The Church of St Anne is a

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

church located in the Shandon district of

Cork city Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city's ...

in Ireland. Built between 1722 and 1726, it is situated on a hill overlooking the

River Lee The River Lee (Irish: ''An Laoi'') is a river in Ireland. It rises in the Shehy Mountains on the western border of County Cork and flows eastwards through Cork, where it splits in two for a short distance, creating an island on which Cork's ...

. The church tower is a noted landmark and symbol of the city, and the church bells were popularised in a 19th century song.

History

The name Shandon comes from the Irish, ''Sean Dún'', meaning "old fort". A medieval church dedicated to St. Mary existed close to the site of this fort, and is mentioned in the decretals of

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 ...

in 1199 as "St. Mary on the Mountain". This church stood until the

Williamite wars The Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691; ga, Cogadh an Dá Rí, "war of the two kings"), was a conflict between Jacobite supporters of deposed monarch James II and Williamite supporters of his successor, William III. It is also called th ...

when it was destroyed during the

siege of Cork The siege of Cork took place during the Williamite war in Ireland in the year of 1690, shortly after the Battle of the Boyne when James II attempted to retake the English throne from King William III. In a combined land and sea operation, W ...

(1690). In 1693 this was replaced by a church, also dedicated to St. Mary, and was located at the bottom of Mallow Lane, modern day Shandon Street. Due to population growth, it was decided to build anew on this ancient site and so in 1722 the present Church of St. Anne, Shandon was constructed. The church of St. Anne attained full parochial status in 1772, when Rev. Arthur Hyde (great-great-grandfather of Dr.

Douglas Hyde Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...

) was appointed its first Rector. As it was built with two types of stone (red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

from the original Shandon Castle which stood nearby, and

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

taken from the derelict

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

Abbey which stood on the North Mall), some sources draw a connection between the red and white materials and the colours used to represent the city. The distinct colours are recorded in a rhyme collected by 19th century antiquary Thomas Crofton Croker, which he attributes to 18th century Catholic priest and writer Father Arthur O'Leary:

Features

Bells

The church is noted for its 8 bells, immortalised in the song "The Bells of Shandon" by Francis Sylvester Mahony. The largest weighs a little over 1.5 tons and was originally cast by Abel Rudhall of Gloucester. To reduce vibration, they were placed in a fixed position. They first rang on 7 December 1752. They have been recast twice: in 1865 and 1906. Today, visitors can climb to the first floor and ring the bells themselves, via an

Ellacombe apparatus The Ellacombe apparatus is a mechanism devised for performing change ringing on church bells by striking stationary bells with hammers. It does not produce the same sound as full circle ringing due to the absence of Doppler effect as the bells do ...

. The original inscriptions are retained on each bell: * ''When us you ring we'll sweetly sing'' * ''God preserve the Church and King'' * ''Health and prosperity to all our benefactors'' * ''Peace and good neighbourhood'' * ''Prosperity to the city and trade thereof'' * ''We were all cast at Gloucester in England by Abel Rudhall 1750'' * ''Since generosity has opened our mouths our tongues shall sing aloud its praise'' * ''I to the Church the living call and to the grave do summon all''

Tower

The walls of the building are 2 m (7 ft) thick and the height to the tower is 36.5 m (120 ft). This is extended a further 15 m (50 ft) for the "pepper pot" adornment on the tower. The McOsterich family were involved with the design and erection of this tower and to this day a special privilege is afforded them. Whenever a member of the family marries, anywhere in the world, the bells ring out in their honour. On top of this pepper pot is a weather vane in the form of a

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

, representing the fishing of the River Lee. The fish placed above the tower is mentioned in Cork band

Five Go Down to the Sea? Five Go Down to the Sea? were an Irish post-punk band from Cork, active between 1978 and 1989. Vocalist and lyricist Finbarr Donnelly, guitarist Ricky Dineen and brothers Philip (bass) and Keith "Smelly" O'Connell (drums) formed the band as ...

's song "There's a fish on top of Shandon (swears he's Elvis)".

Clock

The clock of the tower is known to Corkonians as "The Four Faced Liar" because, depending on the angle of the viewer, and the effects of wind on the hands on a given face, the time may not appear to correspond perfectly on each face. Due to maintenance issues, the clock was stopped in 2013, but plans to fund repair were agreed in May 2014, and the clock restarted in September 2014.

Font

The christening font, dated 1629, is a relic from the church destroyed in the siege of Cork in 1690 and bears the inscription, ''"Walter Elinton and William Ring made this pant at their charges"''. Within is a pewter bowl dated 1773.

Notes

References

External links

Church of Ireland Parish of St. Anne-ShandonShandon Bells and Tower, St. Anne's ChurchBells of Shandon being sung á capella in the Church of St. Anne of Shandon
{{DEFAULTSORT:St Anne, Shandon Churches in Cork (city) Church of Ireland church buildings in the Republic of Ireland Churches in the Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross