarders at Downside Abbey, the Benedictine-run Catholic public school in Somerset, near Bath. Charles, John, William, Arthur, Richard and John French were all born almost a year apart: 1851, 1853, 1854, 1855, 1857 and 1858.Their father, Charles French, the third Lord de Freyne, had died the previous year, and in the style of the aristocracy of the day, each boy was enrolled with the honorific prefix of ‘the Honorable’ before his given name.

They must have appeared like peas in a pod. But back at their family home in Frenchpark, outside Ballaghadereen, County Roscommon, it was still not clear which of these six boys was the rightful heir to the family title. Who would be the fourth Lord de Freyne?

Charles French was born on 21 October 1851, the eldest son of Charles French and Catherine Maree; John followed on 13 March 1853, and William John French on 21 April 1854. Surely, as the eldest son, Charles should have been enrolled at Downside as Lord de Freyne, successor to his father’s title and estates? But the lawyers were at work.

It transpired the parents of these six boys had been married not once but twice – to each other. Which was the legitimate marriage and who was born the legitimate heir to the family title?

These questions continued to entertain legal minds into the following decade, and the family title, Baron de Freyne, of Coolavin in County Sligo, remained in a Victorian limbo. The Roll of the House of Lords, which was issued each year, shows blanks against the name of the holder of the de Freyne peerage in 1875 and 1876, indicating the matter was still undecided almost a decade after the boys’ father had died. As the legal wrangles continued, the vast French estates in County Roscommon were administered on behalf of the family by Valentine Blake Dillon, Crown Solicitor for County Sligo.

Dillon’s daughter Nannie later married the third of these boys, John French, and he was a brother of theYoung Ireland politician John Blake Dillon (1814–1866). But he was also familiar with family disputes over heirs and titles: the succession to the Dillon title of Earl of Roscommon had been challenged twice in the 1790s, twice again in the nineteenth century, and once more with the death of the last earl in 1850. The confusions in the French family tree were as complicated and as twisted as those in the Dillon family tree, and both are extremely difficult to disentangle.

The boys’ father, Charles French (1790–1860), 3rd Baron de Freyne of Coolavin, was born into the French family of Frenchpark House, and for many generations, members of the family sat in the Irish House of Commons as MPs for County Roscommon. John French, MP for Roscommon, was about to be given a seat in the Irish House of Lords as Baron Dangar when he died in 1775 before formalities were finalised.

His younger brother, Arthur (1728–1799),also MP for Roscommon, turned down the offer of the same peerage. But eventually a title came into the family when Arthur French (1786–1856), MP for Roscommon (1821–32),was made Baron de Freyne, of Artagh,County Roscommon, in 1839. However, Arthur and his wife Mary McDermott had no children, and when Arthur was widowed, it was obvious the title would die with him. He was given a new but similar title in 1851 as Baron de Freyne, of Coolavin in County Sligo. This time, however, his younger brothers, John, Charles and Fitzstephen French, were named heirs to the title, in the hope that this branch of the French family would always have a titled representative.

When Lord de Freyne died in 1856,the older title, dating from 1839, died out, but the newer title, handed out in 1851, was inherited by his first younger brother, the Rev. John French (1788–1863). He was the Rector of Goresbridge, County Kilkenny, and was more interested in breeding Irish red setters than either his parish or the House of Lords. When he died in 1863, the family title passed to the next surviving brother, Charles French (1790–1868), as the third Lord de Freyne.

Charles was happily married with a large family of seven children, six sons and a daughter. It must have seemed there would be no problem of the family estate and the family title having male heirs.

On 13 February 1851, when he was in his sixties, Charles French married a local, illiterate woman, Catherine Maree from Fairymount. She has been described as a ‘peasant girl’ who was born around 1830 or 1831. He was more than three times her age: she was 20, he was almost 61, and the marriage was performed by a local Catholic priest. Catherine and Charles quickly had three children, one after another: Charles (1851), John (1853) and William John French (1854). By the time William was born on 21 April 1854, it was obvious that Charles and his children were in line to the family title and estates, and the legal validity of the marriage was questioned: Catherine was a Roman Catholic, Charles was a member of the Church of Ireland, and the surviving legacy of the Penal Laws, even in the 1850s, meant a member of the Church of Ireland could only legitimately marry in the Church of Ireland.

Charles and Catherine were quietly married a second time in 1854 in the hope of legitimising their three children and ensuring succession to the title and estates. This second wedding, on 17 May 1854 in All Saints’ Church, Grangegorman, Dublin, was performed by the Rev. William Maturin. Charles gave his address as the Albert Hotel, Dominick Street, Dublin, and Catherine gave hers as Anna Villa, North Circular Road, making them residents of the parish. He was 63 and she was 23; he describes himself as a bachelor, she as a spinster, although their third child had been born four weeks earlier. She was illiterate and signed the register with an X.

Charles and Catherine had four more children: Arthur French (1855–1913), Richard Patrick French (1857–1921), Robert French (1858–1920), and Mary Josephine French (1859–1919), who married Valentine Joseph Blake (1842–1912). Lord de Freyne celebrated his 68th birthday on the day his youngest son was born in 1858. He died on 28 October 1868, and in 1869, all six boys arrived as boarders at Downside to be educated as Catholics, despite the confusion of their parents’ marriages.

But it was still uncertain which son was going to succeed to the family title. Eventually, lawyers decided the 1851 marriage was invalid and any children born in that marriage were illegitimate. The first three sons continued to use the prefix ‘The Hon’, reserved for the legitimate children of a peer. But Arthur French, the first son born after the 1854 marriage, succeeded as 4th Baron de Freyne. His mother, the former Catherine Maree, died on 13 November 1900.

Arthur French was known as a cruel landlord. When his tenants refused to pay their rent, he took leading members of the Irish Party to court in 1902, accusing them of incitement. He had the doubtful pleasure of reading his own obituary in The Times on 11 September 1913. On 23 September 1913, The Times reported: ‘Lord de Freyne, whose death was wrongly announced last Thursday week, died yesterday morning at his residence, Frenchpark, Co Roscommon, in his 59th year’.

Arthur’s older brothers, excluded by law from inheriting the titles and estates, continued to live as though their parents’ first marriage was legitimate: Charles, the eldest son, was MP for County Roscommon (1873–80); John, the second son, was a Resident Magistrate for Kerry, Limerick and Roscommon; all three used the prefix ‘the Hon,’ asserting the legitimacy of their parents’ first marriage. John French died on 23 May 1916, and the family is remembered in a brass plaque in the south porch of the Church of the Holy Name on Beechwood Avenue in Ranelagh, Dublin, where his widow insisted on describing him as the legitimate-born son of a peer, ‘The Honble John French’.

