ENTRANCE TO THE LIMERICK EDUCATE TOGETHER SECONDARY SCHOOL
I was aware of this Marian Grotto but could never find it until today when I came across it by accident when I noticed a lady bring some flowers up a narrow path.
It is located at the entrance to the Limerick Educate Together Secondary School on the North Circular Road. Initially I thought that it was on private property but there does appear to be separate public access.
The North Circular Road, often referred to as NCR, is a residential road on the northside of Limerick. Historically one of the more sought-after addresses in the city, house prices on the North Circular Road have declined since the Celtic Tiger though it remains one of the more prosperous areas of the city.
John F. Kennedy Memorial School, a primary school for boys, and Salesian Infant School Fernbank for girls are located on the east side of the North Circular Road, as is the large public secondary school for boys Ardscoil Rís. Salesian Secondary School was a public secondary school for girls previously situated on the North Circular Road. However, in 2015, Salesian merged with St Nessan’s Community College and formed Thomond Community College, based at St Nessan’s former location in Woodview, Caherdavin. The North Circular Road is also home to Villiers School, a private, Protestant secondary school.
Educate Together is an educational charity in Ireland which is the patron body to “equality-based, co-educational, child centred, and democratically run” schools. It was founded in 1984 to act as the patron body for the new multi-denominational schools that opened after the establishment of the Dalkey School Project. As of 2019, Educate Together is the patron of 90 national schools in Ireland. In 2014 three Educate Together Second Level Schools opened in Dublin 15, Drogheda and Lucan along with the first Educate Together school outside Ireland, in Bristol in the United Kingdom. In joint patronage with Kildare and Wicklow ETB, Educate Together opened another second-level school, Celbridge Community School, in 2015.
Limerick ETSS is Limerick’s newest Secondary School. The school opened its doors in August 2018 to its first cohort of 55 students and 12 staff. The school, based in Limerick City, is currently using the old Salesian’s Secondary School in Fernbank as a temporary home.
SAINT FRANCIS AT ADAM & EVES CHURCH ON COOK STREET
A friend of mine insists that this is a statue of St. Anthony but according to my grandmother, who died many years ago at the age of 90, it is Saint Francis and I suspect that she was correct.
The Church of the Immaculate Conception also known as Adam and Eve’s is a Roman Catholic church run by the Franciscans and it is located on Merchants Quay, Dublin. The statue in by photographs can be seen from Cook Street but I suspect that they may not be public access to the church from Cook Street.
During the Dissolution reign of King Henry VIII around 1540 the Friary at Francis Street, the site of the current church of St. Nicholas of Myra (Without), Francis Street, was confiscated and the community was dispersed. In 1615 a new friary was built on Cook Street. A chapel on the site was destroyed in 1619 and later rebuilt. The Franciscans secretly said Mass in the Adam and Eve Tavern, where the popular name of the present church comes from. In 1759 a newer church was built, which was later replaced by the current church.
After the Catholic Emancipation in 1829, they set about building a church and laid the foundation stone of the current church in 1834. The original design was by the architect Patrick Byrne who planned a tower on the Merchant’s Quay entrance. However due to financial problems the church was built without a nave or tower.
The church was originally dedicated to Saint Francis but in 1889 it was rededicated to the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady.
After 1900, the church was reorganised with the moving of the altar to the left wall and the original sanctuary was changed into a transept and entrance from Cook Street. A small nave was added to the right and a dome built over the sanctuary.
In 1912 a shrine to Saint Anthony was built in 1912 to designs by the architects Doolin, Butler and Donnelly.
In 1926 to celebrate the seventh centenary of Saint Francis, the friars built a circular apse, remodelled the transepts and extended the nave with an entrance to Skippers Alley. The consecration of the high altar took place on 21 September 1928 by Dr. Paschal Robinson, titular Archbishop of Tyana (1870-1948).
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