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St. Mary's Church〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Image of St Mary's, taken from the Fair Green side )〕 in Navan, County Meath is one of two churches that make up the modern-day Parish of Navan〔The other church is St. Oliver Plunkett church in Blackcastle, a relatively new housing estate erected in the late 20th century to the North of the town. St Oliver's was opened in 1978.〕 in the Diocese of Meath. It was opened in 1839. ==History== The modern Navan Parish is made up of five mediaeval parishes: Athlumney, Cannistown, Donaghmore, Dunmoe and Navan.〔Navan parish records〕 Though cemeteries still survive in these locations, the churches were suppressed in the Penal Laws era, with many surviving simply as derelict buildings. St. Mary's Church is named after the mediaeval Augustinian abbey which was located on the outskirts of the Parish called St. Mary's.〔The present-day Navan street called Canon Row derives its name from the community of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine.〕 St. Mary's Abbey and its associated granges〔A grange in Ireland was a farm used to provide food for an abbey, convent or monastery. The name 'grange' is now often applied to the townlands where the mediaeval granges were located.〕 were suppressed on the orders of King Henry VIII, the English monarch proclaimed King of Ireland, who suppressed religious orders throughout his English and Irish kingdoms, often forcibly, as part of his dispute with the Holy See over its refusal to grant an annulment of his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. The modern St. Mary's was one of many Catholic Churches built in Ireland following Catholic Emancipation in 1829, when the last of the Penal Laws was repealed. It is located between Trimgate Street, one of the main streets of the mediaeval town of Navan, and the Fairgreen, with the main entrance facing onto the ''Fairgreen'', where parking is available.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=19th century view of St Mary's Church from Fair Green. (The parochial House is located to the right of the picture.) )〕 〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=View of St Mary's from the Trimgate Street side. )〕 The decision to build St. Mary's was taken at a public meeting on 9 September 1834 at which Fr. Eugene O'Reilly P.P. presided. A committee of 34 was formed and it was "resolved that the present chapel is by far too small for the present congregation and that we do forthwith enter on the erection of a new one".〔O.C. Curran (ed.), History of the Diocese of Meath 1860–1993, published by Most Rev. Michael Smith, Bishop of Meath, 1995, vol.I, p.70.〕 It has come down in folklore that Fr. O'Reilly spoke the following or similar words at the meeting: "Why do people go to a theatre? Because they can see and hear everything that passes on the stage. I'll build a church to hold 3000, where everyone can see and hear the priest".〔O.C. Curran (ed.), History of the Diocese of Meath 1860–1993, published by Most Rev. Michael Smith, Bishop of Meath, 1995, vol.I, p.70.〕 Fr. O'Reilly is said to have had a Paris opera house in mind when the new church was designed and to have imitated its dimensions, but this has never been conclusively proven, other than by the rather "theatrical" design of the church. Fr. O'Reilly had studied for the priesthood in Lille, France, returning to Ireland in 1795 to complete his studies in the newly opened Maynooth College. A new theatre had been built in Lille in 1785 and it is possible that this was where Fr. O'Reilly got his inspiration. This theatre was completely destroyed by fire in 1903. The formal opening of St. Mary's took place on Sunday 20 October 1839 at High Mass offered by Bishop Cantwell. The collection on the occasion raised £178. 14s. 6d.〔O.C. Curran (ed.), History of the Diocese of Meath 1860–1993, published by Most Rev. Michael Smith, Bishop of Meath, 1995, vol.I, p.72.〕 The church itself contains a monument commemorating the fact that it was built with the permission of the major landowner in the area at the time, the Duke of Bedford. The Duke's family, the Russells, were also commemorated until recently in the name of a nearby hotel (since rebuilt and renamed). The local Church of Ireland contains a balcony that was reserved for the duke and his family when they attended services there. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「St Mary's Church, Navan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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