Sources and Further Reading:

Burke’s Peerage, Debrett’s Peerage, various editions, s.v. ‘de Freyne’.
Parish Register, All Saints’ Church, Grangegorman, Dublin.
The Times (London), 11 September 1913, 23 September 1913.

FIGURE 12: Frenchpark, near Ballaghaderreen, Co. Roscommon: the house was demolished in the 1970s and the rubble was used as infill for a new creamery building

‘Six Boys from Ballaghadereen with the Same Parents … but who was Born the Legitimate Heir?’ is Chapter 32 in Salvador Ryan (ed), Birth, Marriage and Death among the Irish, Dublin: Wordwell, 288 pp, ISBN: 978-1-913934-61-3, €25, pp 144-148

‘A Gaelic Chieftain’ surveys the landscape above a battle site

‘The Gaelic Chieftain’ by Maurice Harron off the N4, near Boyle, Co Roscommon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

The sculptures I stopped to see and admire on my way back from Sligo early last week included ‘The Gaelic Chieftain,’ a majestic road-side sculpture overlooking the site of the Battle of the Curlew Pass near Boyle, Co Roscommon.

This sculpture by Maurice Harron is on the N4 bypass about 2 km north-east of the battlefield. Nearby is a picnic area with views across Lough Key. But the peaceful setting of ‘The Gaelic Chieftain’ belies the brutal history of this area.

Maurice Harron’s sculpture was unveiled 20 years ago on 12 April 1999 to mark the 400th anniversary of the battle. It depicts Red Hugh O’Donnell who, on 15 August 1599, led a Gaelic Irish force to ambush the English as they marched through a pass in the Curlew Mountains.

This was the last victory by the rebels during the war, and one of the most important battles during the Nine Years’ War. It was fought between and English force under Conyers Clifford and Irish rebels under Red Hugh O’Donnell, who ambushed the English forces marching through the pass.

The English forces suffered heavy casualties and were defeated. Losses by allied Irish forces were not recorded but were probably minimal. It was a resounding victory for Irish rebels in a war that would lead to the Flight of the Earls and the Plantation of Ulster.

‘The Gaelic Chieftain’ is arguably the most experimental and impressive piece by the sculptor Maurice Harron. He was born in 1946 in Derry, grew up there, and studied sculpture at the Ulster College of Art and Design in Belfast.

Much of his work is public art sculpture and he has works on display throughout Ireland. His other acclaimed commissions include ‘Reconcilition/Hands Across the Divide’ in Carlisle Square, Derry, overlooking the Craigavon Bridge on the River Foyle.

His ‘Let the Dance Begin’ (2000), near the Lifford Bridge in Strabane, Co Tyrone, was commissioned by the Strabane Lifford Development Commission. It features five semi-abstract figures – a fiddler, a flautist, a drummer and two dancers – on the theme of music and dance, each 4 metres high and is made of stainless steel, bronze and ceramic tile mosaic. It is one of the largest pieces of public art in Ireland.

‘The Workers’ (2001) is a monument made from stainless steel and stone and is located at The Dry Arch Roundabout in Letterkenny, Co Donegal. It commemorates a generation of men who worked on building the original bridge and train track at the Dry Arch. He also created ‘The Rabble Children’ monument in Letterkenny.

He also has work in Britain and the Us, including the Irish Famine Memorial on Cambridge Common in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which was dedicated on 23 July 1997.

‘The Gaelic Chieftain’ by Maurice Harron overlooks the site of the Battle of the Curlew Pass (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Saintly sculpture by a riverside walk in Carrick-on-Shannon

Will Fogarty’s sculpture of Saint Eidin in the Linear Park by the banks of the River Shannon in Carrick-on-Shannon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

On the way back from Sligo at the beginning of last week, two of us stopped in Carrick-on-Shannon, which straddles the River Shannon on the borders of Co Leitrim and Co Roscommon, to enjoy a riverside walk in the Linear Park.

There too I was pleased to see the beautiful sculpture of Saint Eidin, a local seventh century saint, by the West Limerick sculptor Will Fogarty of Fear na Coillte Chainsaw Sculptures.

Will Fogarty carved this new statue on the site and it was unveiled in August 2018.

Saint Eidin’s feast day is 5 July. She founded her convent on the shore of Lough Eidin, now known as Drumharlow Lake, just two miles from Carrick-on-Shannon. She died sometime before 700 AD.

She is the patron saint of Tumna parish and is buried in the ruins of a small church just north of Carrick-on-Shannon. Tuaim mná is mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters, and the names means ‘the tomb of the woman.’

In 1834, 11 purse gold balls believed to date back to 800 BC, were dug up near her convent ruins. Nine of the gold balls are on display in the National Museum of Ireland. The 11 bright stones at the foot of the statue are reminders of this find and of the prayer stones found at her tomb at Tumna.

Fish by the feet of Will Fogarty’s sculpture of Saint Eidin by the banks of the River Shannon in Carrick-on-Shannon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Will Fogarty’s other sculptures include three sculptures in the Forge Park beside the river walk in Tarbert, Co Kerry. He was commissioned by the Tarbert Development Association in 2014 to work on the tall stumps of three trees that had to be shortened after the storms of the New Year in 2014. He cut two faces from fables into two of the stumps and the Salmon of Knowledge from the Fianna myth into the third stump.

The two faces are of wood spirits; one is ‘The Spirit of Night,’ asleep with a wise owl by his beard; the second face, ‘The Spirit of Dawn,’ is awake to represent the dawning of the day, and has fish jumping out of his beard.

A third image, ‘The Salmon of Knowledge,’ marks Tarbert’s connection with salmon fishing in the River Shannon and also celebrates the local centre of knowledge at Tarbert Comprehensive School.

Will Fogarty also fashioned a number of seats from the tops of the trees he felled, and these make for a perfect spot to stop at in the Forge Park these days and to enjoy the summer sunshine.

Will Fogarty also calls himself Fear na Coillte, in reference both to the wood spirits in his work and to myself. He lives in the foothills of the Ballyhouras in Co Limerick, surrounded by mountains and forests, and spends time walking in them with Wag, his Labrador.

He began carving some years ago with walking sticks and staffs, made from hazel he collected in those forests. He still makes them on commission, but evolved into chainsaw carving and found his passion.

