Sacred Spaces Dan Cruickshank's Written in Stone

'The story of the buildings of Ulster is a story of

'the people who have lived on this land

'and left their mark on its history.'

'And here, history has left us with a remarkable legacy of buildings.

'From ancient forts and mighty castles

'to prestigious public buildings and grand country houses.'

'These historic buildings are windows into our past.'

In this series, I am going to explore some of the most

remarkable architecture of Ulster,

tell the stories of the people who created it

and see how both buildings and people were shaped by history.

Sacred buildings are amongst our earliest structures.

They tell a story of more than simply faith.

Their tall towers, their strong vaulted naves speak of conflict,

of persecution, of power struggles through the centuries.

And why am I on a boat? I'm on my way to a city of God.

'This sacred site in Fermanagh's Lakelands is

'well off the beaten track today

'but when a great monastery was built here in the sixth century,

'this island became an important destination

'on a great water-borne highway,

'stretching from the Atlantic Ocean right to the very heart of Ireland.'

'Christianity reached these shores in the fifth century.

'Those early Christians sought out places to build settlements

'and churches where they could feel closer to God.'

'For St Molaise, the founder of this monastery,

'that place was here - Devenish Island on Lough Erne.'

There is an ancient tradition of thin places on earth -

thresholds between the material and the spiritual worlds,

between the visible and invisible, between this world and the next

and surely this tower marks such a place.

Rising up, a finger to the heavens.

At the top, four heads looking towards the four points

of the compass, representing the whole world.

And the tower, when the sun is shining, casting a shadow

that moves and defines the sacred heart of this monastic site.

And monastic settlements like this one were more than just

'sacred spaces. They were hugely important to the rural economy.

'These were centres of trade and manufacturing.

'Along with the monastery, church and refectory was often

'a guesthouse, a school, huts and farm buildings.

'was the equivalent of a town in early Christian Ireland.'

'But the growing prosperity of these settlements

'attracted unwelcome attention.'

Well, the tower feels immensely strong.

It is, of course, incredibly strong.

The walls are nearly a metre thick at the base there

and made out of tremendously beautifully cut,

beautifully laid, squared and curved blocks of stone.

Wonderful workmanship. That's why it has lasted so long, of course.

So well built. One is sure about one of the functions of the building.

I mean, there are many speculations about what it was built for,

whether sacred, symbolic or practical.

Clearly, it would work very well as a place of refuge from attack.

Well, I love this stone roof, this wonderful roof.

Lovely stone, all shapes and cut with such precision.

Now, another of the functions of the tower is revealed here.

A wonderful lookout tower.

You can see a long way off, looking out for raiders.

Vikings came here at least twice

and burnt and attacked the monastery. Last time in 923.

After the Vikings were warring local kings and lords, warring dynasties.

And, sadly, another function of this tower, at least once,

was as a place of execution.

A son of one of the warring kings was killed here.

This was a time when monasteries

were inextricably linked with power and politics.

'It was here that Devenish,

'that the last High King of Ireland Brian O'Neill

'formed an alliance between Ulster and Connacht

'to take on the mighty Anglo Normans

'who had arrived in Ulster at the end of the 12th century -

'an alliance that was doomed to failure.'

'But the arrival of the Anglo Normans

'also had a profound effect on Irish monastic communities.

'They were replaced by a new European church,

'governed by bishops.'

'When the Anglo Normans invaded Ulster,

'they were led by John de Courcy.

'Although he was a ruthless conqueror,

'de Courcy also wanted, it would seem,

'to ensure his salvation by becoming a builder of churches in Ulster.'

De Courcy built the first church on this site at the centre

of Carrickfergus, his powerbase on the banks of Belfast Lough.

This church survives as a testimony to the 800 years of conflict

and violence that have shaped Ulster.

'The church is dedicated to St Nicholas,

'the patron saint of children, sailors and archers.

'It would have looked very different when de Courcy worshipped here.

'Throughout its long history,

'this church has been reconstructed several times.

'These walls withstood attacks from Irish rebels, Scottish armies,

'Williamite shells and French guns.'

This is the entrance porch to de Courcy's church

and here you can see very dramatic marks of conflict

because on the side of the door are these deep scars here and here,

caused by men sharpening their swords and halberds

on the very door of the church.

And many, many of them

so this must have been taking place for generations.

'St Nicholas's became part of the Church of Ireland

'following the Reformation.

