How a disused church became a cultural hub in North Cork town

The evolution of the cultural centre in Newmarket is a story of dedication, blind determination, hard work, and a life legacy that will benefit the North Cork community for generations to come.

Mossy Anglund, chairman of Cultúrlann Newmarket takes up the story.

“Back in the 19th century, there was a large Church of Ireland congregation in this area, approximately 180 members, but over the years that number decreased,” he explained.

“These were people from the miliary, the judiciary, land agents and the ‘big house’. There are still many that carry surnames of times gone by as there was a lot of intermarrying, but by the 1920s the church was no longer thriving.”

Finally, in 1938, Christ Church closed around a century after it was built, and sat idle for a while until it became a secondary school, up to intercert only.

“By the 1970s, the nearby parish of Boherbue was awarded a new secondary school and the church again found itself without purpose,” said Anglund.

“It was bought by an engineering company and used as a factory for 30 years. After that it was used for storage.”

Then the Celtic Tiger came, Mossy says, “and a group of us that are interested in history asked the council for funding to restore the building, but they turned us down as we had no money of our own.”

In 1992, the group of locals set up a clan rally. The McAuliffes were the clan in the Newmarket area so they put out the word, and in 1992 they had 400 people there from all over the world.

“It was like a homecoming for all McAuliffes and was a huge success. It ran every fourth year and was held locally. They even elected a chieftain!” said Anglund.

In 2000, a breakthrough arrived in relation to the disused church in Newmarket.

A businessman from Australia by the name of John Paul McAuliffe became chieftain and he promised to do great things for the clan. He remained chieftain for many years and in 2012 he bought the church as a resource for the clan.

“At this stage, the building was completely dilapidated,” said Anglund. “The floor was in many levels of cracked concrete, the roof was completely rotted, the windows were rotted, the galleries were gone.”

John Paul bought it for €100,000, and he gave Mossy the job of co-ordinating the restoration.

“Over the next ten years, I organised the county council, the heritage people, the builders and architects, and all of it funded by John Paul from Sydney in Australia,” said Anglund.

“He loved his heritage and the Irish language and Irish music and he loved the clan.

“His daughter Julie felt the same way; she wanted to keep the Irish culture alive. When John Paul McAuliffe passed away in 2016, his ashes were brought here and his urn is on display in the main hall.

“John Paul didn’t get to see the building finished, but he saw it almost finished.”

Anglund explains that everything, from the newly cut stone for the windows to the Celtic wood carvings, was decided upon.

“And we got underfloor heating and 150 square metres of drapes made to help with heating and acoustics, but we wanted to keep it as medieval as humanly possible.

“With the backing of John Paul McAuliffe and his family, we were able, over the ten years, to bring this building up to an extraordinary level of perfection.”

Anglund says John Paul’s daughter Julie has a wonderful appreciation for art - “she picked out the lighting, and we used local contractors as much as possible.

“There was scaffolding on the inside and the outside and the whole roof had to come off and be rebuilt exactly like the original.

“We used the old photographs to guide us and used lime plastering to keep it all authentic.”

Set into the beautiful window of the church are the words (in English) ‘peaceful, honourable, eloquent, generous, truthful and loyal’.

The McAuliffe family crest of three mermaids represents the three goddesses, three holy wells, and three saints of Duhallow. Above that is the boar, which represents the McCarthys, overlords of the McAuliffes.

Anglund sent photos to John Paul every week while he was alive to keep him up to date with the progress.

“The main hall now has a top-notch sound system and lighting,” he said.

The next clan gathering in Newmarket will be in 2028. Julie will come over from Australia and organise it.

“It’ll be three days of merriment for the hundreds that will arrive,” Anglund says.

What events are held in Cultúrlann Newmarket?

“Concerts, Irish trad music sessions on the first Friday of every month, a rambling house (a circle where everyone has a turn to tell a story or sing a song) on the first Saturday of every month, and they travel from everywhere for this,” said Anglund.

“Social dancing every month, with sets and waltzing, small bands, classes during the week including art and yoga, tai chi, local functions and meetings about local ongoings, and everyone has tea and food and a chat afterwards as we have the fully kitted out kitchen.”

He adds: “One day, we had five different things going on at the same time!

“We have an Alzheimer’s meeting, and the children from the Boherbue school do concerts here.

“We show movies on the big screen and we have creative writing for teens on Wednesdays.”

This Saturday, September 19, the venue will host a variety show and, on October 9, there will be a concert by Kerry ballad, folk and rebel band Dreams Of Freedom.

“We’re currently doing a digital archive in one of the balconies of all the local areas on our own server,” added Anglund. “On the other balcony, we have a history library, with all the books from the area.”

He says this building is a cultural venture, not a commercial one, and is here to foster our Gaelic heritage. It is run by a committee of eight people.

From the building’s beginnings as a place of worship, to becoming a centre of excellence for the arts and the community, the locals and the clan will ensure that this wonderful place will go from strength to strength.

www.culturlannnewmarket.ie

Contact: theculturlann@gmail.com/083 1024642/ Catch up with the events at Cultúrlann Newmarket on Facebook and Instagram.