A number of residents from Two-Mile-Borris and Thurles district, including Mr Gerry Bowe and Mr Enda Bourke(Chairperson and Secretary, resp., Two-Mile-Borris, Old Cemetery Committee), visited St. John’s Cathedral, Cathedral Place, Irishtown, Co. Limerick(V94 H521) on Wednesday afternoon, November 29th 2023 last. The purpose of this visit was to view this magnificent Cathedral edifice, one of Limerick city’s major tourist attractions, erected on the instruction of Bishop John Ryan, Bishop of Limerick, in 1856, less than a decade after the Great Famine, (1845-1849).
People will be also be aware that tomorrow, Tuesday October 1st, a memorial plaque, dedicated to Bishop John Ryan’s memory, will be unveiled at the site of his parents’ grave, latter situated in the old section of Two-Mile-Borris cemetery, same located south of the large crucifix which divides the newer section of the cemetery from the old. The ceremony will begin at 2:00pm sharp and all those attending are asked to gather first at the Church of St James, in Two-Mile-Borris village centre.
Those in attendance in November last were granted a very informative tour of Limerick Cathedral by Rev. Canon Frank O’Connor. Canon O’Connor, who would have been present for the Two-Mile-Borris ceremony tomorrow; sadly passed away on Thursday August 1st last, following a short illness. Canon O’Connor will be remembered with great gratitude at Bishop Ryan’s ceremony tomorrow.
It was following research undertaken on the history of the Ryan family, by Mrs Julie Thomas(nee Bourke, formerly Rathcunikeen, Two-Mile-Borris, a 3rd generation relative of Fr John Ryan) and her husband Mr Tony Thomas, latter now both residing in New Zealand, that the burial place of Bishop Ryan’s parents had been linked to Two-Mile-Borris, Thurles, before the tombstone itself was discovered, raised and finally identified by Mr Gerry Bowe, who remains grateful to Ms Margaret Cormack (Templetuohy, Thurles) for her assistance.
St John’s Cathedral Building.
The building’s design (See slide -show above) is of ‘Gothic revival style’, latter an architectural movement which first kicked off in England during the 1740s. This Cathedral has been carefully maintained over the years; with restoration undertaken every 25 years, since its initial construction was completed.
Bell Tower.
The bell tower of St. John’s Cathedral, today, currently remains the fourth tallest spire in Ireland, towering over the Limerick city skyline. It was designed in 1878 and is 81 metres (266 feet) in height. It is characterised by a base of 2.2 square metres (24 feet square) in area with walls of approximately 1 metre (4 feet) in width. The material used to construct this tower is mainly limestone, same quarried at Rosbrien, latter a townland in Limerick South Rural.
TheCathedral Interior.
Inside the building, as the visitor proceeds down the central part of the church building, one locates the Cathedral’s wonderful altar. The main table is made of Limerick marble, while its substructure consists of alabaster and coloured marble, with the centre decorated with a representation of the sacrifice of Abraham (Abram), latter father of the special relationship between man and God in Christianity; same entirely carved in pure white alabaster.
The Bishop’s Throne and the Cathedral Chapter Stalls were crafted in Munich, Germany in 1984. The magnificent windows of the Cathedral are fitted with stained glass, possibly erected by Joseph Gabriel Mayer & Co, the foremost supplier of stained glass to Irish churches; also from Munich, in Germany.
Within the building, looking westward, the visitor can view the massive, yet resplendent, wooden organ, a gift from Edwin Richard Wyndham-Quin (1812–1871), the 3rd Earl Dunraven, styled Viscount Adare of Adare, Co. Limerick, (from 1824 to 1850); an archaeologist and Irish Peer, (Member of Parliament) whose alma mater was Trinity College Dublin. A Conservative MP for Glamorganshire from the 1837; it was while in the House of Commons, that the 3rd Earl had become a Roman Catholic; his political activity largely aimed at safeguarding religious education here in Ireland.
This imposing musical instrument dates back to 1864 and was built by the prestigious William Hill & Son, (born Lincolnshire 1879), one of the main organ builders in England during the 19th century. In 1917 it was converted to pneumatic action by Norman and Beard Hill, latter founded in 1916, in a merger of Norman and Beard and William Hill & Son of London, latter who were originally based in Norfolk, England.
St John’s Cathedral was consecrated on Thursday June 21st 1894 by Lattin, Co. Tipperary born Bishop Edward O’Dwyer, Bishop of Limerick, in the presence of Donegal born Cardinal Michael Logue, latter an Irish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland from 1887 until his death in 1924.
