St. Mary's Dominican Church and Priory

St. Mary's Dominican Church and Priory, Pope's Quay in Cork, Ireland, is run by the Dominican Order. It serves as a local church and a priory housing a community of Dominican friars, and a novitiate for the order.[1]

St Mary’s Dominican Priory
St Mary’s Dominican Church and Priory
St Mary’s Dominican Priory is located in Cork Central
St Mary’s Dominican Priory
St Mary’s Dominican Priory
51°54′05″N 8°28′30″W / 51.9015°N 8.4750°W / 51.9015; -8.4750
LocationPope’s Quay, Cork.
CountryIreland
Language(s)English
DenominationRoman Catholic
TraditionRoman Rite
Religious orderDominicans
Websitedominicanscork.ie
History
Consecrated1839
Architecture
Architect(s)Kearns Deane
Architectural typeChurch
Groundbreaking1832
Clergy
PriorMaurice Colgan Op

Building of the church on the Pope's Quay site commenced in 1832, and the church opened on October 20, 1839, with Daniel O'Connell in attendance. The architect was Kearns Deane,[2] a Protestant and from the Deane family of architects, for no charge, and Fr B.T. Russell was responsible for delivering the church. In 1850 architect William Atkins built the priory in a neo-Romanesque style.[3] George Goldie designed all the elements of the sanctuary (including the pulpit and the high altar). Extensive renovations to the church took place in 1991.[4] The St Martin's Chapel, at St. Mary's which was added in 1972, was restored and renovated in 2017.

From 2020 until 2022, the Dominicans at St. Mary's hosted and supported an independent private secondary school, Mater Dei Academy. In 2022, this school moved to the Farranferris Education and Training Campus.

A chapter of the Lay Dominicans meets in the pastoral centre, also, counseling services are offered from the centre, as well as being used for meetings of other groups such as Alcoholics, Narcotics, and Gamblers Anonymous. In 2021 the priory applied to extend the use of the pastoral centre so as it could be used as a school.[5] St Mary's, hosts talks and the order runs and members of the community lecture on a number of short courses in theology, philosophy, and Christology.

Novitiate

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St. Mary's Cork serves as the Novitiate for the Dominicans' Province of Ireland, where a novice would spend a year, studying philosophy. After completing a year Novices make their first simple profession,[6] before progressing to the Studium (St. Saviour’s Priory, Dublin) for further study in philosophy and theology and taking vows.[7]

People associated with St. Mary's Priory

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References

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  1. ^ "History". St Mary's Pope's Quay. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  2. ^ THE CONSECRATION OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF ST. MARY'S, POPE'S QUAY, CORK presented to Kearns Deane by the artist, James Mahony painted c1842, Whytes Auctions.
  3. ^ "1850 - St Mary's Priory, Cork". archiseek.com.
  4. ^ St. Mary's Dominican Church Cork, Ask About Ireland.
  5. ^ Planning application for new school on Cork city quays by AMy Nolan, Evening Echo, July 29, 2021.
  6. ^ Simple Professions 2021
  7. ^ Dominicans in Ireland Today by Paschal Tiernan OP, St. Mary's Priory, Tallaght.
  8. ^ Red Devil to Rebel, by Jack Walsh, Alive!, P.5, Issue 259, October 2019.