Star of the Sea Church

This is an extract from the "Cork Examiner" on Saturday 22nd April 1899:

"Most Rev. Dr. Browne, Bishop of Cloyne, will perform the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the new church in Ballycotton tomorrow at 2.30pm. The efforts of the priests and people in collecting funds for the new edifice has met with a generous and quick response. The building will cost 15,000. Mr. J. Coffey, Midleton, has been appointed contractor with Mr. E. Shinnick as clerk of works and Mr. E. Quinn, Limerick as foreman."

This firm, J.J. Coffey, had just completed the new church in Midleton. The church was consecrated on 15th August 1901 by Bishop Browne. In 1901 the community were £2000 in debt and the furnishings of the church were still incomplete. The altar rails were erected in 1922 and cost £264. The stained glass windows were donated by the family of Thomas Roche of Mitchelstown and erected in 1905.

Just to put in proportion the cost of the church, recently there has been major work done to the church. The side roofs have been re-roofed and cost about £30,000. The bell was automated, the stained glass windows were storm-glazed, the block stones were re-pointed, sand blasted and sealed, the internal plaster was re-plastered, a new organ was installed, new central heating was installed and wheelchair access was provided. All these improvements cost roughly £20,000. This amounts to £50,000, ten times the amount the church was built for.

When the church was built, there were no walkways or steps leading to the church, none of the beautiful mosaics behind the altars were there. Fr. Thornhill put on plays and concerts in the Cliff Palace hall and held card drives in the local houses. The money he raised was used to put mosaics behind the altars of the Ballycotton and Shanagarry churches. He also cemented the approaches to the churches and put steps where necessary. Fr. Thornhill also started the Eucharistic Procession which still goes on today.

The absence of a church in Ballycotton was the cause of much concern right through the 1800s. The following is an extract from a letter written to the Southern Reporter in November 1846 by a William Hegarty, Abbey Mount, Cork:

In the village of Ballycotton there are 500 - 600 inhabitants without a Catholic Church. They have to go to Shanagarry some miles distant to hear Mass and receive religious instruction from their pastor, so that when they grow up they may know their duty and respect the laws of God and men. I have reason to know that the villagers have made various application to their landlords for a small spot to build a chapel on and were refused.

The temporary church at the rear of Fentons Arcade (Cissy O'Sullivan's) was establised in the late 1870s by the Parish Priest of Cloyne, Rev. John M. Buckley. Fr. Buckley was a native of Lisgoold who served as PP in Cloyne from 1877 until his sudden death in March 1879.

During his two years as PP of the parish - Ballycotton and Shanagarry had recently transferred from Ballymacoda Parish - he built a new school as well as the Parochial House.

From 1808 on, a priest from Ballymacoda came to Shanagarry to say Mass there. People from Ballycotton walked across the strand to hear him preach. A newspaper account from 1846 describes the number of people there between 500 - 600. William O'Brien, MP of Mallow, in his book "Irish Fireside Hours" says that:

"Ballycotton of the time was without a priest and without a chapel and an Irish country village of old without a priest was an emerald ring without a jewel."

The church has lovely pitch pine seats which were made by O'Briens of Cloyne. There are four rows of twenty seats, giving a seating capacity of about 500 people. The internal measurements are 50 metres long by 25 metres wide. The church is 15 metres high.

Ballycotton was transferred from Ballymacoda Parish to Cloyne in 1874. A priest's house was built at this time. The priests who served here since then are as follows:

Michael Walsh 1879 - 1882

Michael Norris 1882 - 1892

Bartholomew O'Keeffe 1892 - 1894

John Browne 1894 - 1903 (the church was built during his time here)

Thomas Roche 1903 - 1909

Michael Rea 1909 - 1915 (the only priest to die here)

Nathaniel Smith 1915 - 1916

Cornelius Murphy 1916 - 1924

Michael Aherne 1924 - 1932

Richard Thornhill 1932 - 193

Edward O'Riordan 1937 - 1941

John Cotter 1941 - 1945

Martin Cusack 1945 - 1951

John Walsh 1951 - 1960 (erected the Lourdes Grotto)

Cornelius O'Flynn 1960 - 1967

Michael O'Brien 1967 - 1976

Bartholomew Troy 1976 - 1986

Michael Madden 1986 - 1992

Donal Coakley 1992 - 1994

Joseph McGuane 1994 -

Inside the Church

The church is a beautiful example of Romanesque architecture. This is how William O'Brien described it:

One's first glimpse of Ballycotton now is of the pinnacle of a beautiful church of dazzling limestone on the hill, with its stained glass sanctuary window or a correct taste, its colonades of shining Aberdeen granite and its pitch pine floor.

Larry Wrenne in his booklet "Round Ballycotton Bay" says:

The old tottering building that served as a church in the memory of the many inhabitants has been replaced by a beautiful edifice, standing stately and majestically on the hill overlooking the town.

Overlooking the main altar is a three panelled stained glass window. In the centre is an image of Our Lady Star of the Sea guarding the fishermen with star light emanating from her sides. The panel on the left hand side depicts the incident in the New Testament where Jesus told the fishermen to cast out their nets in deep water.

"They let them down and caught such a large amount of fish that the nets were about to break." (Luke 5: 6)

The right panel is the most unusual of all. It shows a man entering a building. He is dressed in simple clothes, wearing a large hat and has a scallop shell on his right shoulder, the recognised sign of a pilgrim. The man is Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy, Bishop of Cork and Cloyne in the Middle Ages. He is dressed as a pilgrim and is going into a hostel in small town in Italy called Ivrea where he dies during the night. When it is discovered that he is a Bishop, he is carrying documents from the Pope, he is given a big funeral at which many miraculous cures happen. HIs body was returned to Cork in the last century, when he was declared Blessed.

Above these panels, the words Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus are written in mosaic.

At either side of the tabernacle are the Greek letters Alpha and Omega, representing the Beginning and the End. The Greek letters IHS, the first letters of the Greek form of Jesus, are at the front of the main altar in mosaic and appear a number of times at the back of the altar.

Each of the side altars has two stained glass panels. Behind the Sacred Heart altar on the left of the main altar, is one panel depicting St. Colman, patron of the parish and the diocese. The other panel shows Christ the King with an orb and sceptre in his hands.

Our Lady's Altar on the right of the main altar has a panel depicting St. Joseph and another showing Our Lady Queen of Heaven. On the wall next to it, over the doorway to the sacristy, is a mosaic of the Angel Gabriel with a scroll reading Ave Maria.

The Stations of the Cross are beautifully painted and were presented in memory of Mary Hallinan.

At the back of the Church are two confessionals which were recently remodelled.

The Baptismal Font is in front of the Sacred Heart Altar and is made of marble.

There are six arches supported by columns of Aberdeen granite supporting the main roof on each side. The detail of the upper windows is quite different on the inside, where they are arched to the outside they are circular. There are three horizontal bands of smooth stone which separate the cut limestone blocks which came from Little Island on the outer walls. When it was first built, these bands looked quite a different colour to the rest but weathering has made them appear the same colour.

At the back of the church is a stone spiral staircase leading up to the gallery where the Choir sings. It also gives access to the bell tower. One of the side doors used to be known as the "Halfpenny Door". This door faces north and has not been used for many years. The hallway from this door serves as a storeroom.