'It was a reconstructed in 1614 by the Lord Deputy of Ireland

'and the Governor of Carrickfergus Sir Arthur Chichester.'

'This monument to the Chichester family dominates

'the centre of the church.

'Sir Arthur is facing his wife Lettice.

'Between them, their only son Arthur, who died in infancy.'

'As work began on the church,

'Chichester spearheaded widespread persecution against Catholics,

'now deemed a threat to the security of the Crown.

'This campaign included the execution of two bishops.'

This is one of the most stupendous pieces

of Jacobean funeral art I've seen.

It's an absolutely wonderful thing as an object, isn't it?

It is. It's easily the finest in Ireland.

There is nothing else quite like it anywhere on this island

and it is magnificent. From the floor to the ceiling,

it stands out as being the dominant feature within this church.

Incredible imagery about death, the resurrection.

The skull, death, sort of, in glory at the top.

But, of course, the character of Arthur Chichester,

in a way, very appropriate for him.

He dealt in, didn't he, in terror, in death and in glory?

Well, he comes to Ireland in the late 1590s at the height

of the Nine Years' War. He comes to Ireland as a soldier,

a man who had already considerable experience

in military campaigns both in the West Indies and in France.

But after the war, he transfers very easily

and effectively into becoming the Lord Deputy of Ireland.

He is a senior official in the English administration in Ireland.

This monument proclaims his power, his glory as if for eternity.

Here he is, his achievements written in stone for all to see,

dominating the church.

Yes, the monument, we see him dressed in military uniform, for instance.

But he is kneeling in prayer. He is a man of piety.

He was someone who believed very much in the Protestant Reformation,

someone who believed very strongly in conformity with in Ireland.

In other words, forcing people to go to the established Protestant church.

This building says so much, doesn't it, about the history of Ulster?

So, completed, first of all, about 1200 by de Courcy

but also later on it becomes very important for the arrival

of the Presbyterians in Ulster.

In 1642, a Scottish army lands here in Carrickfergus.

It is sent from Scotland to Ulster to defend the Ulster settlers

in the wake of the Irish Rising the previous year.

And in June 1642, the chaplains,

that is the ordained ministers who accompanied

the regiments in that army, met probably here -

we don't know for sure -

but probably here to form the first Irish presbytery

and it is from that presbytery that today's

Presbyterian Church in Ireland is reckoned to descend.

'The Presbyterians believed in a democratic form of worship. -

'a church without bishops.

'These dissenters were viewed with deep suspicion

'by the established church. Throughout the 17th century,

'as Presbyterian communities gained a foothold in Ulster,

'they faced determined resistance from the Church of Ireland.'

Very few 17th-century churches survive in Ulster

and even fewer in anything like their original condition

but one that does and which tells us

much about the tensions between the Presbyterians

and the established church in Ireland is this,

the Middle Church at Ballinderry.

'During the Cromwellian period, the Church of Ireland lost ground.

'But when the monarchy was restored to power in 1660,

'so too were the bishops.'

'One famous Bishop who would go on

'to play havoc with Ulster Presbyterians

'was particularly associated with this County Antrim Church.'

This interior is a remarkable survival.

It dates from 1668 and tells us a lot about the form of worship

within the established church in Ireland in the 17th century.

It also tells us about life in this parish at that time.

What was important was the word of God

so in the middle of the church is this large pulpit.

A three-decker, with the rector moving from here,

the middle tier, up to the top tier to deliver his sermon,

his voice booming out through the entire church,

projected by this sounding board.

Less important was a communion table at the east end.

Not an altar but a table.

But surrounded by an altar rail so still proclaiming this to be

sacred space but this ritual, less important than the word of God

delivered from over there in the pulpit.

On the worldly side, the parish made money by renting out box pews.

Here is a box pew with this door to keep

the space inside private for the person paying the rent.

Now, these box pews are a wonderful map of the social hierarchy

of the parish because they were rented for different prices.

Those at the front near the altar or the pulpit were more expensive.

This is a family pew for one of the leading members of the parish,

near the east end of the church.

The poorer people would sit on benches in the aisle here or

right at the west end, perhaps in the gallery.

All this was created by a famous bishop and theologian Jeremy Taylor.

Jeremy Taylor was a learned and scholarly man.

He had been the King's chaplain

but when Charles I was executed in 1649,

Taylor fled in fear of his life.

He sought refuge in Ireland and after the Restoration,

his loyalty to the Crown was rewarded

and he was made Bishop of Down and Connor.

