ST CANICE’S R.C. CHURCH – NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE CHURCH OF IRELAND CATHEDRAL
When I visited this church early in May 2017 I did not get much opportunity to take photographs as there was a very large funeral taking place. It was my intention to revisit the next day but because of poor weather I did not return until August 2018 and then I had other problems. This visit I had planned to photograph the interior but because of a fall I got distracted.
This is described as a fine substantial church built by Reverend Jacob Gorman forming an appealing landmark terminating the vista from Dean Street. The scale and the fine detailing throughout represents a quality rarely seen in churches predating Catholic Emancipation (1829), thereby indicating the religious tolerance in Kilkenny together with the relative prosperity of the local congregation: however, some supplementary ornamentation may have been introduced as part of improvement works carried out in the early twentieth century to designs prepared by William Henry Byrne (1844-1917).
Fine cut-limestone dressings exhibiting expert stone masonry enhance the architectural design value of the composition while decorative plasterwork accents to the interior space exhibiting high quality craftsmanship distinguish the artistic significance of the site: delicate stained glass panels, fine timber joinery, and so on further embellish the church although some alterations carried out following the Second Vatican Council (1963-5) have not had a beneficial impact on the visual quality of the site.
VICTORIAN UNDERGROUND TOILET BLOCK SOON TO BE A RESTAURANT STILL DERELICT 6 JANUARY 2021
There are two separate entities – a small park and an underground public toilet.
In November 2018 I read that this facility was to be restored as a cafe or restaurant and I also discovered that the area was locally known as the “Four Corners of Hell” because crossroad junction of Kevin Street, New Street South, Dean Street and Patrick Street had a pub on each corner and became especially rowdy at closing time. This caught me by surprise, especially as I should have been aware that these facilities existed having gone to school in Leeson Street and college in Kevin Street.
Initially I thought that it was an old monument or memorial but upon seeing the entrance I realised that it was an underground public toilet block.
In the 1950s and 1960s there were about seventy public toilets in Dublin but all of them have been closed. The underground public toilet block at the junction of Kevin Street and New Street was one of a number that were built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in response to an increasing demand for public facilities in the city. Underground facilities such as this were partially hidden from general view in order to satisfy Victorian perceptions of decency. It retains many of its historic features including railings, gates and decorative ventilation shaft.
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