The Path of Gothic

Stop Press! - Special Edition-

This is a report on a wonderful dérive  around medieval Limerick today conducted in a fascinating way by Tracy Fahey who is giving the Gothic seminar and despite a few early splashes threatened rain held off and made the tour a great success.

This is an idiosyncratic take on the walk which I enjoyed enormously and more importantly learned loads about Limerick.

The tone for the day was set much earlier in the print room:

 

Really it is only ink but every thing I do these days seems to have a hint of menace; and then on my way back up to get my coat I found we had visitors:

 

eerily coincidental, n'est çe pas?

Anyway the tour began in the church gallery and proceeded down and across the Abbey river(never knew the name of that stream) to inspect and hear about Baal Bridge:

 

 

 

We went on from there to St Marys Cathedral - stopping for a brief look at Fannins Castle ( behind Georges Quay) - .......

 

 

 

 

 

 

.....where we pondered the significance  on graveyards and cemeteries as important heterotopias and formers of myth and story; here is the vault of the Sexten Family:

 

 

An interesting discussion on the style of Gothic architecture in the cathedral and how it differs from that employed across Northern Europe - much less vertical

 

 

Thence to the Shannon and Johns Castle:

 

 

that sky is reminiscent of that over Toledo in one of El Grecos paintings

 

 

 

 

This is such a wonderful entrance that it seems a pity that it could not be the doorway to the castle

 

Looking back to Englishtown and St Munchins from the bridge:

 

 

I couldn't resist this :

 

 

a medieval signature on the parapet.

 

The finish with coffee was great .