Can you tell me how Jeremy Taylor came to be here at Ballinderry?

It seems that he was invited to come as chaplain by Lord Conway,

who had a sizeable castle down by the lough shore.

He came in 1658.

He was chaplain to the household down there and he went into Lisburn

once a week and gave a lecture on theological matters.

He was an eloquent preacher and I think that was

one of the reasons why he was brought by Lord Conway to be his chaplain.

He wasn't terribly satisfied with his current chaplain.

This church, which was very much his child, he started it.

But would you say this was a model of the sort of church that he

-wanted to be built throughout Ireland?

-Yes, I think so.

It's very much a low church ritual.

The pulpit is in the centre of the church,

which is quite different from what we expect today.

But you have the people all round you and, even today, when we have our

evening services here in the summer months, that's a lovely experience.

The Puritan feel of this church belies the fact that Taylor

was an Anglican who believed in religious conformity and ritual.

At the time, many Presbyterian ministers were preaching

in churches that were now reclaimed by the Church of Ireland.

According to Presbyterians custom,

these ministers had been ordained by their peers

and not by a Bishop.

This was fiercely opposed by Bishop Taylor.

He and Ulster's Presbyterian ministers were

now on a collision course.

Can you tell me how this church

and Taylor's doctrine represents the tensions in the mid-17th century

between the Presbyterians and the established church in Ireland?

When he arrived, most of the ministers were Presbyterian

and he felt that they should be re-ordained

and that was a cause for great conflict, of course.

Many of those ministers didn't wish to be re-ordained.

They felt they had been ordained.

They refused to comply with his wishes

and that meant that they left their rectories.

You say they left but

did he not physically remove nearly 50% of the ministers?

I mean, sort of like, you know, 30...

Yes, it was a question of conforming or leaving

and he brought quite a number of Englishmen to be his clergy, really.

He got quite bitter, didn't he?

He did refer to them, I think, at one point,

the Presbyterian rectors, as these sort of Scottish spiders.

He did. He had quite a tough time.

I gather, when he called his first synod of the church,

on only two clergy turned up.

And he later on referred to his time as Bishop as being his Purgatory.

'Ulster Presbyterians would long remember Bishop Taylor

'as one of the first and most formidable enemies.

'But he is remembered here in Ballinderry

'as the founder of this truly wonderful church.'

But the stress took its toll.

His health failed and he died in Lisburn in 1667, aged just 53.

'Sadly, he didn't live to see the church completed.'

Bishop Taylor wanted to be buried here,

a wish that would remain unfulfilled,

just like his desire to see Ireland rid of troublesome Presbyterians.

Just 100 years after the eviction of ministers by Jeremy Taylor,

the Presbyterian Church had grown to become a vibrant, dynamic

and radical force in Ulster.

Tucked away here, set back from the street is

the First Presbyterian Church of Rosemary Street.

Now, from the outside, it looks modest, indeed pretty unexceptional.

But this is one of the few remnants of one of the most extraordinary

periods in the political and social history of Ulster.

Since 1644, a Presbyterian community has gathered here in Belfast.

This church was completed in 1783 -

the same year in which the American War of Independence ended.

'This beautiful building reflected the growing prosperity

'of the Presbyterian community who worshipped here

'but they lived in troubled times.'

The church seemed to be a metaphor for age.

All seems calm, ordered, unchanging.

Yet those were turbulent times and, in places like this,

plans were being made to turn the world upside down.

'Excluded from political power just like their Catholic neighbours,

'many Presbyterians became increasingly radical

'in the late 18th-century

'as they were swept up in the revolutionary spirit of the age.'

From the pulpit, ideas were preached that were revolutionary

and that ran counter to the establishment view

of correct political and social order.

The minister here in the mid-18th century was

the Reverend Thomas Drennan,

a man well-known for his liberal and enlightened views.

I've been told there is a portrait of him. Here it is. Here we are.

Very nice.

A fair clerical wig. The Reverend Drennan.

On the back, I believe, is... Ah, wonderful. 18th century hand.

..a text that reflects upon his character.

In fact, it is a selection from three Shakespeare plays.

Words that honour the man. The last piece here is from Julius Caesar.

'His life was gentle and the elements so mixed in him

'that nature might stand up

'and say to all the world, "This was a man." '

This was written, in fact, by one of the men that was most influenced

by Reverend Thomas Drennan -

his own son William Drennan, who became a very noted patriot.

