A European walk through Bordeaux 8
The « Chapel of the Irish ».
17, place
Pey-Berland
Dessin de Émile Piganeau. (1879)
Today’s building is built within
the walls of what was, successively, Notra Dama de la Plassa, Saint-Eutrope, and Sainte-Anne-la-Royale. But it
is the name Chapelle des
Irlandais, or “Chapel of the Irish,” that has stuck.
The church was mentioned
for the first time in 1173, in a bull of Pope
Alexander III (1159-1181) establishing the divide between the rights of Saint-Seurin and of Saint-André, who were vying
for tithes. In 1237, under Archbishop Gérard de
Malemort, an association of thirteen chaplains attached to the collegiate church of
Saint-Seurin, known as the Confrérie de la Tretzenna [brotherhood of the thirteen], was formed in the chapel. They shared the church with the Confrérie de
Saint-Eutrope [brotherhood
of Saint-Eutrope], who had chosen it
on account of the fact that the saint’s relics had been transferred there during the wars of religion, and whose most ancient
title dates back to 3 March 1356. On 23 July 1588,
the church lost its parochial title
in favour of Saint-Projet. In the 17th century, it became
the Chapelle des Irlandais.
When, in November 1603, some forty Catholic Irish, chased from their
homeland, arrived at Bordeaux under
the leadership of Reverend Demertius
(Dermit in Irish), Mac Carthy,
from Muscry, in the diocese of Cork, the Cardinal of Sourdis, gave them the chapel of Saint-Eutrope, then located
at 11 Place Saint-André, to perform their ecclesiastical duties. Under the direction of Father
Demertius, a seminary was created at Saint-Eutrope where only
English was spoken and taught, which lasted
nearly two hundred years.
The institution was confirmed by a bull of Pope
Paul V, dated 26 April 1618. Gradually,
in 1621, the brothers of
the Treizaine abandoned the full possession of the church to the Irish and decided
to celebrate their anniversaries in the Notre-Dame-des-Anges chapel, in Saint-André. They preached “in English on every Sunday of Lent,” and “on the seventeenth
of March” they celebrated
the feast of the Apostle of
Ireland, Saint Patrick, in the same church. Irish students lived there on the alms collected at church doors, and thanks to payment received through a right they had been granted
in the city, that of “laying
the dead to rest,” and in
the name of which the bearers “each had
40 soils.” This tradition was
perpetuated until 1780, and
so the inhabitants of
Bordeaux were buried by the
Irish until the eve of the Revolution.
In 1653, during the events of the Fronde,
the rector of the Irish College,
Cornelius O’Scanlan, persuaded
some 5,000 Irish soldiers
sent from Spain to support the Bordeaux rebels not to leave and instead to join the fight for the crown of France. In recognition of the unwavering loyalty of the Irish,
Anne of Austria, then regent, decided in the month of February 1654 to offer the college her protection, granting a
pension of 1,200 pounds for the subsistence of twelve priests and ten clergymen. She conferred on the Irish of the college
the “right of naturalisation or citizenship” to allow them to receive
donations and have certain privileges within the kingdom in letters patent, in which she declared herself
“the founder of this seminar and college of the Irish,
whose house shall now bear the name
of Sainte-Anne-la-Royale.” She added:
“We want our arms to be
placed and carved in
relief, alongside those of
the king, our successor and son, on the door of
the chapel of Saint-Eutrope.”
However, the royal arms do
not seem to have been placed
on the facade. And although
the church officially bore
the name of Sainte-Anne-la-Royale, the name that prevailed
was that of Chapelle des Irlandais.
It was under this name that
it appeared on the plans of
Bordeaux until the end of the 18th century. It is also under this
name that it was closed
on 15 February 1792, then sold on 27 June 1796 for the sum of 21,006 francs to the citizen
Chamblant, a coachbuilder, who established a saltpetre factory there. It went on to become a sculpture’s studio, followed by a shop until its demolition in 1880, when work
began on aligning Place
Pey-Berland.
One hundred years later,
during excavations carried
out from April to August 1983, parts of the nave and
the chevet reappeared intact, when
the building that currently
stands there was built.
Until the late 17th century, the chapel and the college were united. But the number of students increased from twenty in the 17th century to thirty in the 18th century, then forty. The college of Bordeaux was known for the quality of its teaching, and once they had completed
their studies the residents would leave to occupy the most important bishoprics in their country. In 1696, the college’s superior, Thaddée O’Mahony, bought a house with a central building and two wings at 3 Rue du Hâ, right next to the chapel, to house the college. It took nearly thirty years
to finish paying for this
acquisition, which was paid in instalments until 17 May 1723. As for the college,
complying rather late with Anne of Austria’s requirement, it took the name
of Sainte-Anne-la-Royale.
Under the Reign of Terror, superiors, teachers and students were arrested
in December 1793, as priests
or subjects of British origin.
The college’s last rector, Reverend Martin Glynn, was sentenced to death by the military commission
of Bordeaux for refusing the oath
and evading deportation. He
was guillotined on 19 July
1794. The college became
the headquarters of the head
of the military commission, Lacombe, who moved his
family and servants there.
It is in this Irish college that the last episode of the Reign of Terror was played
out in Bordeaux, since Lacombe was
arrested there, on 14
Thermidor, before … …
… …
… …
La Chapelle des
Irlandais sur le plan de Lattré en 1733. |
Plaque sur le
Collège des Irlandais. |
Cross and enter the cathedral.
Head left towards the
first side chapel, level
with the altar.
© Bertrand Favreau and
Tyché Editions 2014
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