OPINION (AN COLÚN): Intelligently-designed Rathcabbin church is one of Ireland's finest

STANDING in Rathcabbin's Our Lady Queen of Ireland Church is a powerful, emotional statue which strikes the viewer to the heart, making you yearn for a safe harbour in the midst of the chaos of life, a safe harbour in the midst of people's chaos, a haven where you can live peacefully, protected by the embrace, strength and power of a mother's love.
Bríd Ní Rinn's masterpiece is carved out of ash and it shows Mary facing the altar with outstretched hands and wearing a cloak that encloses a group of children.
It's agonising to think of the many war-torn places in the world where children are cowering, terrified. It's agonising to think of the many alcohol-fuelled homes where children are suffering verbal abuse. Bríd Ní Rinn's Mary is a symbol for any event or person that protects children from the heartless acts of others, a symbol for all those people who know what is right and what is good and refuse to give in to those who are ignorant or misguided.
The sculptor's children also represent any of us who are being wrongly treated by others, any of us who are suffering because of difficult events.
The Co-PP Fr Tom O'Halloran highly values this statue. In the book “The Soul of Dorrha, The Spirit of Rathcabbin” he writes: “The inside Shrine to Our Lady Queen of Ireland continues to inspire prayer and reflection. It helps that this is the shrine where candles are lit in this church. The statue of Our Lady is a real gem that deserves to be treasured. People with a prayer of petition in their heart continue to drop in and light their candles. They have personal stories and 'dreams and songs to sing.' I have a sense that this shrine needs to be enhanced in some way and brought more to the centre of our consciousness.” He suggests the installation of stained glass. This newly installed stained glass would create beautiful effects with light.
I was unaware of this powerful statue until Sunday when I attended a mass celebrating the 40th anniversary of the opening of Our Lady Queen of Ireland Church. As well as the statue I was also deeply impressed by the church itself. Our Lady Queen of Ireland is one of the finest modern churches I've seen in Ireland. Flooded with light and beautifully embraced by the outside world, it is a pleasure to sit in. The inspired architects were Anthony and Barbara O'Neill from Dublin, who were also the architects for the renovation of Lorrha (1977) and Redwood (1979) Churches. The instructions they were given by Bishop Michael Harty was to create a new church for Rathcabbin which would reflect the Second Vatican Council's dream for the celebration of liturgy which would entail the “full, conscious and active participation of the people.” Anthony O'Neill said the principal aim when they were planning the church was to create a building which would enclose a semicircular grouping of people around a central sanctuary area, and to express this concept externally by a low perimeter roofline sweeping up to a spire with a cross above it. The main feature of the low enclosing wall is the large amount of glass which allows a friendly view into the church. The effect is splendid. Fr O'Halloran agrees. “It is a delight,” he writes, “for a celebrant to be so near people in the congregation. One feels the natural beauty of the landscaping encroaching into this liturgical and prayerful space. It is very rare that this happens in the design of a church.”
The Co-PP also defends the art work by David King in the church, pointing out that there is a tendency to dismiss modern art in churches as vulgar. “The tendency is to romanticise the dark, stained glass churches.” This is evidently blinkered and unfair thinking. Modern art, done well, can create a spiritual atmosphere equal to traditional ecclesiastical architecture.
Fr O'Halloran also makes some very interesting comments in the first article in the new book. He reflects on the changing face of Catholicism over the decades, how significantly it has changed during a short period of time. He speaks about watching a video of the opening of the new church in 1984. In the video there's “a sense of a community of faith united.” In 1984 the Catholic Church in Ireland was very strong and popular. Nowadays it is, relatively speaking, considerably weakened. The world of North Tipperary in 1984, continues Fr Tom, “had a whole richness of religious faith. As Pobail Dé, the people of God, our experience of faith is now different. Our world then was one where being Catholic meant, 'Here comes everyone'. Nowadays that world 'has quietly slipped off the stage', to quote the poet Seamus Heaney.”

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