St. Patrick's Church

Before everybody gets all excited, this is not about St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. That post is coming later. This is about St. Patrick's Church in Cork which, in my opinion was equally as impressive as the Cathedral.

Tiffany and I were wondering around Cork and came across this church. We didn't think we would get a chance to attend mass at the cathedral in Dublin so we figured we could come back the next day and go to a week day mass here, they have a daily mass at 10 am. Mass was interesting to say the least. I don't go to week day masses very often and for some reason I completely forgot what they were like until we got there. It was me and Tiffany and about 10 older ladies and a very very very old priest. Mass was in English, but I can't tell you a single thing that was said. It also lasted only about 30 minutes. This guy was speeding through his readings. I almost feel bad for him, and all the other priests who should probably retire, but there isn't anyone to replace them sadly. That is one of my suggestions for the church, they need to make some improvements in recruiting people to the order, get more young people interested. And, hopefully I won't be excommunicated for saying this, but if they allow priests to marry there would be no shortage of available applicants.

I was blown away by this church. I was not expecting this to be as ornate as is was. I was thinking this isn't a cathedral, its just the local church, it's going to be simple, but at least I get to go to mass. I was wrong, way wrong. The church is beautiful and very very old. Building began in 1832 and construction continued on and off for many years. The original design was changed a few times as styles changed and new donors were involved, but the entire structure was built from Cork Limestone. Father Sylvester Mahony,( pen name Father Prout) author of the Bells of Shandon which was in my last post, was the main fundraiser for the construction and the furnishing of the church. The church had an informational brochure at the front and it turns out this is actually a very historical church. Annie Moore, the first person to disembark at Ellis Island ever, was baptized at St. Patrick's church in 1874. Frank O'Connor, a famous Irish writer, wrote a humorous short story about his first confession which took place in St. Patrick's.   The churches records have baptisms dating back to 1832, marriages from 1836 and confirmations from 1911.

Relic of Saint Patrick

Above the altar is a replica of The Last Supper which is one of many beautiful works of art in this church. The theme of the church seems to be the four symbols of the Eucharist: the pelican feeding her baby her own blood, the Host and the Chalice, the IHS monogram, and the Lamb of God. These symbols are on each side of the tabernacle, on four large panels around the altar, and on the outside doors.

Row of confessionals

The Honan family were large financial supporters of this church and, as was custom, have many amazing statues and ornate altars. The Holy Family Altar is located just above the family's plot in the church's underground crypt.

The Holy Family Altar

The stained glass is relatively new, ranging from the 1920s to the 1940s, and is very beautiful. I particularly liked the Our Lady of Lourdes depiction(1941) behind the side prayer candle altar to the Virgin Mary.

Our Lady of Lourdes

Tiffany got a picture of me lighting my prayer.

Going to mass was very refreshing after all this travel. Mass always refreshes me and I walk out feeling like I can take on anything. It was especially powerful to be going to church in such an old church in Ireland. Ireland  was the origin of so many Catholic practices and St. Patrick is so highly beloved, it was just awesome. Ok, two religious rants in one post is enough. More Ireland still to come!

What is he, like, king of the guinea pigs?

After visiting Blarney Castle and kissing the Blarney Stone, Tiffany and I headed back to Cork. We had an amazing lunch at a place called The Green Leaf Café. It was a very small cute tea shop down the street from our hostel. The tea menu had well over 50 different kinds of tea. So if tea is your thing, check this place out.

Seafood pie, potatoes and fresh salad- my lunch from The Green Leaf Cafe

Tiffany's lunch at The Green Leaf Cafe

After lunch, the weather cleared up a little bit, so we headed back out and got on a train to go to the zoo. FOTA wildlife park is located just outside Cork and it is a very cool zoo. As the website tells you

"The park is not like an ordinary zoo; here you can come face to face with free roaming animals & birds from all parts of the world. So whether it's a kangaroo that hops in front of you or a ring tailed lemur which jumps down from a tree, each visit is sure to bring its own fantastic memories." Fota Wildlife This means no cages! It was awesome. There are not alot of animals, and the bigger more dangerous ones are behind fences, many of the birds and smaller animals were just loose. I took way to many pictures at the zoo and for those of you who have already made through my massive amount of Ireland pictures, I'm sorry, you will be looking at them again. 

I was about 2 feet away from this Lemur...no bid deal or anything

The lemurs had an exhibit with a little house. There was a whole lemur family hanging out and even though there were no fences holding them in, they gravitated towards their little home. 

Lemur Family

There was an animal that seemed to like to wander around the whole zoo though. It's a very strange looking thing. It reminded me of an animal that my friend, Grace, and I saw in a pet store once called a Cavie. This little guy is called a Mara. Tiffany and I decided that its a mix between a rabbit and a deer. 

I can hear Uncle Tom and some sort of hunting joke but I can't quite figure out what it would be...

There was a pond in the middle of the zoo with a huge variety of birds. You could get some bird food for 50 cents and feed them. So of course I did. It got a little crazy, I was worried one of the swans was going to get violent and hurt one of the smaller birds. 

When I look at these, I hear Feed the Birds(Tuppence a Bag) from Mary Poppins in my head

Anyone who knows me from home, or knows my dog Murphy, will understand my obsession with sausage shaped animals. Well, ladies and gentleman, we saw the best sausage shaped animal and we had no clue what it  even was. It looked like a super-sized guinea pig and all it was doing was sleeping under a tree. It wouldn't move.

For anyone wondering, the title of the blog is a quote from the movie Madagascar

After some internet searching, I discovered that this is a Capybara, the largest rodent species. Its native home is in South America. I also found some people who keep them as pets and let them swim in their swimming pools. 

Maybe extended family, I see some resemblance 

Besides that, the zoo only had a few of the usual animals. There were zebras, giraffes, buffalo, gazelle, monkeys. There were no lions or tigers or bears, but there was a cheetah, behind two layers of chain link fence, no free roaming for him.