Montenotte House, home to the Cope
Foundation, was the first building on our itinerary that morning and Mary
Byrne, administrator at Cope, warmly welcomed us to the Foundation’s imposing
neo-classical mansion, known as Montenotte House. Members gathered together in
the colonnaded, top-lit, double-height, rectangular hall space, to greet
friends, chat and partake of the festive fare on offer. And refreshed, the
group was free to explore the first floor rooms via the magnificent marble
staircase. Members took time to linger on the colonnaded balcony to admire the
exquisite symmetry of the house’s Italianate features. Mary Byrne kindly traced
the history of the house from its original early Victorian ownership through to
the present day owners who relatively recently, undertook substantial
conservation and restoration of the house.
Next on our itinerary, was the lovely finely proportioned
three-bay late Georgian building, Fitzgerald House, Summerhill North,
headquarters to Cork’s Chamber of Commerce. Apart from admiring the
wrought-iron entrance screen, ionic door-case, and decorative fanlight, there was
also the opportunity to enjoy the exclusive views of Kent Railway Station from the ground and first floor
windows of this beautifully restored house. Dr Alicia St Leger captivated her audience with an
excellent talk on the Fitzgeralds, the last family to live in the house. Seamus Fitzgerald, the late head of the
family, died in 1972. But
Seamus Fitzgerald still lives on in the house: A fine bronze bust of Seamus, sculpted by Seamus Murphy and
on loan from the Fitzgerald family, resides in the entrance hall. The recent, sympathetic and
quality restoration by its current owners, Cork Chamber, ensures a
new lease of life for this venerable house for many decades to come.
A short walk up hill brought us to the
former Church of Ireland church, St Luke’s. The church is a well-known local
landmark with its elegant steeple that towers over the streetscape. This iconic
Italianate Romanesque church, together with its many fine details, including
rose windows and decorative colonettes, were admired by all. The remarkable
history of the Hill family of Cork architects, was imparted by the historian
and author, Dagmar Ó Riain Raedel to a rapt audience. The present structure,
designed by William Henry Hill, was the third church to stand on the site. It was consecrated on the 8th February, 1889 and it was the first
church built by the Church of Ireland after the Disestablishment of the Church
of Ireland Act of 1869. Sadly, St
Luke’s was deconsecrated in 2003 and it now serves as a cultural centre. It is
owned by Cork City Council.
Lastly, The Ambassador Hotel, Military
Hill, beckoned hungry Georgians to Christmas Lunch. The Ambassador, also designed by William Henry Hill, is a
long brick building with attractive colonial style verandas that allowed former
residents (patients of the ‘Home for Protestant Incurables’) to take the air on
this elevated site. Happily,
all those present on that December morning, were in fine form as we
celebrated the coming of Christmas and the close of the Cork chapter’s tenth
anniversary year.
Special thanks
to all our hosts and to the chapter for planning and arranging a most enjoyable
end of year event. As a token of our regard for the magnificent work undertaken over the past decade, by our highly esteemed chapter chairman, Kevin Hurley, the occasion was marked with a presentation to Kevin.
