History - Thurles Information

Tipperary Single Mother Brings Lawsuit In Baby Mix-Up

A former Co. Tipperary woman, Ms Helen Maguire, aged 71 and Mrs Christine Skipsey aged 52; women at the centre of a baby mix-up, are now to seek High Court approval to bring a lawsuit against the former Sisters of Charity adoption society, previously known as St. Patrick’s Guild in Temple Hill, Blackrock, Co. Dublin.

We understand Ms Maguire, a single mother, had her baby in London in 1966 and back then wished to keep her baby’s birth a secret from her immediate family. Ms Maguire, briefly placed her new born baby for safekeeping with the Sisters of Charity, in order to make a brief return visit home to her family in December of that same year.

Seeking somewhere to leave her daughter for safekeeping for some 6 weeks, she, on the advice of Fr. Michael Cleary (The “Singing Priest”), choose the Roman Catholic adoption society at Blackrock, in Co. Dublin, for that purpose.

Details of this story were first revealed back in June by the online newspaper Independent.ie

DNA tests, later conducted, revealed and confirmed, with 99.9% certainty, that Mrs Skipsey; the baby then returned to Ms Maguire, was indeed not the biological daughter of its mother.

The women are now seeking an apology from the Religious Sisters of Charity, which ran the adoption society in Blackrock, Co. Dublin, together with the Irish State; due to the perceived alleged failure by An Bord Uchtála, latter the former Irish adoption board then appointed by the Government.

Mrs Christine Skipsey now lives in Hertfordshire, north London, with her husband, while it is believed that the biological daughter of Ms Maguire was adopted by a married couple, then residing in Dublin.

Currently, it remains unclear to both women whether this mother / baby mix-up was deliberate or an honest mistake, however their search for the truth is expected to be greatly impeded by the fact that the Religious Sisters who were then involved, are no longer in the land of the living.

Tipperary Landlord Family Member – Face Of New English £50

“This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be.” – Alan Turing.

We first wrote about Alan Turing’s Tipperary connection on January 11th, 2017 last. The code-breaker and visionary mathematician, who was convicted under Victorian homophobic laws, will now be the face of Britain’s new £50 note.

The Stoney family were once prominent landlords, here in North Tipperary. His mother Ethel Sara Stoney (1881–1976) was daughter of Edward Waller Stoney (Borrisokane, North Tipperary) and Sarah Crawford (Cartron Abbey, Co. Longford); Protestant Anglo-Irish gentry.

Educated in Dublin at Alexandra School and College; on October 1st 1907 she married Julius Mathison Turing, latter son of Reverend John Robert Turing and Fanny Boyd, in Dublin. Born on June 23rd 1912, Alan Turing would go on to be regarded as one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century.

A brilliant mathematician and cryptographer Alan was to become the founder of modern-day computer science and artificial intelligence; designing a machine at Bletchley Park to break secret Enigma encrypted messages used by the Nazi German war machine to protect sensitive commercial, diplomatic and military communications during World War 2. Thus, Turing made the single biggest contribution to the Allied victory in the war against Nazi Germany, possibly saving the lives of an estimated 2 million people, through his effort in shortening World War II.

In 2013, almost 60 years later, Turing received a posthumous Royal Pardon from Queen Elizabeth II. Today, the “Turing law” grants an automatic pardon to men who died before the law came into force, making it possible for living convicted gay men to seek pardons for offences now no longer on the statute book.

Alas, Turing accidentally or otherwise lost his life in 1954, having been subjected by a British court to chemical castration, thus avoiding a custodial sentence. He is known to have ended his life at the age of 41 years, by eating an apple laced with cyanide.

The character of Alan Turing was played by actor Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game,“ latter a 2014 highly recommended film.

A Beacon Of Hope For Lost Causes

Remember Ireland’s National Heritage Week 2019 begins August 17th – August 25th.

To the less well informed, he appears to be carrying a Hurley stick, and this comes as no surprise since his icon is to be found in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, latter the undisputed home of hurling.

He is regularly a point of focus; visited on numerous occasions daily here in the Cathedral of the Assumption Thurles, since he is also the Patron Saint of hope for ‘hopeless cases and lost causes.’

Indeed, for this latter reason we understand many hurling supporters from Co. Laois have made a pilgrimage here to Thurles Cathedral this week, hoping for a better outcome, but in the knowledge that they will be forced to do battle with the mighty Tipperary hurling selection next Sunday. 🤣 🤣 🤣

All jesting aside, the Saint to whom I refer of course is St. Jude (Judas Thaddaeus), one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. A farmer by trade; St. Jude according to legend, was the son of Clopas and Mary of Clopas, herself a sister of the Virgin Mary, latter the mother of Jesus.

St. Judas Thaddaeus became known as simply St. Jude after early translators of the New Testament sought to disassociate his similar name totally from that of another apostle named as Judas Iscariot; subsequently abbreviating his forename. The Bible informs us that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ to “a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people”, in the Garden of Gethsemane, in Jerusalem.

