The Mary Statue Saved Because It Was Used As A Pig-Trough

Today is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Dublin. The statue is one of my favorites, as it depicts Jesus Christ like the real baby He was, squirming out of His Mother's arms. The sermon by the Carmelite priest included his reading the call to fasting and prayer today by Pope Francis, and if parents missed my list of things to do today, here is the link. goo.gl/IHWdMe  Now, I want to describe this beautiful statue and give the history of Our Lady of Dublin from a small pamphlet from the Carmelites at Whitefriars Street Church, where the shrine is located. 

The Mass was lovely, although only about 80 people were there. It is raining and about 57 degrees Fahrenheit, which might have something to do with the attendance, but there is another Mass in honor of Our Lady of Dublin at 3:00 this afternoon.

One also gets a special blessing today and a sprinkling of holy water from the priest.

Here is the information from the pamphlet and a prayer below.

"One of the most beautiful statues in the city. The Black Statue of Our Lady is offset by the surrounding white marble and stone work. It is a wood carving in oak. Its original home was almost certainly the Cistercian Monastery of St. Mary in Dublin's north inner city. (I add here the streets around there are called Mary Lane, Lamb Street and so on. Also, the statue is very French Medieval in design, which would again make the Cistercian connected viable. French influence Marys have distinct faces.) At the time of the Reformation monasteries were targeted and destroyed and their contents plundered. One story tell us that the statue was used as a pig-trough in order to escape detection. (It would have been turned over, the priest said today and slurry thrown in the back.)The story arises from the fact that the back is hollow. For whatever piece of good fortune, the statue was saved and ended (up) being bought by Fr. John Spratt in 1824. ( The priest said that Father Spratt found it for sale in a shop just yards from where the monastery had been on Capel Street, so that, amazingly, the statue would not have traveled but yards from the original site on Abbey Street). Sadly, the original silver crown was never recovered. The Feast of Our Lady of Dublin is celebrated on September 8th."

Thanks to Wiki for St. Mary' s Abbey, Dublin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary's_Abbey,_Dublin

Thanks to Wiki for the Shrine of Our Lady of Dublin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Dublin

Prayer to Our Lady of Dublin

Our Lady of Dublin, Intercede for our young people, that they may be holy, wise and prudent; for the mature that they may set a good example; for the old, that they may enjoy contentment and a quiet rest in their declining years. For those gone astray, that they may find their way back to their Father' House. For all our homes, that the peace and harmony of Nazareth may dwell in them. Amen

And, I ask my readers to ask Our Lady of Dublin to help me set up the Adoration House in Walsingham.

Continuing the mini-tour in Dublin

I hope to write a few more posts on this tour. One will be on the tour of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. And, one more will be on the families involved in the history

Viking Burials in Dublin Medieval Dublin X, p. 50 http://irisharchaeology.ie/2011/06/dublins-viking-warrior-burials/

This 1617 map shows the encircled monastic areas south of the river, at the base of the map, discussed here.

The present huge Dunne's store h.q. on Upper St. Stephen's Street was built over a 9th Century Viking graveyard. Half of all the Viking Graves of warriors with weapons in Britain have been found in Dublin. Too bad the city did not demand some preservation on the site for the public when this was discovered. Viking warriors were discovered, and a settlement was established in the area of the river, of course, in 841 A.D. Not much has been found from this time.

The Catholic missionaries came, establishing a monastic settlement, dating back to the 12th century. The area came to be called Dubh Linn, the Black Pool. Many churches were built, three in the area of the tour, indicating different monastic groupings. The Carmelites and Benedictines would have been some of the earliest orders. The first persecution happened under Henry VIII, of course, in 1539, when the Dissolution of the Monasteries Act was applied to Ireland as well.

In the take-over by the Puritans, the ruins of medieval houses were completely suppressed, finally, and the land given to the Aungier family, whose name graces the first modern street in Dublin, built across the monastic enclosure, and made wider than any other street. The width was ordered so that the new tenants and new builder, the family of Sir Francis Aungier, could travel in style with coaches to the main court. And, what was being built up on either side were large detached mansions and town houses, of massive sizes. This period saw the rise in power of the Flemish merchants as well as the new aristocracy.

One can trace, however, as my tour guide did, the old medieval lanes tucked in behind the 17th century street. Even today, a locksmith's shop is in the same building as an old forge and farrier's.

The gable fronted houses began to appear at the same time as the Georgian town houses, about 1720,  The early mansions gradually were taken over by multiple families.

