THE
SHANDON
BELLS
Sabbata patsgo,
Funera platsgo,
Solemnia clango,
Inscr ip. on an 9ld Bell
With deep affection
And recollection
I often think of
Those Shandon Bells
Whose sound so wild would,
In the days of childhood,
Fling round my cradle
Their magic spells,
On this I ponder
Where'er I wander,
And thus grow fonder,
Sweet Cork, of thee,
With thy bells of Shandon
That sound so grand on
The pleasant waters
Of the river Lee.
I've heard bells tolling
Old "Adrian's Mole" in
Their thunder rolling
'
From the Vatican,
And cymbals glorious
Swinging uproarious
In the gorgeous turrets
Of N6tre Dame ;
But thy sounds were sweeter
Than the dome of Peter
Flings oe'r the Tiber,
Pealingly solemnly ; 0! the bells of Shandon
Sound far more grand on
The pleasant waters
Of the river Lee.
I've heard bells chiming
Full many a clime in,.
Tolling sublime in
Cathedral shrine,
While at a glib rate
Brass tongues would vibrateBut all their music
Spoke naught like thine ;
For memory dwelling
On each proud swelling
Of the belfry .knelling
Its bold notes free,
Made the bells of Shandon
Sound far more grand on
The pleasant waters
Of the river Lee.
There's a bell in Moscow,
While on tower and kiosk o!
In Saint Sophia
The Turkman gets,
And loud in air
Calls men to prayer
From the tapering summit
Of tall minarets.
Such empty phantom
I freely grant them ;
But there is an anthem
More dear to me,'Tis the bells of Shandon
That sound so grand on
The pleasant waters
Of the river Lee.
' Father Prout •
....
I
l e<!.tl<l.!'l<l.nn pu1bt1'0e CoC<l.l!' Co!'C.A1;5e
(CORK CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY)
GRAN D PARADE, CORK
C LA SS
R )~lc:,.:. ?'l
A NO .
8. ~;3/o.lf: ....
This Book is provided for use in the Reference
Room on ly, and must not be taken away. It is
earnestly req uested that readers use the books
with care, and do not so il th em, or cut, tear or
turn dow n leaves, or write or make a ny mark on
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wetting finger or thumb to turn leaves shou ld
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Room is subject to the Rules a nd Bye-laws; and
any injury to booxs, or any improper conduct,
will be dea lt with as therein provided.
TWO HUNDRED
YEARS OF SHANDON
BELLS
A SHORT ACCOUNT
BELLS
OF
OF
THE
CHURCH AND
ST. ANN SHANDON
CORK
BY
R E V.
J.
W.
I
T.
95
2
T U C K E Y
INTRODUCTION
T!te Bells of S!tandon have carried
tltt! jame of lite Cziy of Cor!<: and tlze
p!easaut 'zuaters of tlze river Lee jar
and 'wide ove?' tlze frrce of the earth.
Visitors to Corle make a point of
visiting "Sltamion C!turch '' aud
Sam?tel Burnett, se.xtun there for 20
years aud more, must have ru11g the
bells for folk from nearly every
country in the 1oorld. It is primaniy
for 1/tese visitors t!tat litis booklet has
been compiled, to provide tlzem 1m"th
a guide to lite clzurch aNd its
· surroundi11gs and also to j1tr11ish
them witlz a reco1'd iu 1oord and
picture of wlzat they lzave seen both
in and arottt'td this historic c!turch.
THE
BELLS
F
OR two hundred years the Bells of Shandon have been
ringing out over ' the pleasant w a ters of the river Lee.'
The churc:h was already some thirty years old when the be lls
were insta lled . They were ca~ by the firm of Abel Rudhall
in Gloucester in the yea r 1750, but it was two years before
they were erected in the tower. It was on the 7th Dece mber,
1752 that the first j oyfu l peal was ru ng em the occas10n of the
m arriage of a certain Mr. Henry H a rding to Miss Catherine
Dorma11. Although four of the bells have been recast in the
co urse .9f time, one in 186g and the o thers in 1go8, they all
reta in their original inscriptions, as follows :
1- When us you ring we'll sweetly sing
2- God preserve the Church and King
3- H ealth and prosperity .tp a ll our benefactors
4--Peace and good neighbourhood
5-Prosperity to the city and the trade thereof
6- We wen! all cast at Gloucester in England by Abel
Rudh a ll 1750
7--Since generosity h as opened our mouths, our
tongues sha ll sing aloud its praise
'
8-I to the Church the living call and to the grave do
summon all.
I
This l as~ bell, the tenor, which weighs 26 cwt., also bears
the name o~aniel Thresher, a great benefactor of the Church
at that time, who in his will left money \O provide oue of the
bells. It was the sa,me Daniel Thresher who provided the
church of St. Ann with a single bell before the peal was
introduced. This bell, dated I 745, now hangs in St. Mary's
Shandon in Sunday's W ell.