Most of his work is on a commission basis following briefs from clients. A large part of his work is done on stumps that are left behind when a tree is felled. All his work is in wood that has been felled by nature or has been cut down in a way that is sustainable.

Walking by the River Shannon at the Linear Park in Carrick-on-Shannon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Elphin: abandoned after a storm in 1957

Saint Mary’s Cathedral was the cathedral of the Church of Ireland Diocese of Elphin until it was abandoned in 1957 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

The two cathedrals in Sligo – Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland – serve the dioceses of Elphin. So, it seemed appropriate on my way back from Sligo earlier this week after a family wedding at the weekend that I should stop in the small village of Elphin and visit the ruins of the former cathedral in the small south Co Roscommon village.

Elphin is 18 km from Boyle, 29 km from Roscommon and 14 km from Carrick-on-Shannon. But Elphin (Ail Fionn, ‘the stone of the clear water’) is a quiet place, on no main routes, set in some rolling pastureland.

Tradition says that the site of the former cathedral in Elphin dates back to a monastic house founded by Saint Patrick ca 435-450. Ono son of Oengus gave Elphin to Saint Patrick and Oisin is said to have been baptised near the town.

Saint Patrick is said to have placed his disciple Saint Assicus in charge of Elphin. A pre-historic standing stone and Saint Patrick’s Well are both situated within the Fair Green which forms part of the entrance to the cathedral site.

A standing stone and Saint Patrick’s Well at the entrance to the cathedral site (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Saint Assicus is said to have been succeeded by his nephew, Bite (Baethus), but there is no further record of the monastery until the 12th century. The Diocese of Elphin was established at the Synod of Rath Breasail in 1111, when the see for east Connacht was moved from Roscommon to Elphin and Domnall mac Flannacáin Ua Dubthaig become the first Bishop of Elphin.

Máel Ísu Ua Connachtáin was present at the Synod of Kells in 1152 as Bishop of Elphin.

The first cathedral was dedicated to Beatae Mariae Virgini (the Blessed Virgin Mary or Saint Mary the Virgin). It is referred to in 1235, when it was destroyed by fire. It was restored and rebuilt ca 1240.

Inside the ruins of Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Elphin looking east (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Some mediaeval Bishops of Elphin found it difficult to assert their authority. Máel Sechlainn Ó Conchobair, also known as Milo O’Connor was Archdeacon of Clonmacnoise when he was elected Bishop of Elphin by the majority of the Chapter of Elphin in 1260. He received possession of the diocese on 8 November 1260, and was consecrated bishop later that month. But he was opposed by Tomas mac Fergail Mac Diarmata until he died in office on 9 January 1262.

Tomas mac Fergail Mac Diarmata, a Cistercian monk also known as Thomas Mac Ferrall McDermott, had been elected bishop before 26 January 1260 by the Dean of Elphin and other members of the cathedral chapter, but was not able to take possession of the see. He successfully appealed to the Pope, but did not take possession until Bishop Máel Sechlainn Ó Conchobair died in 1262. He died in office in 1265.

Thomas Barrett, Archdeacon of Annaghdown, became Bishop of Elphin in 1372. He was deprived by the Antipope, Pope Clement VII, in 1383, in favour of Seoán Ó Mocháin, but to no effect, and Barrett continued in office until he died in 1404.

Robert Fosten became bishop in 1418, but spent most of his time in England acting as a suffragan bishop in Durham.

Inside the ruins of Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Elphin, looking west (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

In 1433, Pope Eugene IV ‘granted certain privileges to contributors for the repair and fabric of the Cathedral Church of Elphin, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, which had been greatly deformed by fire.’

Georgios Vranas, who became Bishop of Elphin in 1499, may be one of the few Greek-born bishops to serve the Church in Ireland. He was also known as Georgius de Brana, George Braua, or an-t-easbog Gréagach. He was from Athens and was a member of the famous Byzantine House of Vranas. He was translated from Dromore to Elphin in 1499, had resigned by 1507, and died in 1529.

Christopher Fisher was Prebendary of Husthwaite, York, at the same time as he was Bishop of Elphin (1507-1511). His successor, Thomas Walsh, also held both these offices at the same time (1511-1524). John Maxey was Bishop of Elphin (1525-1536) at the same time as he was a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of York (1525), Abbot of Welbeck (1520-1536), Prebendary of Ampleforth, York (1528-1536), and Abbot of Titchfield (1535-1536).

Elphin Cathedral was rebuilt by Bishop John Parker (1661-1667) after the Caroline Restoration (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The first post-Reformation Bishops of Elphin were Conach O’Shiel (1541-1551), Roland de Burgo (1551-1580), Thomas Chester (1580-1583) and John Lynch (1583-1611).

Elphin Cathedral was partially damaged in the 1641 rebellion, but was rebuilt by Bishop John Parker (1661-1667) after the Caroline Restoration.

Elphin Grammar School was founded later in the late 17th century by Bishop John Hodson (1667-1686). The pupils included the writer Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774), whose grandfather was a cousin of Edward Goldsmith, Dean of Elphin (1700-1722); and Sir William Wilde (1815-1876), father of Oscar Wilde.

The cathedral was substantially rebuilt in 1728, when the Bishop of Elphin was Theophilus Bolton (1724-1730), later Archbishop of Cashel and founder of the Bolton Library.

A new palace for the Church of Ireland bishops was built north of this site in 1749. The plan of a central block and flanking pavilions plan was very common in Irish country houses of the period.

Most of the cathedral roof had fallen in by 1757 and the walls were in a dangerous state. A thorough rebuilding was carried out in 1757-1758, when the tower was added. But it remained a modest building, no bigger than a small parish church, with a tall square clock tower at the west end.

Looking into the cathedral ruins from the ruins of the tower (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

When Dean Jonathan Swift visited Elphin briefly, he wrote about the town and cathedral:

Low church, high steeple,
Dirty town, proud people.

Later Bishops of Elphin included Edward Synge (1740-1762), William Gore (1762-1772), later Bishop of Limerick, and Charles Dodgson (1775-1795), grandfather of Lewis Carrol (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), author of Alice in Wonderland.

While John Powell Leslie was Bishop of Elphin of Kilmore (1819-1841), Elphin was united with Kilmore and Ardagh, and he died in office as Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh in 1854.

The apse was added to Elphin Cathedral in 1872 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The final addition to the cathedral was a short apse of Caen stone, built in 1872. The cathedral was an oblong building, about 24.3 metres long, excluding the apse, and 8.5 metres wide. The bishops’ throne and chapter stalls were at the east end of the nave, there was a pulpit on the north side, a reading desk on the south side, a lectern and font.

