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The Honan Chapel (Irish: Séipéal Uí Eonáin,[5] formally Saint Finbarr's Collegiate Chapel and The Honan Hostel Chapel) is a small Catholic church built in the Hiberno-Romanesque revival style on the grounds of University College Cork, Ireland. Designed in 1914, the building was completed in 1916 and furnished by 1917. Its architecture and fittings are representative of the Celtic Revival movement and evoke the Insular art style prevalent in Ireland and Britain between the 7th and 12th centuries.[6]

Honan Chapel
Collegiate Chapel of St. Finbarr[1]
Séipéal Uí Eonáin
Honan Chape front.jpg
West façade
Honan Chapel is located in Cork CentralHonan ChapelHonan Chapel
51.8935°N 8.4895°W
Location
University College Cork, Cork
Country
Ireland
Denomination
Catholic Church
Website
honan.ucc.ie
History
Dedication
Finbarr of Cork
Architecture

Roman Catholic Diocese of Cork and Ross[4]
Its construction was initiated and supervised by the Dublin solicitor John O'Connell, a leading member of the Celtic Revival and Arts and Crafts movements. He was funded by Isabella Honan (1861–1913), the last member of a wealthy Cork family, who made a significant donation towards the construction of the chapel. O'Connell oversaw both the design and the commissioning of its building and furnishings. He guided the architect James F. McMullen, the builders John Sisk and Sons, and the craftsmen and artists involved in its artwork.

The Honan Chapel is known for its interior which is designed and fitted in a traditional Irish style, but with an appreciation of contemporary trends in international art.[7][8] Its furnishings include a mosaic flooring, altar plate, metalwork and enamels, liturgical textiles and sanctuary furnishings, and especially its nineteen stained glass windows. Of these, fifteen depict Irish saints, the remainder show Jesus, Mary, St. Joseph and St. John. Eleven were designed and installed by Harry Clarke, while the other eight are by A. E. Child, Catherine O'Brien and Ethel Rhind of An Túr Gloine cooperative studio. In 1986, the sculptor Imogen Stuart was commissioned to oversee the installation of a new altar and other carvings, furnishings and fittings.

Background and construction


The nave, looking west from the chancel towards the main entrance, with pipe organ in view
O'Connell was mainly inspired by medieval architecture, and the Honan Chapel's architectural style is Hiberno-Romanesque revival.[27][36] Compared to the decorative and sculpted elements of the interior, its architecture, austere and modest, was described by architectural historian and conservationist Frank Keohane in 2020 as "a little too commonplace and formulaic".[37][38]

The chapel is located on a hillside overlooking the valley of the River Lee, near a site thought to contain one of Finbarr's original churches.[27] The western entrance is approached through double-hinged wrought iron gates.[30] Its façade was influenced by the 12th-century St. Cronan's Church, Roscrea and features an arcade and gabled wall. The side walls project slightly beyond the gables to form antae,[39] described by Keohane as "surmounted by improbable pinnacles...and probably better regarded as clasping buttresses".[37]

The chapel's interior has a simple layout[32] consisting of a main entrance, a six-bay nave, and a two-bay square chancel.[30] It does not contain either lateral aisles or transepts.[40] The oblong nave measures 72 by 28 feet (22 by 8.5 m).[32] Above, a timber barrel vaulted ceiling ends at the chancel; this is 26 by 18 feet (7.9 by 5.5 m). The nave lacks shrines where worshippers normally light candles or place flowers near devotional images; in this sense, it is similar to a Protestant church.[41] The plain, round bell tower is based on the 12th-century Irish round tower on Teampull Finghin (Fineen's church) in Clonmacnoise, County Offaly.[30][42]


Capital at the chapel's entrance
The mouldings around the tops of the five arches on the west façade are carved with lozenge and pellet decoration.[37] The doorway at one point had an iron grille which has since been removed. It is capped by three limestone ribbed vaults,[39] supported by capitals carrying reliefs of the heads of six Munster saints: Finbarr of Cork, Coleman of Cloyne; Gobnait of Ballyvourney; Brendan of Kerry, Declán of Ardmore and Íte of Killeedy.[43] The reliefs were sculpted by Henry Emery, assisted by students at the nearby Cork School of Art.[43] The tympanum over the door was designed by the sculptor Oliver Sheppard and is dominated by the figure of St. Finbarr, dressed in bishop's vestments.[37][39]

The timber doors hang on wrought iron strapwork hinges designed by the architect William Scott in (according to the writer Paul Larmour) a "Celticized art nouveau" style.[43] The sacristy is on the north side (left, looking towards the altar) under the bell tower.[32]

The building is listed as a protected structure under Section 51 of the Irish Planning and Development Act.[44]

Altar