‘It will be a massive loss for the city’: Community prepares for closure of Cork church

For almost 750 years, the Augustinian order has been associated with Cork city, first at the historic Red Abbey, then on Fishamble Street, before relocating to Brunswick Street in 1781.

Its current central location, just off Patrick Street, placed it at the heart of city life. Within walking distance of landmarks such as Finn’s and Singer’s Corners, the Munster Arcade, O’Brien’s café, and the Capitol and Ritz cinemas, and with a bus stop outside the door, St Augustine’s became a place where people could light a candle, say a prayer, and continue on with their day.

Though not technically a parish church, it became the adopted parish of countless Cork families who travelled from areas such as Douglas and Curraheen.

Phil Scannell was first brought to St Augustine’s by her grandmother.

“St Augustine’s was my Grandmother’s church and my Aunty Anna’s too.” She recalls her aunt’s devotion. “She would get up at 5am every single morning to get ready for the 10am mass. And when she could no longer get the bus, she ordered a taxi.

“Anna also saved the stamps from the letters she received from her brothers in England and cousins in America, and put them into the public collection box (for local charities and overseas missions) that lay just inside the main door of St Augustine’s.”

For Phil, the connection is deeply personal. It was where she and her late partner, Bones, attended Mass in thanksgiving after recovering from cancer, and where she remains involved today as both worshipper and collector.

“As it is not a parish church, I don’t associate it with neighbours or connections. There is no judgement, no-one looking at you. From the mass goers to the priests, it is a warm, welcoming community. There is a real sense of belonging, a sense that you are part of a larger family, something that’s bigger than you, but also includes you.”

“There is a social element to the church too,” says Pat Russell, who has played an integral voluntary role in the church’s daily running for the past 14 years.

“People regularly come in for the 11am mass, meet up afterwards and go for coffee.

“In fact, there is never a moment during the day when there isn’t someone in the church. People come in, sit down for 30 minutes, and let the whole world go by outside. It will be a massive loss for the city.”

Born and reared in Barrack Street, Pat has attended St Augustine’s since childhood.

“My Dad used to go to the first morning mass before heading to work in the Railway and served at mass for years.”

At its zenith, St Augustine’s would have had multiple daily masses, all of which would be very well attended. And five masses each Sunday. That choice ensured its popularity among mass goers.

Today, Pat opens the church each morning before 6am and works until lunchtime, doing whatever is needed.

“After I retired, it suited me to be able to do something positive, mentally and physically. When you are doing something like this, you get back as much!

“My predecessor, Donie O’Sullivan, was a gifted man who volunteered in the church for almost 50 years. I worked alongside him and fell into this job.

“I have enjoyed every day I am here. You feel part of a community. I will miss it big time.”

Another lifelong member of that community is Marie Finn, who joined the mixed liturgical choir at 18 and remained for more than 60 years. It was there too that she met her late husband, Cllr Mick Finn (father of former Lord Mayor Mick Finn).

Juggling the busy life of Mum to four children, with choir commitments (at that time she was in three choirs), was no mean feat when your husband was a busy city councillor, so having all of your kids involved helped.

At one point or other, all three of her sons served as altar boys, and her daughter worked for a time in the parish office alongside Kathy, and office stalwart Debbie, who was there for almost 35 years.

“I loved being part of the choir, and made lovely friends over the years.”

Before the refurbishment works of the late 1970s, which saw the relocation of the church organ to the side of the altar, Marie recalls the 60-strong choir, under MD Joe Holly, singing from the ‘crow’s nest’ balcony at the rear of the church.

Particularly memorable were the Mother of Good Counsel novenas, “when the church was so packed, people had to sit on the altar steps.” After one such novena, Marie and Peg Bolton were honoured for 50 years of choir membership and photographed with Fr Robert Prevost, then Prior General of the worldwide Augustinian order.

Today, Fr Prevost is better known as Pope Leo XIV.

“He was a lovely man,” said Marie.

The photograph now holds pride of place in her living room.

Organist Joe Higgins, who succeeded Bob Sherman, worked alongside Mr Holly and the choir for many years.

“Many of those in the choir spent their childhoods on Patrick Street,” he explains, “living over butchers or grocery shops, which was quite a common occurrence at that time, and unsurprisingly, gravitated towards St Augustine’s.”

As families moved to suburbs such as Carrigaline and Ballincollig, attendance inevitably declined.

“The decline in the population of the inner city inevitably impacted the congregational numbers in St Augustine’s.”

What never diminished was Cork’s devotion to the Mother of Good Counsel. Every Easter, the annual novena filled the 1,500-seat church to capacity.

That devotion “was part of the religious culture of the city,” said Joe, fondly recalling the smaller perpetual novena to Mother of Good Counsel that ran faithfully every Friday night, “a sort of microcosm of the major Easter novena.”

“It was very devout with Latin benediction, and included traditional novena prayers and hymns, like O Salutaris, Tantum Ergo etc.

“On a summer’s evening, with the sun shining through the stain glass windows,” enveloped in the aromas of the incense and glorious communal singing, there was an intimacy that made “it very special.”

Other cherished memories include priestly ordinations, the Divine Mercy novena that ran for two decades, and the annual interdenominational Mass for peace and reconciliation organised by the late Cecil Hurwitz and Bishop Michael Murphy.

The musical director for many of these liturgical occasions was the current organist, Dr Jason Cassells, often accompanied by cantor Joe Long.

He grew up virtually on the doorstep of the South Parish church, listening to the melodious sounds of the neighbouring church organ.

“I was drawn to the Augustinian way, however, so St Augustine’s became my spiritual home.”

Jason joined as a nine-year-old altar boy in 1993 and has served the church ever since, including 23 years as organist.

Brother Michael, who founded the altar boys’ community in 1989, played a transformative role.

“His positive influence kept us all on the straight and narrow. A great mentor, he trained us to do jobs around the church, like painting and maintaining the religious statues, alongside Donie, or working in the repository at the back of the church (selling mass cards and religious artifacts). He also brought us to Rome, and every Wednesday evening, for 15 years, he organised ‘Bingo night’ for the altar boys and their families. He was so inclusive, and instrumental in me getting the job as organist,” insists Jason, who studied organ under Colin Nicholls in St Finbarr’s Cathedral before getting his primary degree, B.Music, from UCC.

JP Connor, another former altar boy and church volunteer of 40 years, shares that admiration.

“It has been a lifetime for me,” he says proudly. And one that he has relished.

He credits Brother Michael as being “a good friend and mentor and one of the best people that I have ever met in my life. At one stage, there were about 40 altar boys in the group run by Brother Michael. He organised games, Hallowe’en nights, trips to Dungarvan,” says JP, and the “biennial trip to Rome. If we told him we couldn’t afford it, he’d make sure you were included by raising sponsorship. The church, and we, wouldn’t be the same without his influence. He looked out for everyone, and we all respected him so much.”

Undoubtedly, St Augustine’s, with its majestic interior, stained-glass windows, pipe organ, Mother of Good Counsel altar, and welcoming priests, has left an indelible imprint on Cork and its people.

As the church prepares to close its doors, enormous gratitude is owed to the invisible army of volunteers whose dedication sustained it for generations and ensured that St Augustine’s remained not just a place of worship, but a community and a home.