• St. Joseph's Catholic Church & Presbytery, Penarth - A section of the OS map, revised 1915 and published 1920, indicates the location of the church (but without presbytery) in fields close by the Dingle Halt of the Penarth Extension Railway of the TVR. The postcard is post-dated July 1923. Later town development placed the church in Wordsworth Avenue.

The foundation stone of the church was laid during 1914 and the nave was completed the following year. The construction was interrupted by WWI and it was not complete until the late 1920's according to British Listed Buildings. It has claim to fame in that a wooden throne from the church was used by Pope John Paul II on his visit to Cardiff in June 1982. [761]  During an open-air mass at Poncanna Fields he addressed the crowd saying 'Bendith Duw Arnoch' (The blessing of God be on you) which seemed to please a rather large number of those assembled!

The church and presbytery was the place where my childhood friend, Sally Fitzgerald who lived at the Esplanade Hotel, went to school for about three years. She spoke highly of the experience. A postcard from the Penarth Dock Collection. The enlargements have been colourised. [001] [20200115]

What has it to do with the maritime world I here you ask? Well, many Irish came to build the dock, railways and fine buildings of Penarth as well as visiting seamen from the predominantly Catholic countries within Europe and beyond. It is said that between 1820 and 1840 the Catholic population of Cardiff and district increased exponentially from a hand-full to over a thousand strong! The earlier church of St. Joseph's was opened in 1877 to serve the needs of visiting mariners and conveniently situated in the Bowery overlooking the dock on Arcot Street. The congregation very quickly outgrew the capacity of the church, hence, a new location was found at the western extents of the town on former agricultural land.