The icon of St. Jude (Judas Thaddaeus) can be located over to the right-hand-side, as the visitor faces the Tabernacle in Thurles Cathedral; displayed in one of the many beautiful stained-glass windows, designed and manufactured by Franz Mayer & Co of Munich, Germany. And no, he is not carrying a Hurley stick in his right hand, rather he holds a Hurley shaped club, the symbol or attribute of what was to be his eventual martyrdom.

The window asks for prayers for Anastasia Hayes, Thurles.

After Jesus Christ’s death and following his precise command, (“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”), Saint Jude began preaching the Gospel in Judea, Samaria (Palestine), Idumaea (Jordan), Syria, Mesopotamia (Iraq, Kuwait) and Libya.
He was to suffer martyrdom about 65 AD in Beirut, Syria, together with the apostle Simon the Zealot, (the Zealot – to distinguish him from Simon Peter).

Sometime after his death, his body was brought from Beirut to Rome and placed in a crypt in St. Peter’s Basilica. Today, his bones are in the left transept of St. Peter’s Basilica under the main altar of St. Joseph in one tomb with the remains of the apostle Simon the Zealot.

It should be noted that almost all Christian Saints were traditionally represented in visible format by a symbol or attribute, usually carried in their hand. These symbols associated with their life, made them easily identifiable in the past to the vast majority of earlier pilgrims, whom then would have been mostly illiterate.

If you look closely at the stained-glass icon of St Jude (see picture above); just directly above his head and under his halo you will observe a narrow strip of mustard yellow, coloured glass. Same possibly representing his presence at Pentecost, (Whit Sunday or Whitsun) when he received the Holy Spirit with the other apostles who were also present.

On the Thurles icon, St Jude is depicted holding in his left hand a book, said to be the ‘Epistle of Jude’, latter containing only 25 verses and to be found in the penultimate (second last) book of the New Testament series of writings.

The surname Thaddeus means ‘generous’, ‘courageous’ or ‘kind’. It is not therefore surprising that still today millions of people throughout our world and in today’s often confused and disorderly times, chat to him. Same are most often seeking a safe path away from incurable diseases found to be outside the reach of modern medical science. Their problem may be one of extreme poverty; mental depression; associated family distress or feelings of utter helplessness.

“If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth”. – St Mark Chapter 9: Verse 23.

Is Thurles CCTV System Just A €100,000 Bird Perch?

Thurles residents were informed, back in December 2012, that a new Public Area Surveillance System (a 10 unit Pan, Tilt and Zoom camera CCTV system) would cost in the region of one hundred thousand Euro, with 70% of this cost being funded by Pobal.

Pobal, formerly known as Area Development Management, was first established in 1992 by the Irish Government together with the European Commission, to manage an EU Grant for local development. Same EU grant aid was designed to support local communities and agencies, in achieving social inclusion, reconciliation and equality.

A further 15% of this one hundred thousand Euro costing was to be provided by the former Thurles Town Council, while the final 15% was to be aided by Thurles Chamber of Commerce. [Latter TCC aid actually never materialised.]

In November 2015 residents of Thurles were informed that the existing Local Authority (Thurles Town Council) was required to assume responsibility for the management and operation of this CCTV system, in compliance with Data Protection legislation, [See pdf link page 3 – Crime Prevention – Installation of CCTV Cameras].

Two years on following its installation, we understand from Town Councillors that this one hundred thousand Euro CCTV system had not properly functioned since early 2017, and while just some of the cameras continue to operate, the actual equipment used to record surveillance footage had ceased to function.

The one question now being asked, by Thurles residents, requires a simple Yes or No answer; “Was any video footage recovered from the camera presently tacked on to the Thurles castle, latter situated on Barry’s Bridge, thus offering possible evidence as to who wilfully decapitated the statue of Archbishop Dr. Patrick Leahy?”

As the video footage hereunder shows, the damage is not confined only to the statues head, but also to the edge of the precisely sculptured short cape, latter known as a ‘mozzetta’, which today is still worn by some ecclesiastics, e.g. His Holiness the Pope and Cardinals.

But what was the legacy granted to the small rural town of Thurles, by Archbishop Dr. Patrick Leahy (1806–1875)?

It has to be of course the priceless tabernacle in our town’s Cathedral of the Assumption. Today it remains one the most beautiful and precious of art objects, to be found openly displayed anywhere here in Ireland.

Archbishop Dr. Patrick Leahy had learned through personal contacts in the city of Rome, (Urbs Aeterna (Latin) The Eternal City), Italy, that a Tabernacle was being disposed of from the high alter of the mother church of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits) called ‘Gesú’, located in Via degli Astalli. The Gesù had been the home of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, until the suppression of that order in 1773.

Leading Italian sculptors, painters, architects and poets of the High Renaissance period, including Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, (more commonly known by his first name Michelangelo), Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, (architect of the Farnese family, latter who could trace their origins back to around AD 984) and Giacomo della Porta would have received Communion from this same tabernacle, in the then Gesù church.