Tomorrows Unveiling Ceremony.
All are invited to attend tomorrow afternoon’s ceremony, when Fr Tom Fogarty PP, will take charge of Church introductions and proceedings and the now retired Bishop of Killala, Right Revd. John Fleming, will unveil a plaque to the late Bishop Ryan, latter constructed by Mr James Slattery, (Master Stone Mason), Fianna Road, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
It is now hoped that visitors to St. John’s Cathedral, Cathedral Place, Irishtown, Co. Limerick, will also travel to Two-Mile-Borris, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, to visit his parents grave site.
Almost 100 cases prosecuted under Coco’s Law have now been published.
Legislation criminalising the sharing of, or threatening to share intimate images without a person’s consent, and distributing, publishing or sending a threatening or grossly offensive communication to another person, introduced in 2021 has been reviewed.
Almost 100 cases have been prosecuted by the DPP over the review period, with charges from An Garda Síochána increasing year-on-year.
Success of national awareness campaigns in informing public of the legislation.
The legislation criminalises the sharing of, or threatening to share intimate images, without a person’s consent, with or without intent to cause harm to the victim.
The Act also seeks to target other areas of harmful communications by creating a new offence of distributing, publishing, or sending a threatening or grossly offensive communication with intent to cause harm and to extend the current offence of harassment to deal with communications about a person, as well as communications to a person.
The review was carried out by the Department of Justice and found positive early indicators in terms of prosecutions taken, the number of reports of intimate image abuse made to a hotline for illegal content, and general awareness of the legislation.
The review found that the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions had taken a total of 99 cases in respect of section 2, 3 or 4 of the Act, between its commencement and the end of 2023. This included:
A total of 23 cases prosecuted on indictment in the Circuit Court.
The DPP consented to summary disposal on guilty plea for eight cases.
The DPP directed summary disposal on 68 cases.
One case was prosecuted on indictment in the Central Criminal Court.
The review also found that the number of charges issued by An Garda Síochána had risen between commencement in 2021 and the end of 2023. In 2021, there were 22 charges brought. In 2022, that rose to 95, and in 2023 it rose again to 113.
The review noted independent research from August 2021, which found that 69% thought it was against the law to share intimate images without consent, and 51% thought it was against the law to threaten to share intimate images.
A follow up piece of research conducted in November 2023 found that those figures had jumped to 97% and 96%, after the public awareness campaign.
As part of the awareness campaign, the Department of Justice partnered with Hotline.ie to provide a widely accessible reporting mechanism for victims of intimate image abuse. Once illegal content is reported to Hotline, their experts assess the report and decide on next steps.
Any online service provider served by Hotline.ie with an intimate image abuse notice is responsible for removing the content at source.
The review found that, between September 2021 and December 2023, almost 1,500 reports were made to Hotline.ie, which, after assessment, were found to be intimate image abuse.
Some 1,006 of these were images or videos shared without the person’s consent via publicly accessible web-locations;. Hotline.ie was able to get 92% removed.
Hotline.ie also received more than 400 reports relating to threat to share intimate images. This included 366 cases of sexual extortion and 27 threats to share intimate images for harassment purposes.
Ireland needs to tackle solid fuel burning and transport emissions to meet Clear Air Strategy ambition and protect public health.
Local authorities need to facilitate proactive choices on both home heating and travel, through strong application of the Solid Fuel Regulations and supporting alternatives to car travel.
Ireland’s latest monitoring shows air quality is in compliance with current EU standards, but achieving future targets will be very challenging.
While the overall level of air pollution has reduced over recent decades, our understanding of the level at which air pollutants impact health has also been deepened by the updated guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The EPA has expanded Ireland’s air quality monitoring network to include 115 monitoring stations, up from 29 in 2017, and now provides real-time monitoring and forecasting on airquality.ie.
The Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) has today published its annual air quality report, Air Quality in Ireland 2023. The report is based on the extensive monitoring network in Ireland, which consists of 115 monitoring stations, reporting hourly, and is a leader across Europe in providing a 3-day air quality forecast. The report shows that Ireland has work to do to meet our Clean Air Strategy targets. In particular, there are concerning localised issues which lead to poor air quality. While the overall level of air pollution has reduced over recent decades, our understanding of the level at which air pollutants impact health has also been deepened by the World Health Organization (WHO), which now advises that there are no safe levels of air pollution.
