St. Michan's Church vandalised

hmmm wrote: »

I think we should bring back flogging. A slap on the wrist just isn't enough any more, and we can't keep them all in jail.

You mean proper flogging with cat o' nine tails. Anyone who has previously visited or are historically connected to the church can give them each 12 of the best. I will taking it easy to dust them off with salt afterwards.

goose2005 wrote: »

well, who else would decapitate a crusader skeleton?

Well there have been churches and grave years descretated right across Europe in the last few years.

JayZeus wrote: »

Disgusted by the Church turning those and other remains into a tourist attraction and by the vandals for their actions.

It’s about time the remains were properly interred and the crypts permanently closed to the public. If the church learned its lesson the first time vandals caused damage, instead of thinking about footfall and revenue (a prime concern, no doubt), there would be no reason for this thread.
.

A building is a living thing, it needs to be aired and heated. Look at all those government hospitals that were abandoned and within 2 years they had gone to rack and ruin. These buildings also have an educational function as well. Moulds and mildews and rots would set into the wood. Part of the crypts is the limestone preserves the bodies.

This is about education and respect or lack there of.

JayZeus wrote: »

The crypt does not need to be heated or ‘aired’, nor does it need tourists and the maintenance of access-ways to facilitate them.

The crypts are the final resting places, or should be, for the religious faithful (and I’m not) whose remains were placed there. The public/tourists have no business going there and the Church of Ireland have no business running tours into the crypts either.

This is most certainly about a lack of respect.

True but those stone buildings do need maintenance and roofs need to be fixed and maintained. If more people attended services and paid dues then there would be less need for tours. The main selling point for me going to St. Michans was to see the crypts. Stone masons, steeple jacks and roofers all cost massive money. If you are not a member of the congregation then you really arent entitled to get a say. Have you actually visited any of these sites? taken rubbings from flag stones? All these trades men and services have to be paid for in someway or other. Have you ever seen the work and perfection that goes into stone masonry? Seen all the tools and each piece fits from an architects plans to completion often decades later (sometimes after the architect has died)? How do you propose the building upkeeps itself, if you cut off its largest revenue stream?

I have been there and found it fantastic rewarding and educational experience. I have often wondered what was the story behind the "giant" 6ft crusader and how he travelled back and forth to the holy land and what he saw there. I did it just this evening as my girlfriend watched "Celebrity Dating". You see the contrast in education there?