The Sunday Times

You can tell a lot about a culture by studying the monuments it leaves behind. What was true for the classical world should also hold good for Christian Ireland. The exhibition Sacred Places: the Story of Christian Architecture in Ireland sets out to tell how we have lived on this island over the past 2,000 years by showing our cultural and social development through our ecclesiastical buildings. Organised by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and the Royal Society of Ulster Architects, and handsomely sponsored - to the tune of £140,000 - by the republic's National Millennium office and Britain's Heritage Lottery Fund, the exhibition is a big disappointment.