A Red-Letter Day in the Annals of Carrigfadda: Church Building, Nationalism and the Pull of Rome

This paper looks at some of the social and religious movements of the opening decades of the twentieth century through the lens of one small West Cork church. A close reading of the building and a three-light stained glass window within it reveals clear evidence of the political orientation of those who commissioned it. Analysis of the rhetoric used in the dedication ceremonies of churches of this era underscores how church-building could be equated with Irish nationalism while at the same time emphasising the Rome-centric nature of Irish Catholicism. It is also the story of two Clonakilty men, uncle and nephew, who left their mark on West Cork.