Saints Peter and Paul's Church is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church located on Carey's Lane in

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

History

Peter and Paul's was built to replace Carey's Lane Chapel, a much smaller structure built in 1786. Under the guidance of

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

John Murphy, a design competition was run in the 1850s and won by E. W. Pugin, son of

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...

. The foundation stone was laid on 15 August 1859. Though the construction of the church was completed in on 29 June 1864, and the public were granted the opportunity to view the interior of the church at this time, the church was unable to open as the debts associated with its construction had not yet been paid off. Exactly two years after the church first welcomed members of the public to enter, it was dedicated for worship on 29 June 1866. In 1930, an associated

Scout Group A Scout group is a local organization used in some Scout organizations that groups a Scout troop or unit with other age programs, separate gender-based Scout troops and/or multiple Scout troops. A Scout group that groups Scouts with programs fo ...

was formed, the 4th Cork (Ss Peter and Paul's) meeting in Brown Street, then Castle Street and now Gilabbey Park, though no longer directly connected to the parish. Between 1939 and 1962, the roof of the building was renewed, and the baptistry was repaired. In the 1980s the building underwent major renovations.

Architecture

The church comprises a central

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with gable roof and two

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s. The walls are of red

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

with limestone dressing. The aisles are at either side of the nave, which is covered with a gable roof. The roof is supported by open timber work. The beams sit on corbels which are carved with images of the choir of angels. The grand altar is carved from 36 tons of

Carrara marble Carrara marble, or Luna marble (''marmor lunense'') to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara ...

. The pavements surrounding the altar, and the steps, are all of white Italian vein marble. The

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

is decorated with blue and gold ceiling panels. The flooring of the church is in white and black marble. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

and confessionals were carved from Russian oak by craftsmen from

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

and Cork.

References

Notes

Sources

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External links

Official site
{{Cork City Buildings and structures in Cork (city) Roman Catholic churches in Cork (city) Roman Catholic churches completed in 1866 Roman Catholic Diocese of Cork and Ross Gothic Revival church buildings in the Republic of Ireland E. W. Pugin church buildings 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Ireland 19th-century churches in the Republic of Ireland