The ones that got away - Borris

The Parish Church of the Sacred Heart, Borris, Co. Carlow, forces me to address the perametres of this series. What do I mean by the ones that got away? Borris - and a number of other Churches in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin - retain some of the elements of a traditional Sanctuary but not all. It retains two fine Side Altars, a complete span of Altar Rails with Sanctuary gates (fairly rare and probably what the late Bishop Ryan meant by only 10% of the Churches in the Diocese remain to be 'reordered'), and the body of the High Altar with reredos (only gradines in fact). However, it has lost the mensa of the Altar, the Altar strictly speaking, or at least that Altar has been brought forward to facilitate the celebration of Mass versus populum, while preventing the celebration of Mass versus Deum - perhaps unintended in this case due to the shallowness of the Sanctuary but frequently all too obvious a factor, by the creation of the 'cliff' that I consider to be a characteristic liturgical symbol of the Diocese. Yet, I include it in the ones that got away because it is still usable for the Usus Antiquior, and partly because of the number of original features that have been retained, and partly because it still looks like a Church, inside and out. Judge for yourself.