Ireland met the current EU legal air quality limits in 2023, but monitoring results were higher than the more stringent health-based World Health Organization air quality guidelines for a number of pollutants including: particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (N02), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3). The main sources of these pollutants are the burning of solid fuel in our towns and villages and traffic in our cities. In our Clean Air Strategy Ireland has committed to achieving the WHO guideline values by 2040, with interim targets for 2026 and 2030. Despite comparing favourably with many of our European neighbours, Ireland’s 2023 monitoring results would exceed the soon-approaching 2026 targets.
In 2023 air monitoring results from EPA stations across Ireland show that fine particulate matter (PM2.5), mainly from burning solid fuel in our homes, and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), chiefly from road traffic, continue to be the main threats to good air quality. High levels of these pollutants are often associated with cold, still weather from late autumn through to early spring, when generally incidents of poor air quality of one to two days duration occur. The report identifies that using less solid fuel and cleaner fuels to heat our homes, making our homes more energy efficient and reducing our use of cars to go to school, work and play are actions that will contribute towards achieving our Clean Air targets. Local authorities can facilitate people to make cleaner and healthier air quality choices by acting on the Solid Fuel Regulations and supporting alternatives to car travel.
Launching the report, Dr Micheál Lehane, (Director of the EPA’s Office of Radiation Protection & Environmental Monitoring), said: “Ireland now has a world class air quality monitoring network so the evidence base is strong in showing us that air pollution is not just a city phenomenon, there are negative impacts in towns and villages right across the country. If we want to achieve our ambition of Clean Air for everyone, everywhere, all year round, then we need to address the emissions from residential heating and invest in transport systems right across the country.”
The report further identifies the critical role for local authorities to facilitate people to make cleaner and healthier air quality choices:
Target air enforcement activities, including to ensure compliance with the solid fuel regulations.
Invest in public transport infrastructure across the country.
Promote active travel – install and maintain safe footpaths and cycle lanes to continue to increase active travel as a viable and safe alternative to car use and associated nitrogen dioxide emissions.
Ms Roni Hawe, (EPA Programme Manager,) said: “Progress on residential retrofit programmes will help to reduce fine particulate matter pollution but vigilance is also needed to ensure that only compliant solid fuel, such as low smoke coal and dried wood, is being sold to householders. In 2022 Ireland introduced new laws to reduce the pollutant potential of solid fuels. We need to see a strong inspection campaign by local authorities this winter to make sure all retailers only stock and sell approved solid fuel.”
To find out more about how we can improve air quality read the EPA’s How we can improve the air we breathe infographic or check out the Government of Ireland Let’s Clear the Air campaign which highlights some simple steps we can all make and help reduce pollution from solid fuels.
The Air Quality in Ireland 2023 report is available on the EPA website.
The EPA continually monitors air quality across Ireland and provides the air quality index for health and real-time results online. Results are updated hourly on the website, and people can log on at any time to check whether the current air quality is good, fair or poor.
As part of Cashel Arts Festival, a most interesting discussion by Trinity Assyriologist Dr Martin Worthington, will take place at Cashel Library tomorrow morning, September 13th 2024 at 11:00am sharp.
You canlocate the Cashel Library building, situated on Friar Street, Lady’s Well, Cashel, Co. Tipperary, HERE. (G487+RX) Please Note: For this free event booking is essential to Tel. No.:- 062, 63825
[Note: An Assyriologist is a person who specializes in the archaeological, historical, cultural and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). The word Assyriologist derived from Assyriology, the study of the culture, history, and archaeological remains of ancient Assyria]
Ancient symbols on a 2,700-year-old temple, which have long baffled experts, have now been explained by the aforementioned Dr Worthington.
A sequence of ‘mystery symbols’ were located on view at temples in various locations in the ancient city of Dūr-Šarrukīn, present day Khorsabad, Iraq, which was once ruled by Assyria’s King Sargon II, (721-704 BC).
Late 19th century drawings of the eagle and bull symbols first published by French excavator Victor Place. From New York Public Library.
The sequence of five symbols, a lion, eagle, bull, fig-tree and plough, were first made known to the modern world, through drawings published by French excavators in the late nineteenth century. Since then, there has been a spate of ideas about the symbols and what they possibly might mean.
Same have been compared to Egyptian hieroglyphs, understood to be reflections of possibly imperial might, and suspected to represent the said king’s name – but how?
Dr Worthington (Trinity’s School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies) has proposed a new solution in a paper published first last April, in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research.
At this completely free event at Cashel Library the public can meet Dr Worthington tomorrow morning and learn at first hand his solution to solving the mystery of these hieroglyphs.
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