Posted 21st June 2003 / Longest Day

Expanding Sculpture & Information Trail
at Churchtown Village in North County Cork.

The evening of 19th June 2003 and the obelisk stands proudly on Bruhenny Village Green. If you want to view a high resolution picture of the obelisk click here. Well done to Maurice Gilbert and his team from Ballyhoura Construction Ltd who managed the technical job. The obelisk weighs 20 tonne, stands 10 metres high and is made from solid limestone and polished. The motto on the obelisk reads "To the stars / Ad Sidera / I dTreo na speartha. To see other "construction" photographs from 19th and 20th June 2003 click on this link. Thanks also to Cork County Council and the European Union's Urban & Village Renewal Scheme who supported the sculpture trail development with a €5,000 grant. Sun dials are not new to Churchtown. Click here to open a link to a Churchtown sun dial of earlier days.

The giant hurley, sliothar and gaelic football was erected in front of the new Sports Stand at Kerry Lane and presented to Churchtown GAA by Bruhenny Holdings Plc. Padre Pio Nursing Home in the background. Churchtown GAA is about to complete construction of a wonderful Sports Stand at Kerry Lane with three dressing rooms under the spectator area, referee and umpire room and public toilets. Great thanks to FAS for their support on this massive initiative costing nearly €500,000 and also to the Department of Sports for the "lottery" grant of €95,000. Click here to see work on the construction of the sports stand.

A large section of Red Churchtown marble was erected at the Pound Corner in 1999 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the rebuilding of Churchtown village. The 150th anniversary was marked with this fine example of locally quarried Red Churchtown Marble which is a conglomeratic limestone originally laid down under shallow sea conditions during the Lower Carboniferous Period approximately (give or take a thousand millennia!) 350 million years ago. Churchtown Marble has been used to decorate fine buildings including St Peter and Paul's Church in Cork City.

The Trust with help from various sponsors and a grant under the EU's Urban & Village Renewal Scheme has also erected three bronze information plaques costing €6,000 at the Pound Corner, Bruhenny Graveyard and the Post Office. These were erected in 2000.

A Welcome Information Kiosk has been erected on the Burton Road as you approach the village. This kiosk carries lots of interesting information about Churchtown's history. Visitors can read this and other plaques erected at the "old" Post Office, the Pound Corner and at Bruhenny Medieval Graveyard.

A "cillin" graveyard at Mount Brigid has been marked with this plaque. It is located near St Brigid's Holy Well about a mile outside Churchtown village as you head for Buttevant. Our Trustee Noel Linehan has been responsible for this great work.

Bruhenny Graveyard is located just off the village "square". Our Trustees Noel Linehan and Eileen Ahern O'Connor assisted by the Dwane brothers and Danny Linehan have installed an all-weather walking path in the graveyard which is a credit to them. The graveyard dates back over 1,000 year. Oliver Reed's grave is to the right of the path in the distance. An archaeological assessment was carried out before work began on this sensitive heritage area in our village

A series of seven walking or cycling trails are marked out in the Churchtown area. They range from 4 miles up to 12 miles and include some lovely quiet country lanes. This project was sponsored by Boss Murphy's and Ballyhoura Development. A map is available by calling to Boss Murphy's in the village. Large metal maps have also been erected at Mount Brigid Cross Roads and near the Post Office. You can read all about the seven trails by clicking here.

A bronze plaque explaining where the names Churchtown, Bruhenny and Baile an Teampaill came from can be found near the "old" Post Office. A metal sign showing the seven marked trails and some infrmation on the ecology of the Churchtown area is also in place near the "old" Post Office.

Where once the now demolished Churchtown Creamery stood proudly on the Burton Road you will find a plaque commemorating all involved in the great enterprise associated with the creamery. The plaque reads: "Churchtown Dairy Factory Company was founded on 23rd March 1889 and stood on this spot until 28th September 2000. This plaque commemorates all who supplied and delivered milk to this creamery and all who served the company faithfully over the years. They may be gone but they are not forgotten. Ar dheis De go raibh an n-anam. Erected by the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust December 2000".

More about the Obelisk

"Limestone as the prominent indigenous rock in the Churchtown area and so the main structure is a 33 feet high polished limestone obelisk surrounded by 16 round limestone blocks with a diameter of 1 metre. Each roundel will show an hour of the day in Roman numerals from VI in the morning to XXII in the evening" Maurice Gilbert, managing director of Ballyhoura Construction LTD explained.

The base of the sun dial / obelisk at Kerry Lane, Churchtown is 10 meters high and one metre square tapering in to 0.6 metres with the usual obelisk style cap on top. The foundation for the 19 tonne sun dial was specified by O'Shea Leader Consulting Engineers. Cork. The typography for the inscriptions have been created by Keaney Design, Dublin and the monument itself was supplied by Marble & Granite Supplies LTD, Malahide Road, Dublin. Gerry Murphy is chairman of Marble &Granite Supplies Ltd and chairman of the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust.

The sun dial is inscribed on all fours sides The South face of the obelisk will be inscribed with a motto in three languages - Latin, Irish and English. The motto "Ad Sidera" and "I dTreo na Speartha" translates as "To the Stars". The North face of the obelisk carries Churchtown's latitude and longitude - 52.2 degrees North and 8.3 degrees West. The West and East faces are inscribed with the year the Bruhenny development started - 2000 - in Roman and modern numerals. "As the development started in 2000 this sculpture will also serve as a wonderful monument to the new millennium", Gerry Murphy, chairman, Churchtown Village Renewal Trust said at the announcement.

This giant sculpture was conceived by the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust. Further information from Gerry Murphy at +353 (0)86 2563 813.

To see other "construction" photographs from 19th and 20th June 2003 click on this link.

1. Bronze Horse in Village Square
2. Red Churchtown Marble Monument
3. Obelisk / Sun Dial at Bruhenny Village Green
4. Great Bull of Bruhenny
5. GAA Sports Sculpture
6. Bronze Plaque at Bruhenny Graveyard
7. Bronze Plaque on Post Office Wall
8. Information Kiosk at Burton Road

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