The Carmelites returned to the area in 1825, at what is now, still, Whitefriars Street Church, where the exhibition of the relics of St. Therese and her parents, as well as part of the linen of St. John Vianney were seen until late yesterday.

One of the greatest treasures at Whitefriars is the statue of Our Lady of Dublin, a medieval statue of exquisite beauty and tenderness, found in a pawn shop in 1835. Some records indicate it had been found in the river, after the monasteries were destroyed. The church was built in 1832, and one of my favourite shrines, and there are many, honours Blessed Titus Brandsma, our blog guild patron.

Sadly, too many of the houses were destroyed in the 20th century, after the war, in order to build hideously ugly public housing.

Here is a section from an earlier report quoting my guide, Ms. Nicola Matthews.

Ms Matthews noted that four 17th century town houses on the street have already been protected as national monuments. However, she said the council had identified several others that were not protected structures. 

Conservation architects in the council now plan to recommend that a significant number of buildings in the area be added to the Record of Protected Structures.

“These are 17th Century houses,” she added. “It is a unique street and today we have about four of them protected as monuments. The real concern is that a number of them are unprotected and unidentified within the streetscape.”

According to Matthews one of the buildings on the street was built in 1670 and was unprotected. She noted that a planning application had been submitted to the council regarding a building beside the 17th century structure. 

“We feel that Aungier Street should be defined,” she added. “We surveyed the local community and they felt that the area had a deficit in terms of cultural events or sites within the area.”

The Aungier Street area was originally home to several early monastic settlements, but in the 17th century Francis Aungier, 1st Baron Aungier of Longford, built the street.

Many of the early houses were built by Aungier, who resided in White Friars monastery, to house the elite of the city. 

In the 17th century the street was also very closely linked to Dublin Castle through its association with James Butler, the Duke of Ormond, who lived in the area.

http://www.dublinpeople.com/article.php?id=2061&l=100

By the way, if any American Irish want to help the project, there are some of the early houses up for sale which may be demolished if no one comes forward. You can leave your email in a comment and I shall vet the note before sending it on to Nicola.


To be continued....

~The Aungier Street Report Hot Off The Press

http://www.designweek.ie/2012/pivot-dublin-aungier-street-historical-exhibition/

Later today and tomorrow, I shall highlight some of the historical references and interesting tidbits from the tour yesterday. I am so glad I went on Thursday as the sun was shining and the temperature about 67 F. Today, it is colder and raining. I shall go back further in history than this second post, the first was written yesterday. http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.ie/2013/08/small-tour-of-dublin-dutch-billys.html

The area of interest is called Aungier Street, one, if not, the first modern street built in Dublin, built over an ancient medieval way. The building up of this area in the 17th century involves a long story, but the Dublin City Council tour guide provided me with a file of information, some of which I shall share here. This history is fascinating. I have a busy day, but will try and provide readers with a few snippets.

I love local history and one of the reasons I love London so much is that thirty years ago, I started studying local history of areas there. One becomes part of what one knows, and knowledge brings love.

The Irish Times has this article today http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/strategy-to-regenerate-one-of-dublin-s-first-post-medieval-streets-1.1502879

Wiki has a short history on the namesake.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Aungier,_1st_Baron_Aungier_of_Longford

My information is directly from the report of the Dublin City Council, published today. Exciting. And, to make it all more exciting, the Aungier family had a branch in Wonersh, where someone's very special son is studying to be a priest. Small world. http://www.wonershchurch.org.uk/oldlocalfamilies.htm

This little section is from the Aungier Street Report.


Nuala Burke’s article ‘An Early
Modern Dublin Suburb: The
Estate of Francis Aungier, Earl of
Longford’, published in Irish Geography,
VI (1972), is the definitive work to date on
the Aungier Estate. Primary research
undertaken for this project has been limited 
to the examination of leases in the
Registry of Deeds. Research on the
Aungier family has not been pursued but
this is an objective when resources permit. 
Sir Francis Aungier, 
1st Baron Longford 
It is reported that the Aungier family first
came to prominence as a result of their
successful campaigning for Oliver
Cromwell during his conquest in Ireland
in the 1650s. 

The estate of Whitefriars (Carmelite)
monastery, dissolved in 1539, was subsequently bought by Sir Francis Aungier,
1st Baron of Longford (1558–1632). Sir
Francis, or Lord Aungier of Longford,
came to Ireland as a man of means
through marriage to the sister of the Earl
of Kildare, one of Ireland premier peers.
He had inherited his wealth from his
father, a bencher of Gray’s Inn in London
and a prominent Cambridgeshire
landowner, who is most remarkable for
having been murdered by one of his own
sons.