Later, Elphin was the home town of the songwriter William Percy French (1854-1920). He is said to have written his first lines about a scene he witnessed when he was six-year-old. He saw a mouse come down a bell rope in the cathedral, and wrote:

The mouse for want of stairs,
ran down the rope to say his prayers.

The main block of the bishop’s house was destroyed by fire early in the 20th Century and was later demolished. The ruins of the pavilions survive together with the curtain walls that linked them to the main house.

The supposed site of the bishop’s throne in the cathedral ruins (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Saint Mary’s continued in use as a cathedral until it was severely damaged in a storm on 4 February 1957. When the diocesan synod met in Longford a few months later on 11 July, it decided to abandon the cathedral and to move the seat of the Diocese of Elphin and Ardagh to Sligo.

The decision was ratified by the General Synod in 1958, and Elphin Cathedral was formally deconsecrated on 17 November 1958. Saint John’s Church, Sligo, formally became the Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin and Saint John the Baptist, serving the Diocese of Elphin and Ardagh, on 25 October 1961.

The cathedral ruins were mainly demolished in 1964, and many of the stones were used in building a new school in the village. The ruins were partly rebuilt and restored in 1982 and custody was transferred from the Church of Ireland to Roscommon County Council in 1985. It has since come into the custody of the Elphin Heritage Society.

Elphin in winter sunshine (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

The Clarke windows are the glory of the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Athlone

‘The Purgatory Window’ by the Harry Clarke Studios … the windows designed by Richard King are the crowning glory of the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Athlone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018; click on images for full-screen resolutions)

Patrick Comerford

The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Athlone, which I was discussing earlier this morning, is a basilica-scale church that dominates the west bank or Roscommon side of the River Shannon. But inside the church, the stained-glass windows are even more impressive than the confident statement of post-independence Catholicism expressed in Ralph Byrne’s powerful architectural design.

These windows come from the best-known studios of early 20th century Ireland, including Harry Clarke, Sarah Purser, AE Child, An Túr Gloine and the Earley Studios in Dublin.

This is an overpowering collection of the best in Irish art during the first decades of the last century, although the most powerful windows in the church are often attributed, mistakenly, to Harry Clarke himself.

These windows are typical of the Harry Clarke style in stained glass, saints with large expressive eyes and long tapering hands and fingers, angles richly-dressed in headdresses and robes or as tiny figures hiding in the blue glass, and borders filled with decorative lettering and hidden elements.

But Clarke died in 1931 and the windows in Athlone were designed and installed by the Dublin-based stained-glass artist Richard Joseph King (1907-1974) of the Harry Clarke Studios in 1937, six years after Clarke died.

Richard King was born in Castlebar, Co Mayo, on 7 July 1907, and entered the firm of J Clarke and Sons in 1928. King was Harry Clarke’s apprentice and under his supervision he executed windows designed by Clarke, producing background elements, borders and details.

While Clarke was gravely ill and dying in Davos, King translated his designs into windows. When Harry Clarke died in 1931, King stepped into the breach and became the manager of the studios. He left in 1940 to set up his own studio at Vico Terrace in Dalkey, and there he produced stained-glass windows for churches in Australia, Britain, Canada and the US, as well as for many churches in Ireland.

King also had a long, distinguished career as an illustrator, producing several postage stamps and illustrations for the Capuchin Annual. He died at his home in Raheny, Dublin, on Saint Patrick’s Day, 1974.

Meanwhile, after Clarke’s death in 1931, the Harry Clarke Studios continued his tradition of highly-stylised works in stained glass until the studios closed in the 1970s.

The windows in Athlone are explained in detail by Niall McAuley in his Flickr Album of the stained-glass windows in the church and by Patrick Murray in his Church of Saints Peter and Paul Athlone: An Illustrated History and Guide.

The five King windows in the church in Athlone represent Purgatory or Christ descending to the Dead; Saint Patrick; Saint Joseph; Jesus Christ in the context of the Eucharist; and the Virgin Mary.

All five windows by King follow Clarke’s convention of placing the main figure centrally, surrounded by smaller panels that tell stories or illustrate events from the life of the central character.

The Purgatory Window:

The Purgatory window in the Mortuary Chapel was designed by Richard King and completed in 1937 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

The Purgatory Window in the Mortuary Chapel was designed by Richard King and completed in 1937. A line-drawing of this window was part of a prominent advertisement by the Harry Clarke Studios in The Irish Times on 29 June 1937, declaring: ‘We are privileged to have executed the principal stained glass windows of which the above is an example, also the complete scheme of slab glass and leaded glazing for the new church of SS Peter and Paul, Athlone.’

The phrase at the top of the window reads ‘Ego sum Resurrectio et Vita, I am the Resurrection and the Life’ (John 11: 25).

The main scene in window shows Christ descending to the dead, or the Harrowing of Hell, with Christ carrying a banner to lead the righteous, who are seen ascending to heaven. There are prayer fragments in Greek, Latin and Irish.

In the upper left, we see Jonah, who spent time in the whale. The words read ‘Ita Filius Hominis.’ Christ compares his three days in the tomb to Jonah’s time in the fish (Matthew 12: 40).

In the upper right, we see Job who was robbed of everything he held dear by the devil, thus testing his faith. The words are ‘Miseremini, Have pity on me’ (Job 19: 21), and ‘Scio, I know,’ drawing to mind Job’s saying, ‘Scio enim quod redemptor meus vivat, I know that my Redeemer lives’ (Job 19: 25).

In the lower left, Saint Monica is on her deathbed while her son Saint Augustine looks on. In the lower right, the Mass is being celebrated on the altar in front of the Crucifix. The words ‘Pro Vivis et Defunctis, For the Living and the Dead,’ is a quotation about the Eucharist from the Tridentine Creed.

