"...to seek and to find the past, a lineage, a history, a family built on a flesh and bone foundation."

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Sepia Saturday #219: Within this plain facade...

Viewing the simple exterior of the Church of St. Nicholas of Myra on Francis Street in the Liberties area of Dublin City, Ireland, you would never imagine its interior would hold such an array of beautiful colour, texture, and light, in the architecture and iconography.

According to church history, there has been a place of worship on this site since the 11th century, and the original church was built in 1265. The building of the church in its present incarnation began in 1829. It was opened in 1834 and dedicated in 1835. In addition, extant church registers hold all baptismal records for Catholics born at the original site of the Coombe Hospital between 1783 and 1967, as well as some baptismal records for children born on the Isle of Man.

For more information about the church, visit their website via this link The Church of St. Nicholas of Myra. For full information about acquiring records and about how to access a small number of password protected transcribed records, which are available for online viewing, visit this link.










Thanks to Wendy Mathias for the inspiration image for today's post. Be sure to stop by the Sepia Saturday blog to see how others have interpreted this theme, and perhaps you will be inspired too.


©irisheyesjg2014.
Click on images to view larger versions.

24 comments:

  1. I left a comment before but if I had to type in word verification, it was lost. (So if this is a duplicate comment, please delete it.) I love the red and cream on the inside! Just gorgeous.

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    1. Thanks very much for your comments Nancy.

      Not to worry, I don't use word verification on this blog, but I do use comments moderation, only because of the awful spammers.

      I love the red and cream too. The unexpected nature of it seems to make it all the more stunning.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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  2. Beautiful legacy from our nineteenth-century ancestors - many sacrificed their last pennies to build our churches.

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    1. Thanks very much for your comments Dara. It is indeed a beautiful legacy, one of many as you know. Beauty aside, it is troubling to consider the fact that such beauty was often built off the backs of the poor.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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  3. You're right -- the outside seems cold and austere compared to the inside which is thrilling. The use of red is masterful.

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    1. Thanks very much for your comments Wendy. I wish it were possible to truly express in images the shades of red at work here. In a word 'thrilling' hits the mark. As I said to Nancy, perhaps the red is all the more stunning given the outside facade.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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  4. So much going on inside those plain walls. The colours are beautiful. Is this church your favourite?

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    1. Thanks very much for your comments Charlotte. There certainly is a lot of beautiful colour and structure to draw the eye all around the interior.

      Although I do like this church very much, and there are many beautiful churches in Ireland, I think my favourite overall still has to be St. Patrick's Church, Ringsend, the church in which my parents were married.

      St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin, St. Colmcille's Church in Swords, and St. Mary's Church in Westport, Mayo, are also on my favourites list, simply because of my family connections to them.

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  5. Entering this beautiful church is like walking from night into day. It is truly beautiful and surprisingly, not overwhelming with so much going on. Perhaps that has to do with the abundant use of the cream color.

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    1. Thanks very much for your comments La Nightingail. Indeed, even with all there is to draw the eye, it is still a place for peace and contemplation.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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  6. It might be a plain facade but it’s still an imposing building from outside too.

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    1. Thanks very much for your comments Little Nell. Indeed it is an imposing structure; however, because of the way in which the property on which it stands is set back from the street and is gated, it has been surprisingly easy for some to pass by without noticing it.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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  7. Wow! Thanks so much for sharing this church with us. It is absolutely beautiful. I haven't seen anything quite like it.

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    1. Thank very much to you Alex! It is a beauty.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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  8. That is indeed an impressive, and rather surprising, interior, and it has a strange similarity to the Library of Congress Reading Room. What a lot of natural light inside, although embellished with quite a few artifiacl lights, a credit to the architect.

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    1. Thanks very much for your comments Brett. There are certainly a number of influences at work both inside and outside. St. Nicholas is sometimes called the church of two architects, not only because two men built it, but also because of the number of influences at work. The building of the current church was started under the plan of architect John Leeson and completed under the plan of John Bourke, who made significant changes to Leeson's plan. There are Harry Clarke windows, and statuary by John Smith, not to mention John Hogan's Pieta on the neoclassical altar. A great sort of amalgam of ideas.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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  9. The interior does look amazing, especially with the sort of dark looking exterior.

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    1. Thanks very much for your comments Kristin. It is indeed amazing.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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  10. Replies
    1. Thanks very much for your comment Postcardy! Lovely, and photogenic too.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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  11. It really is a beautiful church, and one that has relevance to my Gavin,family. Thanks for sharing the wonderful photos.

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    1. Thanks very much for your comments Pauleen! It's lovely to have been in a church associated with your Gavin family.

      Cheers,
      Jennifer

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Cheers, Jennifer

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