An attack on city’s hidden historic gem
This chapel may not have had the high profile enjoyed by other historic buildings in the city, in the South Parish in particular, but it was as important to the heritage of the area as the Red Abbey or St Fin Barre’s Cathedral are.
Having been built by Fr Arthur O’Leary, the famous Capuchin, in 1771 on the site of an earlier friary, it became home to Fr Mathew when he came to Cork in 1814. It was in that very chapel that he founded the Temperance Movement in 1838, which improved the quality of life for many thousands of families at the time. It was one of the hidden gems of the area and perhaps it was the fact that it was so hidden away, being a product of the penal times in which it was built, that it wasn’t deemed worthy of having the protection that a listed building would have had.
Why this historically important building wasn’t given that protection is a mystery that only the relevant authorities can answer and the least they can do now is to vigorously pursue this matter, through the courts if necessary, and try and make sure that this kind of cultural vandalism isn’t repeated.
It is appalling to think that this chapel, second only in age to the South Chapel in the city, could have been reduced to rubble and 233 years of history lost forever with just a word from one man.
Roger Herlihy
Greenhills Court
South Douglas Road
Cork