The celebration of the Mass before the Crucifix ... a detail from ‘The Purgatory Window’ by Richard King in Athlone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

The prayer fragments in Greek read:

Ζεσες Εν Θεω, ‘May you Live in God’

Εν Θεω Κυριω Χριστω, ‘In God the Lord Christ’

Ο Κυριος μετα κοι, ‘The Lord be with you’

Εις Αναστασιν Αιωνιον, ‘Prepare for the Resurrection’

Μνησθης Ιησουσ ο Κυριος, ‘Remember Jesus Christ’

Εν Ειρηνη σου το Πνευμ, ‘Peace be with your Spirit’

Εν Ειρηνη Κοιμησις σου, ‘May the sleep of peace be with you’

The Irish words of prayer say:

Go ndeanaidh Dia oroith trócaire, ‘May God have mercy on us’

Beannacht Dé le h-anamnaidh oroit, ‘The Blessings of God on our souls’

The Latin prayer fragments read:

Pax tibi cum Sanctis, ‘Peace be with you among saints’

Spiritum Tuum Deus refrigeret, ‘May God give your spirit rest’

Petre et Paule subvenite, ‘May Peter and Paul come to your aid’

Vivas in Spirito Sancto, ‘Live in the Holy Spirit’

Vivas in Pace et Pete pro Nobis, ‘Live in peace and pray for us’

Bene Refrigera et Roga pro Nobis, ‘Be blessed in rest and pray for us’

In Refrigerio et in Pace, ‘At rest and in peace’

There are additional images of a funerary stele in the style of the early Christians in Rome, and of the Eucharist.

Additional inscriptions in Latin and Greek read: DM, perhaps ‘Deus misereatur, God be merciful unto us,’ the opening words of Psalm 67, regularly used at funerals, and Ιχθυς Ζωντων, ‘Fish, Live.’

Christ in Judgment:

The window in the Mortuary Chapel depicting Christ in Judgment is by Earley of Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

A second window in the Mortuary Chapel depicting Christ in Judgment is by Earley and Co of Dublin. It was completed in 1937, and Christ sits in Judgment flanked by the patron saints of the church, Saint Peter with his keys and Saint Paul.

A detail from the Earley window depicting Christ in Judgment (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Two angels hold books, saying Mihi Fecistis and Mihi Non Fecistis. Beneath them, more angels hold banners saying Venite Benedicti (‘Come, you blessed’) and Discedite Maledicti (‘Depart, you who are cursed’). These Latin tags were added after the initial sketch was completed, probably at the request of the Parish Priest of Athlone, Dean Crowe.

Saint Patrick Window:

The Saint Patrick Window was completed in 1937, five years after the celebrations marking 1,500 years since the arrival of Saint Patrick in Ireland in the year 432 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

The Saint Patrick Window on the left aisle was designed by Richard King and completed in 1937, just five years after the anniversary celebrations marking 1,500 years since the arrival of Saint Patrick in Ireland in the year 432. Saint Patrick, who is the central figure, is young and clean-shaven, unlike traditional images of an old and bearded Saint Patrick.

The top of this window refers explicitly the Eucharistic Congress held in Dublin in 1932, with the crossed flags of Ireland and the Vatican. The image also shows the altar used at the Eucharistic Congress in the Phoenix Park.

A panel on the left of this window, with the text Vox Hib shows Vox Hibernicæum, depicts Saint Patrick’s dream, in which the Angel Victorius – looking more like an Angle Victoria – brings him a letter as he hears the voice of the Irish calling him back to Ireland to convert them.

The Angel Victorius brings Saint Patrick a letter in his dream as he hears voice of the Irish calling him back (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

In this window, Saint Patrick is also seen preaching to the chieftains, lighting the Paschal Fire on the Hill of Slane, comparing the Trinity to a shamrock, and his victory over the Druids at the Hill of Tara or Teamhair. The words Ní múcfar i-nEirinn go deo í refer to a prophecy by the Druids that the fire of Christianity that Saint Patrick lit at Slane would never go out in Ireland.

Other images include the snakes, banished from Ireland by Saint Patrick, Saint Patrick’s bell, and his bell shrine. At the bottom of the window, Saint Patrick meets the Children of Lír who spent 900 years as swans; their spell is broken when they hear his bell, and they return as very old people.

Saint Patrick bears a medallion on his breast depicting Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh – although this is the new Roman Catholic Cathedral, and not the earlier Church of Ireland cathedral. Throughout the window are images of other Saint Patrick’s Cathedrals, in New York and Melbourne.

Many of the smaller images are places in Ireland and around the world with churches or cathedrals named after Saint Patrick. Curiously, King omitted Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. Was this because it is a Church of Ireland cathedral? Other places around the world referred to in this window include Toronto, Montserrat, Honolulu, Poona, Auckland, China and Iceland.

The panel with the lettering ‘Sean Cill’ shows Saint Mathona, Abbess of Shankill, according to Murray. The man may be her brother Saint Benignus, a follower of Saint Patrick.

The panel with the lettering ‘Ailfionn’ tells the story of the Diocese of Elphin. The first bishop, Saint Asicus, a former, metalworker, presents Saint Patrick with a chalice.

One panel shows a bearded man in modern dress is carrying a staff and a large crucifix. A church is in flames behind, and the people of Ireland look on. Murray says this represents scattered Catholic emigrants returning to post- independence Ireland. The lettering reads Euntes Venientes Euntes, a reference to: ‘Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves’ (Psalm 126: 6).

Another panel shows redcoat soldiers burning cottages as a depiction of oppression.

Athlone, Sligo and many other parishes in the Diocese of Elphin are depicted in the window. Fiodharta or Fuerty is a parish in Co Roscommon and Murray says the man being baptised is Deacon Iustus. Cruachain is a parish in Co Roscommon, and Murray identifies the women receiving communion from Saint Patrick as Saint Eithne and Saint Fidelma, daughters of the King of Connaught.

Muirchu’s life of Saint Patrick says Eithne was fair-haired and Fidelma a redhead, and they were baptised at the Well of Clebach beside Cruachan. Baislic na Naomh or Baslick in Co Roscommon, near Elphin, once had an abbey. Uaran Garadh or Oran had a holy well and round tower.

Saint Joseph Window:

The Saint Joseph window: each frame tells a story from the life of Saint Joseph or other biblical Josephs (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Opposite the Saint Patrick Window, on the right aisle, the Saint Joseph Window was designed by Richard King and completed in 1937. It tells of the life Saint Joseph, often drawing on apocryphal sources, and refers also to Joseph in the Old Testament, his time in Egypt and his encounters with Pharaoh.

In the main image, Saint Joseph is shown holding a staff that is blossoming into a lily, and a carpenter’s tool. Drawing on an image in Hosea (‘I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily,’ Hosea 14: 5), the apocryphal Gospel of James says that when Saint Joseph was chosen as the Virgin Mary’s husband, after his staff miraculously blossomed, and/or a dove flew out of it onto his head. He's also carrying a wooden tool that looks like a set square.

