IRELAND, DAY 4: DANIEL O'CONNELL MEMORIAL CHURCH

 July 7, 2024

On our way to the scenic Ring of Kerry Drive, we passed through Cahersiveen, population 1,300. When we saw the Daniel O'Connell Memorial Church looming over the village, we decided to take a look. We parked across the street and just happened to notice a ceramic Statue of Liberty through the window of a second-hand store. Crazy.

It looks like the church is 2/3 of the way to their fund-raising goal for renovating the building.

Built between 1888 and 1902, this is the only church in Ireland named for a layperson. Daniel O'Connell was an important Irish nationalist leader in the early 1800s who called for the repeal of the Act of Union of 1800 and for the restoration of the Kingdom of Ireland. He served as a member of Parliament and as the Lord Mayor of Dublin. He also played a role in the abolition of slavery in Ireland in 1833. He was born just outside of Cahersiveen, and the village is proud to claim him as their own, as they should be.

The marble block cornerstone of this granite church was a gift from Pope Leo XIII and was sourced from Rome's catacombs.

Gothic Revival, meet Medieval architecture.

The Last Supper bas relief on the altar was my second favorite thing in the church. I love that it is lit up.

The stations of the cross are large, colorful, and very detailed.

This grouping of life-sized figures was my third favorite thing inside: St. Francis?, Mary, Jesus, maybe Peter, and ?

What was my MOST favorite thing in the church? This sheepdog following its owner down the aisle. 

Another reason this is an important landmark and church is because Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty is buried here. Born not too far away in Killarney, he was called to serve in Rome and is known for his resistance efforts during World War II. Evading the Nazis, he smuggled 6,500 Allied POWs and Jews out of Rome, where he was stationed during the war. Doesn't he have a wonderful face?

O'Flaherty's grave is covered in small stones, a practice I first learned about in Jewish cemeteries where it is customary to place a rock on a grave in remembrance of the person buried there. Considering the number of Jewish lives he saved, seeing these stones were very moving to me. A beautiful Celtic cross stands nearby.

O'Flaherty was known as "The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican," a reference to the novel The Scarlet Pimpernel, which tells the story of a man who rescues prisoners on their way to the guillotine during the French Revolution.

Another grave stood out among the dozen or so in the small graveyard. Why would a man who appears to be an Irish-American priest be buried here? It turns out that he was a direct descendant of Daniel O'Connell (who apparently was married to his third cousin--must not have been a celibacy rule then). This O'Connell was born here but spent 25 years serving in the California missions before retiring to (and dying in) Cahersiveen.

MOVIE AND BOOK

If you are interested in the story of Hugh O'Flaherty (and who wouldn't be?), you can't go wrong with a movie in which Father O'Flaherty is played by Gregory Peck, Pope Pius XII is played by Sir John Gielgud, and the SS villain is played by Christopher Plummer.

The title The Scarlet and the Black refers to both the black cassock and scarlet sash worn by monsignors and bishops in the Catholic Church AND to the dominant colors used by the Nazis in their flags and regalia.

The movie, which was based on a book by J. P. Gallagher, was made for television rather than theater release in 1983.