When viewing the Riga skyline you will notice that the tops of Riga’s oldest churches – Dome Cathedral, St. Peter’s, St. John’s and St. Jacob’s host a rooster (in the form of a weather vane) and not a cross. This is an old tradition, especially popular in Riga and Latvia more generally. Continue reading “‘Cock-a-doodle-do’ or ‘The Tale of Seven Roosters’”
St Peter’s Church
The thing that amazed me most about St Peter’s Church was how old the church looked. This was particularly true when I came around from the rear of the building and was confronted by the beautiful Baroque western façade of the church. I knew Riga had been founded in the early 1200s though I would have placed the church as Medieval – somewhere in the 1400s. Continue reading “St Peter’s Church”
The Church of St. Molaise – Monea
A century after St. Patrick’s death and paralleling the growth of monasticism in Ireland in the sixth century, St. Molaise, founded a monastery on nearby Devenish Island. The Reformation and defeat of Ulster’s Irish Chieftains by the English and Scottish Plantation settlers finally brought the monastic communities on Devenish to an end in 1603. Continue reading “The Church of St. Molaise – Monea”
Sacred Heart Church – Irvinestown
The Gothic style Sacred Heart Church in local limestone and Newry Granodiorite is not especially old having been built in 1910 (with a significant extension in 1989). Continue reading “Sacred Heart Church – Irvinestown”
Irvinestown Old Church and Graveyard
After about ten years into the Plantation of Ulster, Nicholas Pynnar was appointed ‘to survey and to make a return of the proceedings and performance of conditions of the undertakers, servitors, and natives planted’ in the six escheated counties of Armagh, Tyrone, Donegal, Cavan, Fermanagh, and Londonderry. Pynnar carried out his rather inconclusive survey (another had to be done three years later) between December 1618 and March 1619. Continue reading “Irvinestown Old Church and Graveyard”
White Island – Carvings and Church
Should you have even a passing interest in the early Christian and monastic history of County Fermanagh then a visit to White Island in the eastern part of Lower Lough Erne is certainly worthy the hour or so it takes.
The primary attraction here are a number of stone figurine carvings embedded in the wall of the ruined church building. Continue reading “White Island – Carvings and Church”
The Sisters of Mercy & Their Convent Chapel
The Sisters of Mercy, a Roman Catholic order founded by Catherine McAuley in Baggot Street, Dublin, in 1831, arrived in Enniskillen on 27 May, 1856 with the purpose of establishing a school for girls. This they quickly did. The ground floor of their living quarters served as a classroom until a separate school building was erected in 1887. Continue reading “The Sisters of Mercy & Their Convent Chapel”
St Michael’s Roman Catholic Church
Built in 1875, shortly after the current incarnation of its Protestant neighbour across the street (St Macartin’s Cathedral ), St Michael’s was designed by John O’Neill a very distinguished 19th century Ulster Catholic architect. His design had included a belfry and spire but these could not be built at the time because of soft foundations. A unique but necessary feature of St Michael’s are the flying-buttresses which were added in 1921 to reinforce the west wall. The current spire was added in later years. Continue reading “St Michael’s Roman Catholic Church”
St Macartin’s Cathedral
Having secured Enniskillen in 1607 during the Ulster Plantation, William Cole set about developing the town. The Island had two small hills. Cole decided that the higher of the hills would be the site of a church while the slightly lower would be used as a market place – the Townhall now occupies the latter site. Continue reading “St Macartin’s Cathedral”
Enniskillen Methodist Church
While I have not had the opportunity to go inside the town’s Methodist Church I thought I would do a short entry on it based solely on its beautiful exterior. Continue reading “Enniskillen Methodist Church”
The Rambling Wombat 