Other frames in this window depict the betrothal of Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary; the dream of Saint Joseph, when he is told to marry the Virgin Mary although she is already pregnant (see Matthew 1: 20) – the text reads De Spirito Sancto Est; the flight into Egypt; Joseph is watching as a young Jesus helps Mary while she is spinning; Saint Joseph and Jesus as a teenager in the carpenters’ workshop; the death of Saint Joseph – as Christ and the Virgin Mary comfort Saint Joseph, Christ calls the archangels Michael and Gabriel to take him to Heaven.

Joseph before Pharaoh in the Saint Joseph window (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

The Old Testament images include: the famine in Egypt, when Pharaoh told the Egyptians to go to Joseph and do what he tells them – the text reads ‘Ite ad Joseph, Go to Joseph’ (Genesis 41: 55); and the four rivers of Paradise and two deer – the image, including the cross and the descending dove, is inspired by the apse in the Church of Saint John Lateran, Rome.

This window also depicts: two saints in a boat, identified by Murray as the two patrons of this church, Saint Paul with his book and Saint Peter steering the boat; a lighthouse, with the Papal arms; and two saints fishing with a net from a boat, possibly the brothers Simon Peter and Andrew as fishers of men.

The Jesus Window:

The theme of the Jesus window is the presence of Christ in the Eucharist (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

The Jesus Window at the top of the left aisle was designed by Richard King and was completed in 1937. The theme in this window is the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and it shows Christ breaking the bread at the Last Supper, surrounded by scenes and saints associated with the Eucharist.

Above the main figure of Christ is a traditional image of the Sacred Heart, with thorns, flames and a cross. The Latin words read ‘Ecce Cor, Behold the Heart.’

Beneath Christ’s are the words ‘Hoc est Corpus Meum, This is my Body.’

The larger panels on the left (from the top) show:

1, The Supper at Emmaus: the words in Latin read ‘Mane Nobiscum, Stay with us’ (Luke 24: 29).

2, The Wedding at Cana, which prefigures the Eucharist (John 2: 1-12).

3, The Living Water: Moses strikes the rock at Kadesh (see Numbers 20: 10-13).

4, Moses and the people gathering Manna in the wilderness, as scouts in the background carry large bunches of grapes from the Promised Land.

The larger panels on the right (from the top) show:

1, An image of the church as the New Jerusalem, with Christ on a hill, and a hen with chicks, as Saint Peter and Saint Paul look over his shoulder. Beneath is written ‘Quoties Volui, a reference to: ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!’ (Luke 13: 34).

2, The miracle of the Loaves and Fish, which prefigures the Eucharist.

3, Longinus piercing the side of the crucified Christ with his spear.

4, The Passover Meal at the Exodus, with the people standing with staffs in their hands, about to eat the Paschal lamb.

The bottom panel beneath the feet of Christ tells of the story of Tobit, who is show with the fish and walking with the Archangel Raphael. Beside them are the Archangel Michael with a sword and the Archangel Gabriel with a lily. The Latin words ‘Exentera Cor Piscis,’ are an allusion to Tobit 6, serving to compare the healing values of Tobit’s fish with the healing offered by Christ as the Sacred Heart and in the Eucharist.

The bottom panel in the Jesus window shows Tobit and his fish with the archangels (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

The other figures in this window include: Saint Thomas Aquinas being addressed by Christ while at prayer: ‘Thoma Bene Scripsisti de me’; Pope Pius X, who in his decree Quam Singulari Sacra Tridentina (1910) lowered the age when children could first receive first Holy Communion; Saint Gertrude; Saint Tarcisius; Saint Sechnall, a nephew of Saint Patrick, with the words of a hymn attributed to him, Sancti Venite Christi Corpus Sumite; Saint Julianna holding a martyr’s palm; Saint John Eudes (1601-1680), a French priest who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart and who debated vigorously with the Jansenists; Saint Margaret Mary Alocoque (1647-1690), a 17th century nun devoted to the Sacred Heart; and Matt Talbot (1856-1925) in shabby clothes covering his chains and holding a scroll that says ‘Fast Friends.’

Grape vines are seen growing at the bottom of the window.

The Virgin Mary window:

The Virgin Mary window shows scenes from her life and illustrations of Marian devotion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

The Virgin Mary window at the top of the right aisle and facing the Jesus window was designed by Richard King and completed in 1937. The Virgin Mary is shown crowned with stars and holding a lily.

Above the Virgin Mary, God the Father raises one hand in blessing, and in the other holds the Orb of the Universe. In front of him, is a triangle represents the Trinity, and the Holy Spirit is descending on the Virgin Mary in the form of a dove.

The scroll above her declares: ‘Tota Pulchra Es, You are completely beautiful.’ In the Litany of Loreto, the Virgin Mary is named as the Fountain of Beauty.

To her left at the top, people pausing while at work in the fields to pray the Angelus , while on her right people knell saying the Rosary.

The scroll beneath her feet reads: ‘Verbum Caro Factum Est, the Word was made flesh.’

The larger panels on the left (from the top) show:

1, Saint Dominic receives the Rosary from the Virgin Mary in a vision.

2, The Visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Saint Elizabeth. The words Unde Hoc Mihi is a quotation from Saint Luke’s account of the Visitation (see Luke 1: 43).

3, Saint Brigid, ‘Muire na nGael (Mary of the Gaels), with a crosier at Kildare Abbey. The Latin words, ‘Adducentur Regi Post Eam, ‘In many-coloured robes she is led to the king’ (Psalm 45: 14) is a quotation from Psalm 45, ‘ode for a royal wedding,’ and so presents Saint Brigid as a virgin companion of the Virgin Mary, in embroidered garments as she is led to the king.

4, The Prophets: Moses, David and Isaiah are shown in the front, while Jeremiah and Daniel and Joel are behind them.

The larger panels on the right (from the top) show:

1, Saint Simon Stock, receiving the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

2, The Presentation of the Christ Child in the Temple: the Latin inscription, tuam ipsius animam, is a quotation from the Gospel account of this event (see Luke 2: 35).

