STYLE AND DESIGN

Saint Aidan's Church Butlersbridge.
Designed by William Hague Architect 1836-1899

Hague Features
Saint Aidan's church is built with two different shades of limestone all around the outside of the church. The dominant colour of the building is orange. The bricks around the arches of the windows are the same tint of orange. Architects would call them 'relieving arches of polychromatic brick-work' - a bit like the black and white keys on a piano when we play a chromatic scale .

This makes the building very beautiful, and is a feature of Hague churches. Other features of the Hague churches are the type of windows. When we looked at our local church we could tell that another church -Saint Brigid's Killygarry- in our parish is by the same architect.


Saint Brigids, Killygarry

Saint Aidan's, Butlersbridge


There is a Rose window on the gable facing north. This shape stands for eternity. In architectural words thisRose Front gable window shape is'spherical triangular'.

The windows at the back of the church are trefoil shaped, in a circular triangle. The stainglass was made by a stainglass artist called Earley.

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The belfry is held up by gables on one side and has columns around it. The shape is octagonal.

Saint Aidan's Church itself looks Victorian. William Hague knew the funds were limited and he had to supervise all the work he designed. So he travelled around to sites making sure that the money was wisely spent.

 

THE PILLARS
There are six pillars holding up the ceiling of the Church. They are made of cast iron. The tops are decorated with foliage or flowers. No two are exactly alike, but all are beautiful and very hard to draw. Some times at weddings flowers or ivy are twined around the two front pillars.Half way up there is a band of raised plaster around the pillars that looks like cockle-shells. At Christmas my uncle the sacristan, decorates the church with holly and ivy at the bottom of the pillars. The pillars between the seats sometimes get in the way when people are trying to get out of the seat to the middle aisle. This happens especially at First Communion when our church is packed with visitors.



William Hague
Features

 

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Family Tree

 





Biography

William Hague and Catherine Hague were married in the parish of Cavan on the 19th of February 1833. They lived in Aderiplushe which is now known as Plush near Butlersbridge County Cavan.
This William Hague was a builder who was described as 'an old established and highly respectable builder, who has executed most of the principal works of hisneighbourhood' by The Dublin Builder 5 September 1863.
William the future architect was born the 7th of February 1836 the eldest of a family of six. He went to school in Kilmore Academy in Cavan. Then he studied architecture and moved to Dublin.
He was elected fellow of Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland about 1863. For nearly forty years he practised as an architect designing a lot of churches and buildings throughout Ireland. His headquarters were at 175 Great Brunswick Street and in 1872 he moved to 44 Westland Row In 1876 he married Annie Vesey Daly of Eccles Street in St. Michan's Church, Anne Street Dublin.
They had four children, William Vesey Hague writer and philosopher, Kathleen who became a nun in Roehampton, Anne Edith Mary and Joseph who went to sea.
In 1899 William Hague died at his home at 21 Mount Street and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.
The Hague Family still live in Plush and were pupils of our school when we began this project. Thanks to the Cavan Genealogy Office and Mrs Mary 'O Sullivan in particular we were able to trace the family tree back to the architect's father William Hague the builder. We are very proud of the buildings he designed.

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STONE MASONS
'Stone Mason 1863' Cartoon by Kieran, Malachy, Oisin, Caitriona and Fionan
Fourth Class
Tools were hand made by the masons to suit the task to be done.

 

Fund Raising

Clergy everywhere were fund-raising with bazaars, concerts, collections and donations. Some Clergy went to the United States to raise funds. Saint Aidan's Church altar was donated by an emmigrant Rev. Aidan Brady of Innishbeg and Philadelphia. The Stainglass windows were also donated by Hugh Blessing of Derragarra who emigrated to New York. Apart from Stone masons, people gave their time and labour free of charge and worked bare footed. Some accidents were fatal. All these buildings speak to us and tell of great sacrifice made by our wonderful ancestors in very hard times.
Churches all over the country were built in the same way. . This must have been a big problem for William Hague a gifted architect. He travelled from one building site to the other supervising the work so that no money was wasted. Many designs were never finished because the people could not afford to pay any more money. Usually the spire was left as a stump with the intention of completing it when the money was raised. These unfinished belfrys are still there. One church in Galway -Saint Joseph's has a cut stone chimney.
In a book "Poetry in Stone" by Rev. Gerry Convery he tells about the meetings to organize fund raising events for the Sacred Heart Church, Omagh. He has detailed accounts of money collected by various means in Pounds Shillings and Pence. We can read about the generous donations by the better off in the commmunity as well.

See the bell on the unfinished spire to the left of the church.
Another spire capped.

This spire is almost finished


A chimney on Saint Joseph's Church in Galway shows heating was provided for.