The· bells were i~mo.rtalised by the poem 'The Bells of
Shandon' written by the R everend Fr. Francis Mahony, whose
childhood was spent within the sound of their chimes a nd
whose grave lies under the shadow of the steeple. He wrote
under the nom-de-plume of 'Father Prout' ; this was the name
of a well-learned but eccentric pa rish priest of Watergrasshill,
whom Fr. Mah_ony had.known a nd admired in his youth.
THE
TOWER
The tower. which houses the bells is a massive structure.
Standing as it does on the rising ground to the north of the
river Lee, it forms a striking landmark visible from a lmost
any part of the city. The square tower is surmounted by a
pepper-box shaped lantern with copper dome and gilded
weather vane in t form of a fish . The tower is remarkable
in that two sides are·
ed with red sandstone and two with
white limestone; hence th erse ;,.-'Party-coloured, like the people,
Red and white stands Shandon Steeple.'
It has been said that the sandstone came from the ruins pf
Shandon 0.rstle close by and the limestone from the ruins of
the Franciscan Abbey on the North Mall. The white sides of
the tower look out over the limestone country of the Lee
valley, while the red sides face the sandstone hills to~
north and east.
Visitors may climb the tower by the staircase built in the
thickness of the walls, which ascends from the first floor,
where the bells are rung, up past the clock pendulum, then
past the works of tht:-elock itself, through the bell tower, and
finally out on to. a walk round the base of the lantern. Here
one is 120 fee( above ground level, and as the church itself
stands on a considerable eminence, there is a wonderful view
of the city spread out below and of the pleasant wooded
countryside which surrounds it.
THE
CLOCK
This was erected by the Corporation of the city in 1847
aRd is still owned and maintained by that body. It is an
excellent time-keeper, except for the fact that the minute
hands on the east and west faces a lways go ahead of their
companion~orth and south i~ the climb from the half
hour to the hour, thereby earning the clock the title of the
four -fac ed liar! However, comp lete agreement is reached
once more at the hour. The clock chimes on the bells at each
quarter, an unusual and attractive chime. The machinery of
the clock is said to weigh 2 . tons, and the dials are 14 feet in
diameter. An inscription on the works of the clock "gives the
following warning: 'Passenger measure your Time, for Time
is the Measure of your Being.' The maker was James Mangan
of Cork, founder of the firm which bears his name.
THE FISH
This striking weather-vane has long been famous. The
giant gilded fish, I I feet 3 inches in length, set up on its lofty
pinnacle I 70 feet from the ground, probably symbolises an
important Cork industry, salmon fishing. It is a very
appropriate sign to nave on a church, as in the earliest days
of Christianity a fish was used as a symbol for the name of
our Lord.
THE CHURCH OF ST. A
SHANDO
HISTORY. The church was erected by subscription in 1722
as a chapel-of-ease to St. Mary's Shandon, which at that time
stood a few hundred yards away in Mallow Lane; now called
Shandon Street. St. Mary's had originally stood where St.
Ann's now stands. It is believed that there was a church on
this site at least as early as I300. In the siege of Cork
which followed soon after the battle of the Boyne in r6go,
the old St. Mary's Church was burned and demolished. It was
deemed inadvisable to rebuild on the same site, as it was
reared that a new church there might be used as a vantage
point to attack the nearby fort of Shandon Castle. Some
thirty years later, however, when the need for a second
church in the area became urgent, St. Ann's was raised up on
the ancient site. It gained full parochial status in 1772 when
Rev. Arthur Hyde was appointed rector.
FuRNISHINGS, ETC. Considerable changes in the interior
furnishings have been made f~om time to time, as may be
clearly seen from an old painting hanging in the Vestry room
which shows the west end of the church before alterations
about I866. Two relics from the old St. Mary's, destroyed in
16go, ar.e preserved in St. Ann's, these are:
THE FON";.'. This bears the following inscription: 'Walter
Elinton william ring r62g. Made this Pant at their charges.'
A pewter bowl with wide flanges was inserted in I 773 and
bears the names of the rector and churchwardens of that
year.
THE PIERCY MEMORIAL. This is to be seen fixed on the
wall of the Vestry Room . It marked the burial place in the
old church of George Piercy, Esq., wft.e Cfied 1635·
Most of the other contents of the church are of more modern
date. Among those worthy of notice are:
THE CoMMUNION RAILS. These are of an unusual bowfronted design, adding considerably to the spaciousness of
the sanctuary
THE STAINED-GLASS WINDOWS. The Ealj.t Window, portraying
the Transfiguration of our Lord, is of remarkable beauty.
Other windows show the Raising of Lazarus and the Good
Samaritan. The small Philip Lee memorial window near
the west end of the church, with its vivid colours and
realistic treatment is a striking example of modern stainedglass work. It was erected in 1934 as a tribute to a much
beloved physician and devoted churchman.
