St Peter's Church, Ballymodan (also referred to as St Peter's Church, Bandon) is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church located in Ballymodan, Bandon,

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It was completed in 1849. It is part of the Diocese of Cork, Cloyne, and Ross. It is a middle-pointed,

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

church.

History

The church is situated on the site of an earlier church dating back to 1614, which was also dedicated to

St Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

. The old church was demolished and the new church erected because the parishioners did not like the architecture of the original building. Construction began in 1847, with the foundation stone being laid by the Earl of Bandon on 9 March that year. The church was consecrated on 30 August 1849. The chancel was remodelled in 1893 by James Fuller. Many prominent families in Bandon acted as patrons of the church, the

earls of Bandon Earl of Bandon was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for Francis Bernard, 1st Viscount Bandon. He had already been created Baron Bandon, of Bandon Bridge in the County of Cork, in 1793, Viscount Bandon, of Bandon Bridge ...

of Castle Bernard in particular. There are numerous memorials and tablets in memory of members of the Bernard family located in the church as a result. The church was closed between 1963 and 1964 for repairs. As part of these repairs, the church was reroofed and an exterior parapet was removed. A modern heating system was installed, along with a sound amplification system. The cost of the works amounted to

IR£ The pound (Irish: ) was the currency of the Republic of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the symbol was £ (or IR£ for distinction). The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin cir ...

17,000. St Peter's was rededicated on 17 November 1969. In 1973, Christ Church, Bandon was deconsecrated and much of the furnishings were transferred to St Peter’s.

Architecture

St Peter's church is constructed in the Gothic Revival style. It is a middle-pointed, cruciform church. The architect was

Joseph Welland Joseph Welland (6 May 1798 – 6 March 1860) was born in Middleton, County Cork and became an Irish Architect for the Board of First Fruits and later the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. He was as a student to John Bowden and became his assistan ...

, and the church was built by Thomas Carroll between 1847 and 1849.

Interior

The floor of the church is

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

ed. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

is built of Caen stone. The tower of the church contains a

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of six bells, which were dedicated in 1885. The dedication of the bells was performed by the

Bishop of Cork, Cloyne, and Ross The Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross is the Church of Ireland Ordinary of the united Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross in the Province of Dublin. The current bishop is the Right Reverend Paul Colton BCL, DipTh, MPhil, LLM, PhD. He was consecrated ...

Robert Gregg Robert Samuel Gregg (3 May 1834 – 10 January 1896) was a 19th-century Anglican bishop. Life He was born at the rectory, Kilsallaghan, County Dublin, of which parish his father, John Gregg, was then rector, on 3 May 1834. His mother was Eliza ...

. They were gifted by William Evans-Freke, the Lord Carbery, and his daughter the Countess of Bandon, in memory of Evans-Freke's wife, the Lady Carbery. The bells give the notes F, G, A, B, C, and D. The

tenor bell A "ring of bells" is the name bell ringers give to a set of bell (instrument), bells hung for English full circle ringing. The term "peal of bells" is often used, though peal also refers to a change ringing performance of more than about 5,000 ...

weighs 15 cwt (~762 kg). The bells were made by Taylor & Co. in Leicestershire at a cost of £800.

Exterior

The clock on the tower of the church was previously used in the Council Chamber of the old Town commissioners. The clock and chimes had been silent for several years but were repaired in 1968 by the Bandon Chamber of Commerce at a cost of £300.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{coord missing, County Cork Churches in County Cork Churches in the Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross