Longford Cathedral on fire

sonoftony · 05-01-2010 2:25pm

whats wrong with the chapel in the convent, its far bigger than the one in mels, the sisters of mercy arent being too charitable are they?

gingernut79 · 05-01-2010 2:25pm

I wonder will the relocation do anything for the bonkers parking that used to go on around Sunday Mass times.

Thanks for the photos whoever posted them. Its amazing to see what its like inside.

dollydimples82 · 05-01-2010 2:51pm

sonoftony wrote: »

whats wrong with the chapel in the convent, its far bigger than the one in mels, the sisters of mercy arent being too charitable are they?

does it matter where the masses are said? this thread wasnt set up to debate who is charitable or who isnt... prehaps the facilities at st mels are more suitable and i know the priest wanted masses kept as near to st mels cathedral as possible. I know that people due to get married on the cathedral are being offered other churches for their day.

TouchingVirus · 05-01-2010 10:59pm

dollydimples82 wrote: »

does it matter where the masses are said? this thread wasnt set up to debate who is charitable or who isnt... prehaps the facilities at st mels are more suitable and i know the priest wanted masses kept as near to st mels cathedral as possible. I know that people due to get married on the cathedral are being offered other churches for their day.

No need to back seat moderate, we're free to speculate as to which would be the more suitable venue. I believe the Convent's church may even be closer to the Cathedral than the one in St Mel's College. That said, the parking would still be a nightmare if it moved to the Convent. At least there's a grand bit of room to park in Mels

ballsymchugh · 05-01-2010 11:19pm

it's more a case of the diocese owning the college, and not the convent.

sonoftony · 06-01-2010 12:20am

dollydimples82 wrote: »

does it matter where the masses are said? this thread wasnt set up to debate who is charitable or who isnt... prehaps the facilities at st mels are more suitable and i know the priest wanted masses kept as near to st mels cathedral as possible. I know that people due to get married on the cathedral are being offered other churches for their day.

:rolleyes: touchy

oppenheimer1 · 06-01-2010 1:58am

ballsymchugh wrote: »

it's more a case of the diocese owning the college, and not the convent.

I don't see any problem with using the gymnasium in the College as long as it doesn't impinge on the running of the school or the availability of its facilities for use for sport. I can't see that happening though. If the Temperance hall wasn't big enough it would be a logistical nightmare to set up and dismantle the gym every weekend. Could the Study hall not be used or one of the many idle business premises/warehouses around the town?

I can't say I really like the idea of the school being used at all, it gives people a ligitimate excuse to be around the school when they could be up to no good. Have they forgotten about that lunatic that burst into one of the classrooms and threatened one of the students?

dollydimples82 · 06-01-2010 11:36am

sonoftony wrote: »

:rolleyes: touchy

prehaps i am touchy as you say, but i feel that this thread can become more about who is doing what and whos to blame, rather than on the cathedral fire, we are all entitled to our opinions and the right to free speech! :P sorry.
its really irrelevant where masses are said, and i personnally feel that neither the convent or mels college are suitable venues, especially during a school day. I think its ridicilous to prepare the sports hall on saturday for mass at 7.30pm and reverse it back to a school on after 1pm mass on sunday. People are charitable now and willing to help as its fresh in people's minds but what about a year from now will people still give up their time to help? also i think its going to cause confusion, people will turn up at the temperance hall for mass on sat/sun and there wont be one. there will be distruption to school classes, and what about funerals?
the rebuilding of st mels cathedral is going to take several years, why couldnt some where more suitable to found? somewhere that could cater for all the duties that the cathedral could? daily masses, baptisms, funerals, weddings, communions, confirmations, etc? i personally cant see the use of st mels college been a success.

dollydimples82 · 06-01-2010 1:26pm

the good news is the guarda have today began their investigation into the cause of the fire. there are stained glass workmen on site today too, i think its the same stained glass company that refurbished the windows in the past.