MEMORIALS. A number of past worshippers are commemorated by mural tablets. Worthy of note are those
commemorating the Rev. George Barton, curate of the parish,
who died in I832, a victim to his exertions during the
prevelance of Cholera; and that of the Downes family, typical
of so many Irish families, which have sent their sons far and
wide over the face of the earth. The tab let records the death
of one son in New York, another in London , a third drowned
in the S.e uth Seas, a fourth died in J;lombay, a tifth at the
Cape otGood Hope, and the last in London. The I 9I4-I918
War Memorial is a very fine example of its kind, and was
designed by Caulfield Orpen of Dublin.
THE GRAVEYARD
On leaving the church by the side door in the north wall
of the to"'er, one comes almost immediately on an 'altar
tomb', which is the burial place of the Mahony family. On
the slab will be found inscribed the name of the Rev. Francis
Mahony, died August, 1866. This is 'Father Prout'~ whose
verses have carried the fame of Shandon Bells to a lmost every
country in the world.
Nearby, set against the wall of ti1e church, are to be seen
several tombstones which date from before the building of the
church. Their inscriptions are now hard to read, but the dates
I687 and I6g6 are still discernible . .Just beside the doorway
from the tower is to be seen a memorial slab showing the
'Instruments of the Passion'. It records the death in '773 of
Richard Skuse, who is said to have been killed by a fall _from
the top of the steeple where he was working. In I 738 a
certain Roger Wallace had met his death in the same way.
Beside this stone is the railed-in grave of the Rev. Arthur
Hyde, first rector of St. Ann's and great great grandfather of
Dr. Douglas Hyde, pioneer of the Gaelic revival and first
President of the Irish Free State.
There are several interesting stones in other parts of the
graveyard, though inevitably time and weather have made
the inscriptions of many unreadable. One commemorates
Michael Holland and his wife in these words, now alas
scarce! y legible :
Kind father and mother dear
Two sincere friends lie buried here,
Free from malice, free from pride,
So they lived and so they died.
THE GREENCOAT SCHOOL
Going down the lane which ru~ along the south side of
the church, dividing the graveyard into two parts, one comes
to a large group of buildings on the left. These comprise the
Greencoat School or Hospital, with Skiddy's and Brettridge's
Almshouse behiP.d it. These buildings stood here even before
the church was built, the school being erected in I 7 I 6 and
the almshouse behind in I 7 I 8. The school was originally for
the children of poor parents, twenty boys and twenty girls
being admitted whep it was first opened. The two figures on
the gateposts are supp.o sed to represent a boy and a girr
dressed in the original 'green coat' uniform of the school. They
are commonly known as 'Bob and Joan', but we find them
described in an old book as :
'Billy Budds and Mary Beattie
Made of lead and very weighty'
It is now over 50 years since the building ceased to be used
as a charity school. The original minute booi< and accounts
of the Trustees of the Greencoat Hospital from the year I 71 ~
~re preserved in St. Ann's s~fe ,
Both Skiddy's and Brettridge's a lmshouses are old found ations, in existence before the present buildings were erected.
In I 7 I 8 the Trustees of the school allowed the Corporation of
the City to build an almshouse behind the school so that the
inmates of these institutions might be better housed. The
courtyard of the Almshouse has an attractive collonade
running round two sides. This is hidden from the public
view behind high walls, but may be seen from the top of the
church tower.
LIST
1722- 1772
OF
RECTORS
St. Ann's was Chapel-of-ease in the Parish
of St. Mary Shandon.
1772
Arthur Hyde.
1805
Warham Leader.
1818
Richard L. Conner.
18fl5
Fr ncis de Montmorency St. George.
1882
W. ]. Galway.
1897
Arthur A. Wilson
1905
Robert T. Hearn
1939
Robert H. :Bryan
1950
'
No rector appointed .
.]. W. T. Tuckey, Clergyman-in-charge.
com;,.
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I
Uatis~
of .St. ann
.s~anbon
Church of Ireland
Curate-in-charge: Rev.
J.
~illas,
W . T. TucKEY, Brookfield
College. Road, Cork.
HOURS OF SERVICE
SUNDAYS
HoLY CoMMUNION-S a.m. on last Sunday in the
month.
After Morning Prayer on other Sundays.
MORNING PRAYER-11.30 a.m.
EvENING PRAYER-7.15 p.m.
WEEKDAYS
HoLY CoMMUNION-10.30 a.m. on Saints' Days and
Holy Days.
NOTE-The Church of Ireland belongs to the Anglican
Communion and corresponds to the Episcopal Church ·
in the U .S .A.
-
HOW TO FIND ST. ANN'S SHANDON .
Grossing ST, PATRICK's BRIDGE from Patrick Street, turn
LEFT along Camden Quay, take third turn on RIGHT up
the hill (Mulgrave Road), keep LEFT at North Infirmary
and turn RIGHT at Butter Market.
(10 minutes· walk).
CHURCH
STREET
ABOUT 1800
Printtd bv LAJIDONS, COBK