Sacred Heart Church,
Ferrybank   

The ecclesiastical milieu in  which the old and new churches were built: the broader ecclesiastical canvas

No event can ever be fully understood in isolation. This is certainly so when it comes to understanding the background to the building of a new church. The wider ecclesiastical insight context provides invaluable insight. It is  generally acknowledged among historians that Irish Catholic Church as we know it today is a post-Famine phenomenon. The first half of the nineteenth century witnessed a veritable explosion in the building of chapels. culminating in the ‘Romanisation’ of Catholic practices and devotion. The one who spearheaded these reforms was Archbishop Paul Cullen of Dublin. Before being appointed to the See of Dublin he had been Rector of the Irish College in Rome. Transforming an Irish Catholic population into a chapel-going people and weaning them off native, superstitious practices were pasttoral priorities for the newly appointed archbiship. He achieved his objectives by insisting that Masses be offered only in chapels. Staion Masses (which had evolved during penal times with the priest travelling from townsland to townsland and offering Masses in private house houses were) frowned upon. The traditional rituals associated with funeral wakes were undermined by bringing the corpse to the chapel. Catholic priests began wearing the Roman collar. Many other traditional practices such as patterns and holy well rituals were suppressed and replaced with chapel-centred imports such as ‘forty hours, perpetual adoration, novenas, blessed altars, Via Crucic, benediction, vespers, devotions to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Conception, jubilees, triduums, pilgrimages, shrines, processions and retreats. these new devotional practices of Roman or continental origin were nurtured and supported by devotional tools and aids such as the rosary beads, scapulars, medals, missals, prayer books, catechisms and holy pictures. By 1870 the ‘Cullinisation’ of Irish Catholicism was as good as complete. It was against  this backdrop that the current church in Ferrybank was built.

Prelude to building the present church: a Barron Monument in search of a home ...

Being remembered for posterity  is a consummation devoutly to be wished for. It would  seem to have ranked high in the Barron list of priorities. When Sir Henry Winston Barron, Baronet, died in 1872, his immediate relatives Pierce Marcus Barron of Belmont Park and Sir Henry Barron, at that time attached to the British Legation in Brussels, lost no time in ensuring that this "popular, public man and good Catholic".[1] would be appropriately remembered. Within a month of his father's death Henry Barron, his son, "personally obtained permission from Dr. O'Brien, Bishop of Waterford, ... to erect a monument to (his) father Sir Henry W. Barron in either the Cathedral or the Church of St. John at Waterford" (H. Barron to Cullen, 4 March 1876). St. John's was subsequently designated to host the mural monument. The donor had no problem with this. As a gesture of goodwill he "immediately gave £30 towards the stained glass windows of St. John's, and ordered an expensive Gothic monument in harmony with the architecture of the church" (Ibid.). But H. Barron's plans were dashed when Dr. O'Brien's successor in Waterford, Dr. Power,  flatly refused "to admit this monument of a layman to any church in his diocese" (Ibid.). The Dominicans who were building their church at the time would willingly have found a niche "for this ornamental addition but for the Bishop's unaccountable veto" (Ibid.). As it turned out the Dominicans were to be the main losers - being forbidden to afford refuge to the Barron monument probably meant forfeiting the £200 which Barron had promised towards their building fund.

Undaunted by Dr. Power's refusal, Henry Barron appealed to Cardinal Cullen of Dublin to use his high office and influence to have the new bishop of Waterford honour his predecessor's word but all to no avail. Even Barron's threat of suing for compensation to the tune of £315 (the cost of the monument)  failed to move the implacable bishop.

When it became obvious that they were not going to find a home for the monument to Sir Henry Winston Barron in any church in Waterford Diocese the Barron family now switched its attention across the river Suir to Ferrybank. Pierce Marcus Barron of  Belmont Park made contact with the Bishop of Ossory, Dr. Moran in 1875. But Moran was not in favour. Having visited the chapel and consulted with the local clergy, Moran, in a letter dated 19 July 1875, flatly refuses to countenance any such  request on the grounds that "the erection of the proposed monument would seriously inconvenience the congregation ... and the proposed inscription on the monument would occasion grave scandal to the parishioners, if permitted within the chapel walls". Moran goes on to elaborate further on the reasons for his refusal : " some of the parishioners have complained of the inscription and coat of arms placed in the tower over the entrance. The venerable P.P. informed me that he knew nothing of its erection till after it was done" (Moran to P. M. Barron,[2] 19 July 1875).