sonoftony · 06-01-2010 2:19pm

dollydimples82 wrote: »

prehaps i am touchy as you say, but i feel that this thread can become more about who is doing what and whos to blame, rather than on the cathedral fire, we are all entitled to our opinions and the right to free speech! :P sorry.
its really irrelevant where masses are said, and i personnally feel that neither the convent or mels college are suitable venues, especially during a school day. I think its ridicilous to prepare the sports hall on saturday for mass at 7.30pm and reverse it back to a school on after 1pm mass on sunday. People are charitable now and willing to help as its fresh in people's minds but what about a year from now will people still give up their time to help? also i think its going to cause confusion, people will turn up at the temperance hall for mass on sat/sun and there wont be one. there will be distruption to school classes, and what about funerals?
the rebuilding of st mels cathedral is going to take several years, why couldnt some where more suitable to found? somewhere that could cater for all the duties that the cathedral could? daily masses, baptisms, funerals, weddings, communions, confirmations, etc? i personally cant see the use of st mels college been a success.

oh right, i get it now, its ok for you to go off topic ,(like whenyou were talking about the ryan report in a thread about the cathderal burning), but jump down the neck of anyone else who dares go slightly off topic:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Keen2win · 06-01-2010 3:16pm

garfieldsghost wrote: »

From what I've heard, the furniture will be removed during the week so that the students can continue to use it for PE classes and other indoor sporting activities. Not a difficult task if collapsable/stakable chairs, etc. are used.

(And "decipher' is a word associated with making sense of jumbled-up words or a secret code )

Hopefully! I still want my P.E., it's too cold to go outside! What sort of crowds would go to the cathedral for Sunday mass? Hardly 1000? The gym would seat 600ish comfortably, I would say.

sonoftony · 06-01-2010 3:28pm

Keen2win wrote: »

Hopefully! I still want my P.E., it's too cold to go outside! What sort of crowds would go to the cathedral for Sunday mass? Hardly 1000? The gym would seat 600ish comfortably, I would say.

i was at one o clock mass last sunday in the temperance hall, it was jammed,the hall holds about three or four hundred, and there was another fifty or so in the small room at the front and the halls/stairs

sonoftony · 06-01-2010 3:31pm

anybody see the picture in todays longford leader, very graphic and shows the true scale of the damage:(

coldwood92 · 06-01-2010 3:38pm

ianwalsh2 wrote: »

oh christ
I hope it can be repaired

dollydimples82 · 06-01-2010 6:12pm

sonoftony wrote: »

oh right, i get it now, its ok for you to go off topic ,(like whenyou were talking about the ryan report in a thread about the cathderal burning), but jump down the neck of anyone else who dares go slightly off topic:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

my talking of the ryan report was in response to some of the stuff wrote here, i have not even read the ryan report. lets be nice to each other now?:D
and in response to your quote about the picture in the longford leader it is pretty graphic and give an idea of the amount of work that has to be done to restore it.:eek:

sonoftony · 07-01-2010 12:55am

dollydimples82 wrote: »

my talking of the ryan report was in response to some of the stuff wrote here, i have not even read the ryan report. lets be nice to each other now?:D
and in response to your quote about the picture in the longford leader it is pretty graphic and give an idea of the amount of work that has to be done to restore it.:eek:

ok ok

,the price has gone up to 20 million as well i see :eek:

Ghost Buster · 07-01-2010 9:32am

sonoftony wrote: »

ok ok ,the price has gone up to 20 million as well i see :eek:

The last time i passed through Longford there was still a huge finished yet unopened shopping centre with a multistory car park. Could the masses etc be relocated to there on a temporary basis. Plenty of parking!

dollydimples82 · 08-01-2010 7:17pm

Gardaí rule out arson in cathedral fire probe
Friday, 8 January 2010 17:54
Gardaí in Longford say that a forensic examination of the burnt out remains of St Mel's Cathedral have now been completed.

They are satisfied that there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the blaze that destroyed the 19th century cathedral on Christmas Day.

Inspector Joe McLoughlin said members of the technical bureau and the local scenes of crime division had removed various items from the cathedral for examination.

AdvertisementEngineers and insurance assessors have also completed their initial inquiries.

