The Bleeding Horse and Other Ghost Stories by Brian J. Showers

Author:Brian J. Showers [Showers, Brian J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Ghost
ISBN: 9781856355780
Google: qGMaAQAAMAAJ
Amazon: 1856355780
Publisher: Mercier Press/Swan River Press
Published: 2008-06-14T22:00:00+00:00

Lavender and White Clover

You will have already noticed, as we came over the bridge, one of the most recognisable features of the Rathmines skyline. In fact, you can see it even from as far away as the foothills of the mountains, or indeed from any point within Dublin that elevates you well enough above the city. I am, of course, referring to the Byzantine copper dome of the Church of Mary Immaculate, Refuge of Sinners. From my desk near the window, I can see its egg-shaped curve, circular windows and stoic cupola even as I write this. Most people already know that this dome was the church’s second to stand above the treetops of Rathmines. Here is what happened to the first dome.

On the morning of 26 January 1920, a great conflagration nearly destroyed the entire church. The flames crawled up the walls, melting the stained-glass windows, and weakening the edifice; the weight of the dome could not be supported. It crashed down through the roof into the nave. The noise it made when it smashed into the ground,‘like a hammer striking some great bell, was even heard by the fishermen in the bay. The new dome was constructed in Glasgow and it would have been shipped to St Petersburg had not the October Revolution broken out in 1917. Fortunately for the Scottish dome-maker, it was possible to give it a home here. But as I said, most people already know this story. Allow me to tell you some things about the church that you may not know.

The church that you see now is the latest of three to stand in this general area since the late eighteenth century. Following the Catholic Relief Act of 1782, the Parish of St Nicholas Without on Francis Street, of which Rath-mines was a part, purchased a large parcel of land from the Earl of Meath. According to records, the property measured ‘2 acres 2 roods and 38 perches’. This piece of land roughly corresponds with the area defined by the Grand Canal to the north, Mount Pleasant Avenue to the east, Richmond Hill to the south and Rathmines Road to the west. Unlike today, the land had not yet been built upon. Its only residents were the (now subterranean) Swan River, which trickled from west to east down the centre of present-day Richmond Hill, and an ancient Celtic cemetery which had existed since before recorded memory and was occasionally, even then, still in use.

A temporary church was built beside this cemetery with plans to build a larger, more permanent structure as soon as funds could be raised. However, these plans were dashed until 1823 by continued opposition to Catholic emancipation. Eventually a parish was established, and in 1830 Archbishop Murray consecrated the newly built, Gothic-style church to SS Mary and Peter. The Catholic population of Rathmines continued to grow, and as soon as 1845 the church was already too small for its congregation. Parish priest Fr William Stafford hired noted architect Patrick Byrne to prepare plans for a larger church.

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