Church of the Irish Martyrs, Cromwell

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11, 19 March 1908, Page 24

Church of the Irish Martyrs, Cromwell

(By, telegraph from our own correspondent.)

St. Patrick's Day was appropriately selected 'as the date of the laying of the foundation stone of the new church at Cromwell, to be dedicated to the. Irish Martyrs. Solemn High Mass was celebrated by the Very Rev. Mgr. O'.Leary (Lawrence), Rev. Father ODea (Omakau) being deacon, Rev. lather Delany (Ranfurly) subdeacon, and 'Rev. Father Coffey (Dunedin) master of ceremonies. The occasional sermon was preached by the Rev. Father Creagh, C.SS.R., who, basing'an impressive discourse on Joshua iv., 6-7, ' That it may be a "sign among you, and when your children' shall ask~~you to-morrow, saying : ,-What mean these stones ? you shall answer them, etc,' dwelt on the^misstonary spirit of the Irish people, and how they had carried thefaith to various countries. In addition to the clergy already mentioned there were also present Rev.. Father O'Donnell (Queenstown) and the Rev. Father Hunt.

The ceremony of laying and blessing the foundation stone w a s perforir,ed by the Very Rev. Mgr. O'Leary in the (presence of a very large concourse of people from the different parts of the Cromwell district. Monsignor O'ljeary, in the course of his address at the ceremony, referred to the appropriateness of erecting a church dedicated to the Irish Martyrs at Cromwell— a - name 'a^ Mch was indissolubly bound up with the bitterest persecution and trials to which the Catholics of Ireland had been subjected. The collection, amounted * •to the handsome sum of £260.

Style and Dimensions.

The church will be built in the early English Gothic style, and will have a nave, 20It x 40ft ; a sanctuary, 1 8ft x 20ft; a nuns' chapel, 10ft x'2oft ; a sacristy, 10ft x 20ft ; and an entrance porch at the base of the. tower, 10ft square. The tower, which w*ill stand Jn the middle of the front, will be 13ft x 13ft, rising to a'total height of 40ft, at which point' it will be— surmounted by a broach rising another 28ft to the top of the cross, making the total he«i?ht 68ft. On the top of the tower will be the belfry, haying- its four sides pierced with twelve pointed louvre openings.. Below this will be placed the oriran recess opening out on. to the choir gallery, which will have a platform' projecting into* the church, 12ft x 20ft wide, and the whole standing, above the floor level 12ft. The nave will have a total height, from floor to the. centre of the ceiling of 23ft, and a height of its walls inside; ol I.6ft ; the whole of this space will be lighted by means of eight pointed windows, .each 2ft x 7ft, filled in with lead-light work. The organ loft will be lighted by six pointed -windows,

each lft 6in x 7ft, and the porch will have two pointed windows, "each 2ft x 7ft ; these windows will also be filled in With lead-light work. The sanctuary will have a" clear height "of" 211J J touts' ceiling; and- 16ft in the walls, and will ' be lighted by means of a three-light window in the back wall, and, it communicates - with the nuns' chapel by means of two aisles in the side, each Bft x 12ft, one of which will be screened "off, and" the other fitted^ with a Communion rail." The arch into bhe nave - from * the sanctuary will be 1 5ft wide 1 , and' a total height of 19ft,. with statue niches on either side.The ceilings .of both the sanctuary and nave will eventually be lined with suitalble stamped metal madein panels laid between the heay,y wood trasses, whicto' are' to be bolted oib the roof principals. In the. meantime titie woodwork of the roof will be left exposed. -The-c. whole building will be built of stone on concrete base " and foundations, and having cement reveals and dress,- ' iii{VS. The roofs of the nave, sanctuary, sacristy., etc., will foe covered with" French tiles, and" -the broach of the tower will be finished with Sydney shingle ttles. The walls -of the nave will be buttressed with six 6ft ■ single ramlp buttresses, and the tower with four double ramp buttresses. The whole building, though plain in details, as suited to the style, wilL De solid and P er " inanent in construction and imposing. Its total exter-^ nal length will be 80ft, with its greatest width of 44ft, and a height to the top of the nave roof of ' 32ft. Mr. Gair, of Cromwell, has the contract for the masonry, and Mr. P. Thomas, of Cromwell, has -the contract for the rest of the building, which was designed by Mr. F. W. Petre, of Dunedin. -