Their main suspicions as to the cause of the fire are focused on the boiler area at the back of the cathedral.
rte website

garfieldsghost · 08-01-2010 7:22pm

dollydimples82 wrote: »

Gardaí rule out arson in cathedral fire probe
Friday, 8 January 2010 17:54
Gardaí in Longford say that a forensic examination of the burnt out remains of St Mel's Cathedral have now been completed.

They are satisfied that there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the blaze that destroyed the 19th century cathedral on Christmas Day.

Inspector Joe McLoughlin said members of the technical bureau and the local scenes of crime division had removed various items from the cathedral for examination.

AdvertisementEngineers and insurance assessors have also completed their initial inquiries.

Their main suspicions as to the cause of the fire are focused on the boiler area at the back of the cathedral.
rte website

As I suspected. Now, what are the chances of all the consiracy theorists retracting their (sometimes ridiculous) remarks?

Ghost Buster · 08-01-2010 8:15pm

garfieldsghost wrote: »

As I suspected. Now, what are the chances of all the consiracy theorists retracting their (sometimes ridiculous) remarks?

Some were a little ridiculous, many werent but why should anyone retract speculation on a chat forum?
You just stated yourself that you only had a 'suspicion'. So you werent 100% sure yourself. If you were wrong would you be retracting remarks you were entitled to make?
The retributionary arson theory was anything but ridiculous. A lot of folk are rightly angry about many aspects of the catholic church and if justice isnt seen to be done, and so far it hasnt, there will be inevitable consequences.
I hope there isnt and dont begin to condone it but I just have my fears.:(

garfieldsghost · 08-01-2010 8:32pm

Ghost Buster wrote: »

Some were a little ridiculous, many werent but why should anyone retract speculation on a chat forum?
You just stated yourself that you only had a 'suspicion'. So you werent 100% sure yourself. If you were wrong would you be retracting remarks you were entitled to make?
The retributionary arson theory was anything but ridiculous. A lot of folk are rightly angry about many aspects of the catholic church and if justice isnt seen to be done, and so far it hasnt, there will be inevitable consequences.
I hope there isnt and dont begin to condone it but I just have my fears.:(

Exactly, I said "suspicion" because I wasn't about to jump the gun and claim to know to what the cause was. But there was also a huge amount of rubbish spewed out by a number of posters who weren't interested in taking all possible causes into consideration (some were blatantly trolling), preferring instead to jump to conclusions simply because the building in question happended to be a church. Just look back over the thread and you'll see that for yourself.

Nowhere in my post - or in any of my my previous contributions to this discussion - did I say that the arson theory itself was ridiculous, so don't be putting words in my mouth. A number of individuals expressed concern that it may have been arson and that's completely understandable. What I was saying was that the contributions of certain people to this discussion was ridiculous and I stand by that.

ballsymchugh · 09-01-2010 6:16am

now that the investigation is focusing on the boiler, i wonder what graces7 and the other conspiracy theorists will say? dodgy oil?
i just tried to read through the thread again. graces7 is writing a book, and giving the proceeds to charity. i'm sure that's how the house of prayer in achill advertised itself. jaysis, some of the posts were like reading the ultra stuff that you find in the Alive paper.
in the sun a couple of days ago there was a story saying that Mel Gibson had turned down the bishop's plea for help. mental. especially since the bishop was asked something like 'what would you say if Mel Gibson wanted to contribute to the repair?' and his answer was a bland 'well, if he wanted to contribute it'd be as welcome as any other donation'. those lads in the sun know how to twist a few words!
anyway, good to see work can get started on the Cathedral now.

dollydimples82 · 10-01-2010 3:25pm

good news is that they hope to be able to restore the harry clarke stained glass windows and they have been removed from the cathedral, also they have found a bell from offaly and a 13th century crozier from the museumn in the cathedral and hope to find more.!! there is an interview with fr tom healy on longfordleader.ie!

Shewhomustbe... · 11-01-2010 4:17am

Johnny Giles wrote: »

It is.

Yes it is. People are more than aware that the Church is not short a penny or two and I don't think most people nowadays can be emotionally blackmailed like before into handing over nearly every penny they have to fund the building or reconstruction of a chruch/cathedral because it'll win them brownie points in the eyes of 'God'.

Johnny Giles wrote: »

Why doesn't God reconstruct it with his magical powers eh?

