The Church of the Ascension is a small Gothic Revival church belonging to the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

and located in

Timoleague Timoleague () is a village in the eastern division of Carbery East in County Cork, Ireland. It is located along Ireland's southern coast between Kinsale and Clonakilty, on the estuary of the Argideen River. Nearby is the village of Courtmacs ...

, a town in

West Cork West Cork ( ga, Iarthar Chorcaí) is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownber ...

, Ireland. It is dedicated to the

Ascension of Jesus The Ascension of Jesus (anglicized from the Vulgate la, ascensio Iesu, lit=ascent of Jesus) is the Christian teaching that Christ physically departed from Earth by rising to Heaven, in the presence of eleven of his apostles. According to th ...

. Part of the Kilgarrife Union of Parishes in the

Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross The Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, also referred to as the United Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, is a diocese in the Church of Ireland. The diocese is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin. It is the see of the Bishop of Cork, Cloyn ...

, the church is known for its intricate mosaics.

History

The site hosting the Church of the Ascension was previously the site of an earlier medieval church. It was reportedly still in good condition as late as 1699, with an average congregation of 80. On 21 August 1802, the Bishop ordered the church to be torn down, as it had become unsafe due to age and decay. He further mandated that the materials of the church be kept for the construction of a new church. The construction of the church was funded by a loan from the Board of First Fruits, and was constructed between 1810 and 1811. The church was consecrated on 25 May 1811. It followed the typical "church and tower" layout of an early Board of First Fruits church. Unlike later Board of First Fruits churches, it originally lacked both a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

and

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

. On 15 December 1832, Rev Charles Ferguson, the

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of the church, was murdered in a field near Bandon. His killing has been attributed to discontent surrounding tithes. He was beaten to death with a rock, suffering "extensive fractures" to his skull, which left him "almost unrecognisable". A vestry and a chancel were added to the church between 1861 and 1863, and designed by ''Welland & Gillespie''. Bishop John Gregg refused to consecrate the new chancel, due to what he called a "graven" representation of the Crucifixion in the stained glass east window. The window remained hidden behind a curtain until the early 20th century. The southern transept was added in 1890.

Architecture

Exterior

The exterior of the church is typical of those funded by the Board of First Fruits. It has a simple, rectangular body, and is orientated east to west. Though the church is built in the Gothic Revival style, it is unusually unadorned. The church deviates from typical First Fruit churches in that the tower, to the west of the body of the church, features a clock which faces the town.

Interior

The church features an angel shaped font made of Carrera marble. The font is dedicated to Alice Maud Travers. The walls are of liver-coloured marble up to the room's dado, with many mosaics applied to the upper walls. Above the door of the church, there is painting portraying the

, in which the Apostles are present along with a panorama of Jerusalem.

Mosaics

The church is known for its interior mosaic decoration, which is in both European and Islamic style. Two sets of mosaics commemorate respectively the local landowning Travers family, and a local man, Lt.Col. Alymer Martin Crofts. The first of the set of mosaics commissioned by Robert Augustus Travers was commissioned in 1894. They feature a star of David, a pelican, and a

lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

on the chancel arch. Travers' wife, Laura Isabel, died in 1906 and Travers commissioned mosaics in her memory. These mosaics are Mughal in style, and feature various emblems such as lotuses,

fleur-de-lys The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

, and paschal lamps. Robert Augustus' son, Robert Valentine Travers, died aged 22 in 1915 during the Gallipoli campaign. Further mosaics on the side walls of the church depicting these events were commissioned by Robert Augustus in honour of his son. The second set of mosaics, dedicated to Surgeon-General Alymer Martin Crofts, were added to the church between 1918 and 1925. Crofts was from Cork, and had links with the Timoleague area. He went to India in 1877, where he stayed until 1914. While there, he was a tutor, mentor, and friend to the Maharaja Madho Rao Scindia of

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, who financed the mosaics in the church in Crofts' honour. The mosaics were likely designed by William Henry Hill. In 2021, the mosaics of the Church of the Ascension were the county winners for Cork in the county awards of Ireland's National Heritage Week.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * {{refend

External links

* https://www.timoleaguemosaics.ie/ - official website. Churches in the Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross 19th-century Church of Ireland church buildings Gothic Revival church buildings in the Republic of Ireland