The Church of St Anne is a

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

church located in the Shandon district of

Cork city Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

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

River Lee The River Lee () 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 city centre is b ...

. 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 (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216. Pope Innocent was one of the most power ...

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

Williamite wars The Williamite War in Ireland took place from March 1689 to October 1691. Fought between Jacobite supporters of James II and those of his successor, William III, it resulted in a Williamite victory. It is generally viewed as a related conflic ...

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 in Ireland, 1690. It happened shortly after the Battle of the Boyne during James II of England, James II's attempt to retake the English throne from William ...

(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

Douglas Hyde Douglas Ross Hyde (; 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 to June 1945. He was a l ...

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

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

from the original Shandon Castle which stood nearby, and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

taken from the derelict

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

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 Thomas Crofton Croker (15 January 1798 – 8 August 1854) was an Irish antiquary, best known for his ''Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland'' (1825–1828), and who also showed considerable interest in Irish song and music ...

, 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 Francis Sylvester Mahony (31 December 1804 – 18 May 1866), also known by the pen name Father Prout, was an Irish humorist and journalist. Life He was born in Cork (city), Cork, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Ireland, to Martin ...

. 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 n ...

. 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 (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

, representing the fishing of the River Lee. The fish placed above the tower is mentioned in Cork band Five Go Down to the Sea?'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