I'm sure if he wanted to he could.

I think it would be great boost for the town/county that the building be restored and it was good to read that the cause was not arson, but I will stand firm that I do not think members of the congregation should pay for it. I absolutely understand people's emotional/spiritual connection to the building but as mentioned already it had to be insured.

MDFM · 11-01-2010 10:45am

Shewhomustbe... wrote: »

Yes it is. People are more than aware that the Church is not short a penny or two and I don't think most people nowadays can be emotionally blackmailed like before into handing over nearly every penny they have to fund the building or reconstruction of a chruch/cathedral because it'll win them brownie points in the eyes of 'God'.

I'm sure if he wanted to he could.

I think it would be great boost for the town/county that the building be restored and it was good to read that the cause was not arson, but I will stand firm that I do not think members of the congregation should pay for it. I absolutely understand people's emotional/spiritual connection to the building but as mentioned already it had to be insured.

How hard is it to understand the following??

1. The cathedral is insured - the insurance is there to cover the rebuild and will do so.
2. No one has being asked to dig deep into their pockets to fund the restoration. I understand there is a restoration fund, but we are not being forced into contributing to it. If we wish to contribute, then that is our own choice.

silver campaign · 11-01-2010 1:44pm

Exactly,

As MDFM said, nobody is being asked or forced to contribute to the restoration.
If people want to contribute, they can do so. I know I will contribute something.

To anyone reading this who isn't from the locality, you have to understand, as Peter Geoghegan said in his piece in the times, this isn't just about religion, it means a lot more to the people here.

tarmon · 11-01-2010 1:57pm

I hope that they put in a good smoke/fire detection system when they rebuild the Cathedral. I wonder was there any type of monitored system in the building prior to the fire? Such an important building housing priceless artifacts should have been equipped with a monitored alarm system.

Shewhomustbe... · 11-01-2010 7:06pm

MDFM wrote: »

How hard is it to understand the following??

1. The cathedral is insured - the insurance is there to cover the rebuild and will do so.
2. No one has being asked to dig deep into their pockets to fund the restoration. I understand there is a restoration fund, but we are not being forced into contributing to it. If we wish to contribute, then that is our own choice.

IT IS NOT DIFFICULT AT ALL.

If no one is being 'asked' or 'forced' to contribute why would there be a restoration fund?
I appreciate that it is an individuals choice whether they wish to contribute but if insurance is covering all the costs would no-one be curious to know where their contribution goes?

MDFM · 11-01-2010 7:30pm

Shewhomustbe... wrote: »

IT IS NOT DIFFICULT AT ALL.

If no one is being 'asked' or 'forced' to contribute why would there be a restoration fund?
I appreciate that it is an individuals choice whether they wish to contribute but if insurance is covering all the costs would no-one be curious to know where their contribution goes?

you still fail to understand..
why?? why, because there are people out there whom out the goodness of their hearts they would like to contribute, because it means something to them, every little helps and why not? i've already contributed, only a small amount, but it means something to me, and unlike you, i don't feel the need to over analyse the need why i've contributed..its just something i wanted to do.
if you are in doubt as to where the contributions are going then why not knock on the door of the prespretry (not sure how its spelt) and question the priests there..maybe they'll give u the answer to the questions you need answered.

Shewhomustbe... · 11-01-2010 7:44pm

MDFM wrote: »

you still fail to understand..
why?? why, because there are people out there whom out the goodness of their hearts they would like to contribute, because it means something to them, every little helps and why not? i've already contributed, only a small amount, but it means something to me, and unlike you, i don't feel the need to over analyse the need why i've contributed..its just something i wanted to do.
if you are in doubt as to where the contributions are going then why not knock on the door of the prespretry (not sure how its spelt) and question the priests there..maybe they'll give u the answer to the questions you need answered.

The goodness of people is not something I fail to understand, nor the fact the building meant/means something to them. What I seem to be failing to understand is people contributing to a fund that is by all accounts unnecessary thanks to insurance. If people feel the need to contribute to something why not do so to this fund instead, http://www.redcross.ie/help/donate_floods.php

Longford Cathedral on fire

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