William Drennan was a radical Presbyterian who fought what

he perceived to be abuses of power. Can you tell me more about him?

William Drennan was a doctor who was actually practising in Dublin,

born in Belfast.

And he writes to his brother-in-law something about,

"Are you a member of the church here?" And what he sets out is

something about a brotherhood of Catholic, Protestant, etc.

And then October 1791, in Belfast, in the Crown Tavern,

the very first meeting of the United Irishmen took place.

Right, right.

The idea was, really, just a reform of Parliament cos the Presbyterians

of Belfast felt they weren't represented in Dublin parliament.

They were inspired, I suppose, to a large degree,

by the American revolution, the French Revolution.

Belfast, at the time, because of its radical tradition,

-was referred to as the Boston of the North.

-Yeah.

You would have seen the volunteers, sort of a standby army,

parading around Belfast, celebrating Bastille Day and in

the High Street you would have seen American and French flags flying.

'Those ideals of liberty, fraternity and equality

'would lead to the rebellion of 1798,

'during which many thousands of people lost their lives.'

William Drennan played no active part in the United Irishmen's

rebellion of 1798.

Indeed, before the rebellion, the organisation had been largely

driven underground and Drennan himself arrested for sedition.

Although he was acquitted,

Drennan withdrew from the society he had helped to inspire but throughout

his life he remained committed to the cause of Catholic emancipation.

'Although the 1798 rising failed, it set reform in motion

'and in 1829, nine years after William Drennan's death,

'the Catholic Relief Act delivered

'one of the aims of the United Irishmen -

'Catholic emancipation.'

Previously, Roman Catholics had to worship at a mass rock, in cottages

or simple, out of the way churches without spires or bells.

'But following the emancipation they were to embark on a major

'programme of church building and they were to do so in style.

'This is St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh.'

The Cathedral, as it is here today, was designed

in 1849 by James McCarthy but it took just over 50 years to complete.

Its design was inspired by the English architect Augustus Pugin,

a passionate advocate of the Gothic revival.

'But these 19th-century buildings also took their cue

'from the remnants and ruins of earlier churches and monasteries.

'It was as if they sought to recreate the confidence

'and prosperity of Christianity's golden age.'

'The Christian architecture of the Gothic revival

'became the national style.

'It suited the hierarchical and ritualistic structure

'of the Catholic Church, with its long nave and remote altar.'

Pugin, a Catholic convert,

stated that great Catholic churches should evoke amongst

their congregations a sense of reverence

and amongst non-Catholics a sense of admiration.

But the building was not without its problems.

Construction began in 1840 but work was halted just six years later

when the Cathedral's building fund was redirected to help

the victims of the famine.

In the 1850s, a new primate of Armagh, Dr Dixon,

took a novel approach to fundraising.

He organised the first of a series of grand bazaars.

'It raised over £7,000 - a remarkable sum for the times.

'Even more remarkable were his prizes.

'Napoleon III donated rare vases,

'The Emperor of Austria sent a table

'and the Pope gave a statue of the Madonna.'

One of the items not collected after the bazaar is

still in the church, hidden away in here, the sacristy.

Ah, there it is. This long case clock. A wonderful thing.

Offered to the church to raise money at the bazaar. Tickets were sold.

The winner was in the United States.

They bought the ticket and never came to collect the clock.

So it sits here majestically, still ticking away.

A monument, of course, to the extraordinary methods

used in the 1850s to raise money to help complete the cathedral.

I think, in a sense,

this cathedral was very much built with the pennies of the faithful.

In a real sense, this primatial cathedral symbolised, you know,

the resurrection of the Catholic people.

This cathedral was a great statement.

First and foremost of trust in God and this cathedral is here,

first and foremost, for the glory of God.

But I think it was also a statement of growing confidence that the

dark days, to some degree, were behind and that people could

look forward to a brighter future in some sense.

But I suppose, with such a tremendous history

and such kind of efforts to raise the funds to complete the building

over many decades, it must be amazing for you to work within it.

What is it like to officiate in this space?

Well, I suppose, in a sense, it is a great privilege

because it is a very sacred space.

In a sense, I think a cathedral, in a real way,

is meant to bring our attention to the majesty of God.

In some sense, it is meant to take us away from ourselves and

from ordinary and daily life and allow us to think of higher things.

Despite their varied appearances,

all churches are, in their different ways, built to the glory of God

to allow us to get closer to the divine.

They are designed to emulate

the beauty, the wisdom,

the wonder of creation.

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