This tabernacle, a work of the sixteenth century, was purchased for £50.00 and transported to Thurles for a similar financial sum, having been somewhat refitted in the workshop of Signor Filippo Leonardi of Rome.

The Tabernacle doorway is adorned with a Corinthian portico which rests on two beautiful pillars of ‘verde antico’ (antique green) marble, two feet ten inches (86.36cm) in high; each pillar with bases and capitals made of bronze.

The front door access is made of bronze with a silver host featured in the centre, bearing the letters I.H.S. (ΙΗΣ), (a monogram denoting the first three letters of the Greek name for Jesus), set over three arrows, signifying three nails standing on converging points; same an emblem of the Jesuit community. See Picture left.

Two small bronze statues formerly belonging to this tabernacle, representing St. Peter and St. Paul, occupy niched recesses to be found either side of the front portico.

Initially the tabernacle had rested against the Gesù church wall, so it became necessary to now decorate the back end, since same, positioned out from the wall, could now be viewed from all sides by visiting faithful.

A locking rear door was introduced, made of cream oriental alabaster or onyx marble in which a large cross of blue ‘lapis lazuli’ is inlaid, supposedly by Dr. Leahy own hand. Dr. Leahy after all was the son of a civil engineer and Cork County Surveyor. (Lapis lazuli is a deep blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense colour).

Unable to acquire two blocks of ‘verde antico’ to match the existing front pillars, he was forced to settled for two pillars manufactured from Galway green marble, which to the uneducated eye, appears to match almost perfectly. A frame of pale reddish marble, called ‘Porta Santa’ or ‘Holy Door’ surrounds the onyx back door slab. Latter marble is named after the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, which was carved from this stone.

Now began the difficult task of building the main alter and lectern to match this most beautiful and priceless of tabernacles, while matching both in a similar design vein as the now existing installed tabernacle.

Some of the marbles used here and on the floor area were presented by Pope Pius IX at the request of Dr. Leahy; same mined, to a large extent, by Christian slaves sent to work in marble quarries by Roman Emperors. Here in Thurles cathedral today we can view at close range these rare and priceless semi-precious stones like the green porphyry and multicoloured agate (mined in Greece), sienna (mined in Italy), green malachite (mined in England), reddish brown rosso, brown giallo antico, black nero antico (Latter all mined in Italy), blue lapis (latter a symbol of royalty, honor, power, spirit, vision and a universal symbol of wisdom and truth), the black, red, beige, white, and grey africano (mined in Turkey), etc.

Other marble was now acquired in Dublin and England and all this marble was cut and inlaid by an Irish workforce under the guidance of Dublin man John Chapman, operating here in Thurles.

It is truly necessary for visitors to examine this tabernacle in closer detail to appreciate fully the sheer perfection and priceless beauty of what is just one small part of the legacy of Dr. Leahy, bestowed on rural Thurles.

One Final Question: The missing head removed from Dr. Leahy’s statue, possibly weighs about 30 – 50 lbs; this being the case has anyone searched around in the immediate vicinity of this statue in the event that the vandals / offender may have thrown it away nearby?

Police Seek Help Regarding Dr. P. Leahy Statue, Thurles

The statue of Archbishop Dr. Patrick Leahy so wilfully and shamefully destroyed in a gross act of vandalism this week, was first erected 108 years ago, in 1911.

A strong advocate in the cause of temperance, and one who enforced the Sunday closing of all public-houses in his diocese, his sculpture was first executed at Carrara in Italy, by Professor Pietro Lazzerini. The material used was high quality Sicilian statuary marble.

The figure 8ft (2.4384m) in height, standing on a limestone pedestal 7ft (2.1336m) high; represents the deceased Prelate attired in his episcopal soutane, rochet and mozetta, while his now decapitated and missing head remained uncovered. In his hand right hand he holds a breviary.

Harmonising well with its surroundings; the limestone pedestal was initially fashioned in Cashel, Co. Tipperary by one Mr Best and consists of four great blocks, chiselled, moulded and panelled, in accordance with the designs of Mr J.C. Ashlin of Dublin. The pedestal and statue, long regarded as a work of fine art, was erected by Messrs. Leahy Brothers of Thurles.

Highly regarded at the time by those who knew and remembered Dr. Leahy; same stated that it was an admirable and a remarkable likeness of him portraying his fine commanding presence and his handsome features.

An inscription on the limestone pedestal declares, “In commemoration of the Most Rev. Patrick Leahy, D.D., Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, 1857-1875, by whom this Cathedral Church of the Assumption was erected”.

The expenses incurred to complete the then entire work was £215.00 and was defrayed by his succeeding prelate, Most Rev. Dr. Fennelly, out of his own personal finances. Today a similar completed work could conceivably cost in excess of €500,000.

So, how was a head removed from a statue 15ft (4.572m) high? What uncouth barbarians were involved in this wanton act? Thurles police would like your help. They can be contacted at Tel: (0504) 25100, or on the Garda Confidential Line on Tel: 1800 666 111.