Sir Henry Page-Turner Winston Barron now enters the fray. He was not prepared to take no for an answer. Once again he appealed to Cardinal Cullen this time asking him to use his high office and influence with the Bishop of Ossory, Dr. Moran, so that the said monument could be erected in the chapel of  Ferrybank.[3] Clearly Ferrybank had not been his first choice for the monument to his father, nor even his second. Cullen made contact with Moran who at this stage would seem to have softened in his opposition to the Barron request. He told Cullen, his uncle, that he had informed Mr. Barron that it was "a diocesan rule in Ossory that such monuments (were) not permitted inside our churches, except in the case of special benefactors". Implicit in this statement was Moran's readiness to do business but at a price. In Moran's book special benefactors had to be for real.  He wasn't one for believing that 'the cheque is in the post'. He wanted money up front and was prepared to say it. He wrote to his uncle stating the reasons for his prevarication:

            We have some important parochial works on hands at present at Ferrybank, such as the erection of new schools and a parochial house. If the Barron family wishes to become benefactors by investing a sum of say £500 towards rebuilding the church or towards the parochial purposes at present on hands, or any sum that will fairly constitute them special benefactors of the parish, I will do everything that I can to meet Mr. Barron's wishes (Moran to Cullen, 21 May 1876).

Cullen would be obviously pleased. Moran's mellowing was getting him off the hook. Waterford having originally agreed to provide a home for the Barron monument had with the change of bishops reneged on that commitment. Ossory's initial outright opposition was diminishing. It was now a matter for the Barron family to prove that they were genuine benefactors by making a contribution to parochial funds. Cullen, not wanting to get embroiled in the affairs of  another diocese and especially when the bishop of that other diocese happened to be his own nephew, replied both tentatively and diplomatically  "that monuments are permitted in churches in the case of special benefactors", and re-assuring Barron of the high esteem in which he was held by his nephew the Bishop of Ossory ( H. Barron to Moran,  10th June 1876). All that remained now was for Barron to prove to Moran that he was in fact a special benefactor. A £500 donation would secure him that grace.  Barron now felt that he had a foot in the door and wasted no time in setting down all the reasons why he should already qualify as a special benefactor and thereby be entitled to erect a monument  to his liking, complete with inscription, inside the church.  He wrote to Moran pointing out  why he should qualify not merely as a benefactor but in his own words 'as the main  benefactor of this little village church':

            ...my father contributed £100 towards the erection of the present front, besides the stones and with which it is built ... I am still a greater benefactor by giving a belfry, which is not the less useful and ornamental because it serves also as a memorial of my family .... 

Barron goes to great pains to refute the claim being made by Moran that the belfry was  allowed only on the strength of his promising to re-build the church at a later date.[4] He had made no such promise,  nor had he authorised anybody to make such a commitment on his behalf.  What he had promised, however, was  "a liberal donation towards the rebuilding of the church" not in order to curry favour with ecclesiastical  authorities "but simply as a spontaneous and disinterested act of generosity" on his part. He goes on to inform the truculent Bishop that he had already in his Will "bequeathed £1,500 towards the building of a new church at Ferrybank", that he had not yet revoked this bequest and that he sincerely hoped that he " would not be driven to such a step"  because of the shabby way in which he was now being treated (H. Barron to Moran, 10 June 1876).  He concludes his long letter by appealing to the Bishop's "sense of justice to allow the erection of this monument in the church of Ferrybank on the simple grounds that Sir H. Barron and I have been large benefactors of the same church. Whenever it is thought fit to rebuild this church I shall be ready to contribute £500 towards that purpose certainly not as a 'matter of business' but as a free act of liberality".

Barron demands a "new trial:

Barron did his utmost to have a monument erected to his father, Sir Henry Winston Barron, inside the old church in Ferrybank but he failed to break down the Bishop's opposition. Having failed in Ossory he now directs his attention once again across the river to Waterford. On June, 19th, 1878[1] he wrote in a rather conciliatory tone to the new Bishop of Waterford, Dr. Power requesting a 'new trial' and pointing out the understanding that he and the late Bishop of Waterford had arrived at with regard to the erection of the now completed monument in St. John's Church. No doubt Barron had marshalled all these same arguments three years earlier when the said Bishop had flatly refused him permission to erect the said monument in any church in the diocese of Waterford. What Barron was now offering in addition to his arguments was his money - "I am willing to donate a further sum of £100 to the erection of  a stained glass memorial window, if your Lordship will grant the permission ..." (H.P.T. Barron to Power, 19 June 1878). But what probably proved decisive in emasculating the Bishop's opposition was a post-script to the above letter: "If this affair is now settled in friendly spirit, my benefactions to your Lordship's diocese shall not be limited to the above contribution" (Ibid.). No bishop could afford to ignore such a promise laced in silver lining from a man as wealthy as H.P.T. Barron. When the Barron Will was finally published the Catholic Bishop of Waterford was one of its principal beneficiaries - he received £2,000 while hospitals and charitable institutions in Waterford benefited to the tune of £4,000.

It is little wonder then that we find ensconced in the wall of the right aisle if St. John's Church a gothic monument  bearing the inscription:

            Sacred to the memory of Sir Henry Winston Barron, Bar.,

            born Oct. 15, 1795 at Ballyneale in this county.

            Elected M. P. for Waterford 1832; 1835; 1837;

            1848; 1865; 1869.

            Died 19 Aug. 1872, R.I.P..