Church of the Holy Spirit, Greenhills.
Design of the Church
The Holy Spirit church was built in the late sixties. It is very modern in design, but retains some continuity with architectural tradition. On 3 November 1968 the foundation stone for the Church of the Holy Spirit, Greenhills, was laid by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid. The Sisters of Charity of St. Paul the Apostle donated 3.413 acres of land to the parish for the church. The architects were Mr. Louis Peppard and Mr. Hugo Duffy who produced a most unusual design. The main plan of the church is that of an elongated hexagonal shape forming the nave and an interlocking pentagonal shape forming the sanctuary. Ancillary wings either side of the sanctuary house the sacristy, vestry and kitchen to the south-east and services such as the boiler house, toilets, and hallway to the bell tower to the north-west. The south-east wing has an upper floor consisting of a small assembly room and storage area.
A visitor to the church will immediately be aware that all lines seem to converge on the altar and the eye is drawn up the centre aisle to the altar and to the large wooden crucifix on the wall behind.
The nave is a large clear space with an unobstructed view of the altar. This space allows for an ease of movement up the centre aisle and down the adequately wide side aisles. The nave and the sanctuary flow into one another in the absence of altar rails and the stone altar faces the congregation. The altar itself is beautifully carved in elegant simplicity. There is no pulpit or elaborate throne in the sanctuary and little to distract from the celebrations on the altar. There is a simple but artistic ambo done in bronze with a solid oak inset. The furniture does not intrude on the liturgy, thus leaving the sanctuary with a great sense of space.
Stained Glass Windows
Natural light is transmitted into the interior through the entrance gable of coloured glass, the glass linking the segments of the roof, the coloured glass walls of the side aisles and the opaque colourless glass of the side aisles.
The vast expanse of stained glass is used with dramatic impact; its symbolic effect is undeniable. The slim panels of leaded glass between the roof segments give the illusion of extending the huge gable of stained glass on either side of the Pentecost scene. They only come fully into view for the ministers at the altar and the communicants returning from communion. The light transmitted through the coloured glass representing the Holy Spirit may be seen as symbolic of the communicant’s reception of the Eucharist and its spiritual effect. The abstract patchwork of coloured glass set into heavily textured cement in the side aisles also deserves attention. The colours of the glass change as they advance towards the sanctuary, from predominantly red and purple through blue and mauves to yellow, amber and colourless glass.
One of the outstanding features of the church is the giant triangular stained glass window at the entrance gable to the church, broken only by a pair of doors flanking a carved wooden statue of St Anthony over which projects a cantilevered gallery. The window, designed by Richard King, depicts the Holy Spirit coming on Our Lady and the Apostles at Pentecost. Set beneath the apex of the triangle is the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. A circular ball of fire in red, orange, purple and yellow suggests the spiritual enlightenment bestowed by the Holy Spirit. The elongated figures of Our Lady and the apostles, in shades of green and purple, are set within. Our Lady is centrally placed and the eleven apostles each carrying his own symbol or attribute are distributed around her. Simon the Zealot carries a saw, St Jude a lance, St Matthew a purse. The Pentecost scene is set within a vast triangular expanse of stained glass measuring about 82 feet by 70. It is breath-taking in its colours of flame red, plum, burgundy, amber, gold, azure, aquamarine, turquoise and lavender. The diameter of the Pentecost scene is about 36 feet.
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Building Work
The building work was carried out under the direction of Canon James Flood, parish priest of Walkinstown. Canon Flood did extraordinary work in raising funds for the new Church as well as St. Peter’s Boys School. The Funding Programme commenced in June 1965. At that time the sum required came to approximately £1,000,000. Fortunately for Canon Flood the Sisters of Charity of St. Paul the Apostle not only presented him with two sites for the girls Primary and Secondary Schools, but also built them at their own cost. This reduced his requirements to £600,000. The final cost of the church came to £261,000 when it was finished in 1971. This was £41,000 more than Canon Flood had estimated in 1965.
The cache
The cache is to commemorate a momentous occasion which occurred in the Church of the Holy Spirit, Greenhills in November 1984. This was when my new wife and I walked down the aisle together.
There is plenty of parking in the church car park and on the roadside. Closest public transport is the bus with a short walk. 15A and 9 buses also service the area albeit with a slightly longer walk.
Church Micros
"The Church Micro IE series is open to everyone; if you have a church you would like to place a cache at then please contact THE_Chris through Geocaching.com. This is to keep track of the numbers of the churches and give you the general format for the cache page. In the UK there are ~3500 caches in the series so we have some catching up to do! Also, if you currently have a published cache at a church that you would like to include in the series, get in contact and we can add it."
