WWC performs at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Dublin on Tuesday, June 29, at 7.30 pm - Finale highlight concert!

The beautiful church of St Bartholomew's, Clyde Road (Dublin), was consecrated in 1867. Many of its original features are intact, such as the sanctuary mosaics and the elaborate wrought iron choir screen. The architect was Thomas Wyat. On June 29 at 7.30 pm, St. Bartholomew's church is going to be the finale highlight concert venue for the Washington Women's Chorus.
The church is celebrated for its fine music. The choir of boys and men, the only remaining all-male parish church choir in the country, generally sings at least one of the choral services each Sunday during term-time. The remainder are sung by the girls’ choir (formed five years ago and now playing an increasingly prominent role in the church’s regular worship as well as undertaking a program of regular concerts and joint events around the city and country), the Elgin Chorale (which sings during choir vacations) and the newly formed chamber choir the Clyde Chorale. The choirs’ repertoire is fully representative of the major styles of choral music from the sixteenth century up to the present day. With its superb acoustic, splendid organ and convenient location, Saint Bartholomew’s is becoming more widely known as an excellent concert venue.
The organ was built in 1887 by Gray & Davison. Rebuilt in 1925, it was then left largely unaltered until 1963 when another firm, J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd, undertook a major restoration. The organ was last rebuilt by Trevor Crowe of Dublin in 2002. The first radio broadcast of an organ recital at the church was made in 1935.

WWC concertizes at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin on Monday, June 28 at 1 pm

The Washington Women's Chorus will sing twice in the Irish capital to conclude its 2010 Ireland Performance Tour. The first of two Dublin concerts is at beautiful St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, the largest church in Ireland, on Monday, June 28 at 1 pm.
Built in honour of Ireland’s patron saint, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral stands adjacent to the famous well where tradition has it Saint Patrick baptized converts on his visit to Dublin. A church was built on this site in 1191 and in 1991 they celebrated 800 years of worship. The present building dates from 1220 and during the years it had been extended again and again.
The Cathedral is today the National Cathedral for the Church of Ireland (Anglican). The basis of the present building was built between 1191 and 1270, though little now remains of the earliest work beyond the Baptistry. Much of the work was overseen by Henry of London, a friend of the King of England and signatory of the Magna Carta, who was also involved in the construction of Dublin's city walls and Dublin Castle. The tower (Minot's Tower) and west nave were rebuilt between 1362 and 1370, following a fire. In 1560, one of Dublin's first public clocks was erected in "St. Patrick's Steeple".
Throughout its long history the cathedral has contributed much to Irish life, and one key aspect of this relates to the writer and satirist Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels, who was Dean of the cathedral from 1713 to 1745. Swift took a great interest in the building, its services and music and in what would now be called social welfare, funding an almshouse for poor women and Saint Patrick's Hospital.
The Choir School, which had been founded in 1432, supplied many of its members to take part in the very first performance of Handel's Messiah in 1742. It continues and although originally all-male, now also admits girls; a Cathedral Girls' Choir was founded in 2000 and sings once or twice a week. The Organ of St. Patrick's Cathedral is one of the largest in Ireland with over 4,000 pipes. Parts of it date from a Renatus Harris instrument of 1695. It was restored in the 1890s and in 1963.

Cork concert venue for WWC on Saturday, June 26, at 7.30 pm: St. Augustine’s Church

On Saturday, June 26, at 7.30 pm the Washington Women's Chorus sings at St. Augustine’s Church in Cork. The Augustinians, the Order of St. Augustine, owe their origins to Saint Augustine (354-430 AD), from Hippo in Algeria, who inspired men and women to live in religious communities.
By the 13th century many different Augustinian communities existed and in 1256 Pope Alexander IV created the Grand Union of all existing Augustinian Congregations to form what we know today as the Order of St. Augustine.
The Order of St. Augustine came to Cork some time between 1270 and 1300. As the Augustinian historian, Fr. Thomas C. Butler OSA writes: "If we take 1272 as a date of petition for approval to open a foundation in Cork, it would have taken some years for the planning and building so we can safely assume that the latter took place between 1275 and 1285.
The Priory was dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity, but was recorded on ancient maps as St. Austin's 1545 and St. Augustine's 1610. Later still it became known as the "Red Abbey" because of the red sandstone used in the church. The Towers were added after the middle of the 14th century.
The Red Abbey was raided in 1630, but the friars, forewarned, had fled. This was a short lived closure and the friars were back again, until 1644 when all priests and friars were expelled from the city, and the Red Abbey was taken over by the protestant Dean of Cork, Richard Boyle.Lady Fanshawe leased the Red Abbey, but had to leave when Cromwell came in 1649, and stabled his horses in the building.
Returns on the State of Popery for 1766 give "a friary - Augustinian - in Fishamble Lane. It was located where a side entrance leads into the Franciscan church. Formerly Mill St, the site of the church is shown on De Rocque's map of 1759.
In 1776 the friars were living in an old tottering house, with an old tottering chapel nearby. They started to look for a suitable site and ran into difficulty with the bishop of Cork. The friary in Fishamble Lane was in the parish of St. Finbar's, and the new site was in SS Peter and Paul's.In 1778 the Augustinians chose a site on Brunswick St, at the time within the South Parish. Again the Bishop objected, but the Augustinians decided to go ahead with a chapel and dwelling in Brunswick St. now known as St. Augustine's Lane. The community was suspended by the Bishop. The case was taken to Rome.
A decision was given in favour of the friars, with a command to the bishop to bless and open the church when completed. The first stone was laid on November 27th 1780. The Bishop complied with the mandate from the Holy See, and he blessed the new church on June 4th 1781, and he restored the Prior and community to the jurisdiction of the diocese.
The church was extended in 1872 and the Priory built on Washington St, known then as Great George St. The present church structure was built in 1942 and furthered extended in 1972. The Priory was rebuilt in 1982.

Washington Women's Chorus sings at the Franciscan Abbey in Galway on Tuesday, June 22, at 7.30 pm - Exchange Concert!

The travelers of WWC get ready for their exchange concert in Galway tonight, June 22, at 7.30 pm with the Galway Gospel Choir. To learn more about the choir, please click here.
The Franciscan Abbey was founded in 1296. In 1483 a school of advanced theology was instituted there. About 40 years later, Maurice O Fihely, archbishop of Tuam, was buried in the church. 1657 the friary was destroyed and the church was made into a court house (the present court house stands on the same site). In 1660 a church was erected on the present site. The only novitiate of which they have definite information was opened here in 1774. The church was rebuilt in 1781 and around 1836 the present church was opened; present friary was built or rebuilt in 1820, and renovated recently. The organ of the Abbey, Galway, is placed in the gallery at the back of the church, and is divided between two cases to avoid obscuring a large stained-glass window in the centre. The swell and pedal divisions are located in the left case (as seen from the church, facing the back) and the great in the right. The console is beside the left case, and faces sideways across the rather narrow gallery. The instrument has a pleasant, sweet sound with good definition and a fast, ready response from the action. The picture is from the official website of the Irish Franciscans.

WWC Concert Announcements on the Internet

Dear travelers of the Washington Women's Chorus,
Incantato Tours already started promoting your concerts and performances in Ireland. Please have a look at these two announcements on the website www.killarney.ie:

• About your concert at St. Mary's Church of Ireland, click here
• About your concert at the Danny Mann Pub, click here

"Precious Lord" by SBCC in Galway