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Photo: JohnArmagh, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
This is the neo-Gothic Roman Catholic cathedral, opened in 1808.
The Cathedral of Saint Mary and Saint Anne, also known as Saint Mary's Cathedral, The North Cathedral or The North Chapel, is a Roman Catholic cathedral located at the top of Shandon Street in Cork, Ireland. It is the seat of the Bishop of Cork and Ross, and the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cork and Ross. Its name derived from the fact that it encompassed the ecclesiastical parish of St. Mary and the civil parish of St. Anne.
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Shandon Bells
Shandon is the neighbourhood climbing the hill along the old road to Mallow. This Church of Ireland (Anglican) church was built in 1722; the famously inaccurate clock on its tower became known as "the four-faced liar". The church is best known for the eight "bells of Shandon that sound so grand on / the pleasant waters of the River Lee" as the 19th century ballad has it. (Who but Francis Mahony aka "Father Prout" would have dared rhyme Moscow with kiosk-o?) St Anne's bells are hung "dead" and rung by an Ellacombe apparatus. The most sonorous peel of bells is from change-ringing, which rotates them through 360°, but this demands skill and is sometimes impractical to build. It also incites scandalous behaviour, according to the Rev Henry Thomas Ellacombe of Gloucestershire, who in 1821 devised a mechanism whereby hammers struck stationary bells as resolutely as they would strike down temptation to sin. St Anne's is one of the two dozen churches in Britain and Ireland that still have functioning apparatus, and visitors can ding the bells from the tower first floor. There are 132 steps to the tower balcony, with a narrow squeeze as you clamber through the belfry, hoping that the group below doesn't choose that moment to start chiming.
The permanent collection includes paintings by Jack Yeats and Sean Keating, and a series of plaster casts of classical statues, which King George IV found tedious. The gallery is closed until mid- 2028 for rebuilding.
The original fort built in 1601 was just timber and earth, and the citizens made short work of it. It was rebuilt from 1624 as a stout "star" fortress. It lost its defensive role in 1719 but was variously used as a barracks, a depot for convicts (mostly female) awaiting transportation to the colonies, and a police station to 2013. It's now simply a tourist area with a gallery and occasional events, and you can walk along the walls.
Saint Fin Barre (550-623 AD) was a preacher who spent his last 17 years hereabouts. A monastery dedicated to him was built in the 7th century, and there have been at least three churches on the site before the present building. This is an elaborate Church of Ireland (Anglican) cathedral built 1865-79 in Gothic Revival style. The interior is relatively small: Burgess the architect realised it would go way over budget so the focus was on creating a grand frontage, to impress the citizens and overawe the resurgent Catholics. There are three great spires, intricate carvings and gargoyles, stain glass windows, and a high ceiling over a rather stubby nave. The pipe organ adds to the cathedral's many expensive items of construction and maintenance.
Honora Nagle (1718-1784) pioneered Catholic education for girls in an era when that was repressed by the Penal Laws. She founded an Ursuline convent and the Presentation Sisters, which inspired Edmund Rice in Waterford to found the Presentation Brothers and later Christian Brothers. The museum depicts Nano's life, times and works, and the garden is an oasis of tranquillity.
Gallery in stylish modern building opened 2006 within the university, with rotating art exhibitions. Its sponsor Lewis Glucksman (1925-2006) had been CEO of Lehman Brothers, remember them? He lived in Cobh from 1999 and was a major benefactor of cultural initiatives.