3, Duns Scotus: The phrase ‘Potuit, decuit, ergo fecit, He could; it was fitting; therefore, he did it,’ was first used by Saint Eadmer of Canterbury in his biography of Saint Anselm, to defend his argument for the Immaculate Conception: the Son of God was able to make Mary without original sin; it was fitting and decent that the Son of God would honour his mother this way; therefore, God made his mother without original sin. The same argument was used by Duns Scotus (1266-1308), the Franciscan philosopher and theologian, who is commemorated in a plaque in Cloister Court in Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

4, The Six Sibyls: the Sibyls, who varied in number from 10 to 12, were women believed by the ancient Greeks to be oracles and prophesied at holy sites. They are named in this window as Cumaa (the Cumaean sibyl), Delphica (the Delphic sibyl), Samia (the sibyl of Samos), Libica (the Libyan sibyl), Tyburina (the Tiburtine Sibyl), and Persica (the Persian sibyl). The Persian sybil on the right is stepping on a serpent, as is the Virgin Mary in the panel beside her, a reference to one of the popular descriptions in Catholic piety of the Virgin Mary as the ‘second Eve,’ crushing the serpent beneath her foot (see Genesis 3: 15).

The Seven Sibyls in the Virgin Mary window (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

The Song of the Sibyls was sung all over Europe on Christmas Eve, after Matins and before Mass, until the Council of Trent. This custom was restored in some places in the 17th century, and remains mostly in Spain. They are most famously mentioned in the Dies Irae, sung at Masses for the dead. Its opening lines say:

That day of wrath, that dreadful day,
shall heaven and earth in ashes lay,
as David and the Sybil say.

They are also referred to the Latin poem Corde natus ex Parentis by the Roman poet Marcus Aurelius Prudentius (ca 343-413), a judge in the Roman imperial court, as a challenge to Arianism:

This is he, whom seer and sibyl
Sang in ages long gone by;
This is he of old revealed
In the page of prophecy;
Lo! He comes the promised Saviour;
Let the world his praises cry!
Evermore and evermore.

This poem become a popular hymn and Christmas carol, ‘Of the Father’s Heart Begotten’ or ‘Of the Father’s Love Begotten,’ when it was translated y the Revd John Mason Neale (1818-1866) and the Revd Sir Henry Williams Baker (1821-1877). It is the oldest hymn in the Church Hymnal of the Church of Ireland (No 175). However, in their translation, Neale and Baker altered the reference to sibyls to sages:

This is he whom seers and sages
sang of old with one accord,
whom the writings of the prophets
promised in their faithful word:
now he shines, the long;expected,
let creation praise its Lord,
evermore and evermore.

The bottom panel, beneath the feet of the Sibyls and the Virgin Mary crushing a serpent beneath her heel, shows the Archangel Michael and the Archangel Gabriel guarding the Burning Bush.

The smaller panels feature scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary, and some later appearances and references to Marian devotions in small details, mainly from the Litany of Loreto, including descriptions of her as the Queen of Martyrs, Ark of the Covenant, Queen of Peace, Tower of David or Tower of Ivory, Mystical Rose, Morning Star, House of Gold, Gate of Heaven, Queen of Confessors and Queen of Wisdom.

Here too are depictions of the Star of Bethlehem and, beside the image of the Presentation, a blue unicorn – the unicorn is associated with virginity, and in mediaeval iconography and manuscripts, the Virgin Mary is depicted with Christ as the Unicorn.

In the bottom right corner, the image of a sword through the heart of the Virgin Mary refers to her sorrow at the death of Christ, recalling Simeon’s prophesy that her son’s death would be like a sword through her own soul too (see Luke 2: 35).

The Baptistry Window:

I did not manage to see the Baptistry window by Earley and Co of Dublin, completed in 1937. This window shows Saint John the Baptist baptising Christ. The surrounding images relate to baptism, Saint John the Baptist and to water.

Nor did I get to see the four swing doors leading from the altar to the sacristies on either side, with each door decorated with a panel designed by Richard King.

The porch windows: Saint Peter and Saint Paul:

Saint Peter … an Earley window in the church porch (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Two windows in the porch show the patrons of the church, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, are the work of Earley and Co of Dublin, and were completed in 1937.

Saint Peter is shown holding the Keys of Heaven, while Saint Paul is show holding a scroll, on which is written: ‘Ad Romanos, Paulus Servus Jesu Christi.’ These are a summary of the opening words of Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans: ‘To the Romans, Paul a servant of Jesus Christ’ (Romans 1: 1-7). Saint Paul has more scrolls tucked into his cloak representing his other epistles.

Saint Paul … an Earley window in the church porch (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Why Byrne’s monumental church in Athlone is often mistaken for a cathedral

The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul dominates the west bank of the River Shannon in Athlone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford

My few days at Wineport Lodge on the shore of Lough Ree this week offered the opportunity to visit a number of cathedrals and churches in the Midlands, including the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Athlone, Co Westmeath.

This towering church stands on a prominent site on the Roscommon or Connaught side of Athlone and it dominates the west bank of the River Shannon in the centre of the town. The size and scale of this church means it is often mistaken for a cathedral, and it is certainly a monumental witness to the confidence, power and the authority of the Roman Catholic Church in post-independence and pre-war Ireland.

The church was built between 1932 and 1939, and it is a superb essay in a Baroque style, with many classical references. It is defined by strong horizontal lines and has planar layers of carefully designed facades. The whole composition, inside and outside, is handled strongly, with skilful mastery of its spaces, the materials and its details.

The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is a monumental witness to the confidence of a post-independence church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

This is a three-bay, double-height church, with copper-plated pitched roofs, a copper dome and twin towers with clock faces that flank the pedimented entrance façade.

The church is built on a north-south axis, instead of an east-west axis, and has an apsidal chancel on the north or liturgical east side. The towers are surmounted by Doric Baroque campaniles, each crowned by an octagonal tower and an ogee copper dome with a cross finial above.

The projecting central bay on the front façade (south) has a single-storey, tetrastyle Doric porch. The ground floor is built in Portland stone, with ashlar limestone above.

The façade is richly decorated with classical details, including heavy cornices, string courses, recessed panels and carved swags.

There are large round-headed windows in the round-headed recesses throughout, with square-headed openings in the towers and a flanking central round-headed opening at the first floor level of the front façade.

There is a round-headed recess with double timber panelled doors at the centre of the main façade.

The baroque baldacchino is modelled on Bernini’s baldacchino in Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Inside, the spacious interior is formed by three vaulted cells supported on Corinthian pilasters made of Connemara marble shafts. The baroque baldacchino is supported on barley sugar columns in red and white marble, and its design may have been inspired by Bernini’s baldacchino in Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome.

The richly adorned side chapels have mosaic work by the Alinari brothers, and a number of marble statues, including copies of Michelangelo’s Pieta in Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome, and of Michelangelo’s statue of Moses in the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome.

The stained-glass windows in the church include works by the Harry Clarke Studio, as well as windows by AE Child, Sarah Purser and the Earley Studios.

The church is set back from the road in its own grounds with cut-stone gate piers, turned through 45 degrees, surmounted by cast-iron lamp standards. There is a snecked limestone wall to the road frontage.

The site of Saint Peter and Saint Paul was part of Custume Barracks until 1930 and had previously housed an armour store and a schoolhouse. The Roman Catholic Church built ordnance stores in Custume Barracks to compensate the military for this loss of site.

This impressive church dominates the skyline of the west side of Athlone and contributes very significantly to the architectural heritage of the locale. However, this church seems slightly out of place in its riverside location facing the massive bulk of the mediaeval castle.

Inside the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul … a triumph of 20th century classicism (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

This church is a triumph of 20th century classicism by the Dublin-born architect Ralph Henry Byrne (1877-1946), who brought a range of international influences to create a unique fusion of historical style with a contemporary interpretation.

Byrne was born in Largo House, 166 Lower Rathmines Road, Dublin, on 25 April 1877, the third but second surviving son of the architect William Henry Byrne (1844-1917), who had been a pupil of JJ McCarthy.

He was educated at home until he was sent to school in England at Saint George's School, Weybridge. He was articled to his father in 1896 for five years. He then spent six months in the office of Thomas Edward Marshall in Harrogate before entering into partnership with his father on 10 April 1902.

He was elected a member of the Royal Institute of on Architects of Ireland in 1902, proposed by George Coppinger Ashlin and seconded by Thomas Drew and William Mansflield Mitchell, and he was elected a member of the Architects Association of Ireland in 1906.

His father became blind in about 1913 and died on 28 April 1917. Following his father’s death, Byrne carried on the business under the name of William H Byrne & Son. In 1936, he took his wife's nephew, Simon Aloysius Leonard (1903-1976), into partnership.

In 1919, Ralph Byrne and Thomas George Smith were awarded third prize in the Daily Express competition for designing model homes for clerical workers in connection with the Model Homes exhibition in Central Hall, Westminster.

Byrne worked from 20 Suffolk Street, Dublin, and his pupils and assistants included Arnold Francis Hendy, Sheila Tindal and Guy Hemingway Yeoman.

He was elected a fellow of the RIAI (FRIAI) in 1920 and served as vice-president in 1938.

The statue of Moses in Athlone is a copy of Michelangelo’s Moses in the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Byrne favoured the classical idiom for much of his church designs, moving away from the Gothic Revival-style, which had been in vogue since the early 19th-century for Roman Catholic church building projects.

His many notable works include the Cathedral of Christ the King, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, the Cathedral of Saint Patrick and Saint Felim, Cavan, Saint Patrick’s Church, Ringsend, Dublin, and the Church of the Four Masters, Donegal Town.

Byrne died at his house, 9 Ailesbury Road, Ballsbridge, on 15 April 1946 and was buried in Glasnevin cemetery. He had married Mary Josephine Mangan of Dunboyne Castle, Co Meath, in 21 November 1905. She died in 1957. Their only son, Frank William Barrett Mangan Byrne, a captain in the Royal Irish Fusiliers, was born in 1910 and died in Malta on 30 May 1940.

I found the windows in Byrne’s church in Athlone were so attractive this week that I shall discuss them later today.

A copy of Michelangelo’s Pieta in Byrne’s church in Athlone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Athlone claims the oldest pub in Ireland. Is it the oldest pub in the world?

Sean’s Bar in Athlone, beneath the shadows of Athlone Castle, claims to dare back to 900 AD (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford

I have been staying for a few days in Wineport Lodge, outside Athlone, on the banks of Lough Ree. Having listened to legends and local lore about monks bringing wine from France into Limerick and up the Shannon to this part of the Irish Midlands from as early as the sixth century, it was inevitable that late yesterday I should find myself in Athlone in a place on the banks of the Shannon that claims to be the oldest pub in Ireland.

Sean’s Bar on Main Street, beneath the slopes of the Castle in Athlone, claims to date back to the year 900 and claims the title of the Oldest Pub in Ireland, if not the Oldest Pub in the World.

The Lonely Planet lists pub with a traditional ‘Irish Pub’ ambience’ in both the ‘25 Most Incredible Bars in the World’ and the ‘50 Bars to Blow your Mind.’

The Irish name of Athlone, Ath Luain, translates as ‘the Ford of Luain’ or ‘the river crossing of Luain.’ In Sean’s Bar, they claim Luain was an innkeeper who guided people across the treacherous waters of the River Shannon at an ancient ford.

The ‘old world’ atmosphere inside Sean’s Bar in Athlone (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Here they say that Saint Ciaran and the monks of Clonmacnoise brought not only wine from France and Spain up the river from the sixth and seventh centuries, but also used the river to keep themselves supplied with both beer and whiskey.

The lore and legends that have grown up add that both the crossing point and the pub date back to the year 900. Later, a settlement grew up around this river crossing, and King Turlough O Connor built a wooden castle here in 1129.

Visitors to Sean’s Bar are told the pub has detailed and documented evidence taking the history of the pub back to 900.

During renovations almost half a century ago in 1970, the walls of the bar were found to be made of ‘wattle and wicker’ dating back to the ninth century. Old coins that were minted by various landlords for barter with their customers were found too and dated from this period.

A section of these walls remains on display in the pub.

Later, they will tell you in Sean’s Bar, that the first mention of uisce beatha or whiskey anywhere in the world is found in the Annals of Clonmacnoise in 1405, when they report the death at Christmas of Richard Magrannel, Chieftain of Moyntyreolas, after ‘taking a surfeit of Aqua Vitae.’ So for one mediaeval Irish chieftain, whiskey by the waters of the Shannon was certainly not the ‘water of life.’

The Guinness Book of Records was called in to authentic the claims of Sean’s Bar, and declared that the place holds the record of the ‘Oldest Pub in Ireland.’

Research continues into claims to the title of the ‘Oldest Pub in the World,’ and in Sean’s Bar they are still holding out hope of claiming this title too.

But Sean’s Bar seems to be content with its present claims, which seems to have enhanced its attraction to people boating on the Shannon and tourists from around the world who arrive in Athlone.

The old bar is crowded, even in the late afternoon and early evening in mid-week. It has an open fireplace, old walls, sloping floors, and an eclectic set of collections of ephemeral items on the walls.

The beer garden at the back leads straight onto the banks of the River Shannon between the bridge linking the town sides of Athlone, Roscommon and Westmeath, Connaught and Leinster.

Sean’s Bar is one of the ‘25 Most Incredible Bars in the World’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)