The Shandon Bells at St Anne's Church

Overlooking the heart of Cork city, St Anne’s Church tower is a well-known landmark of Ireland’s second largest city. The name Shandon comes from the old Irish settlement Sean Dún in this area, before it became a part of Cork.

The 8 bells, first rang in 1752, became famous from Francis Sylvester Mahony’s poem The Bells of Shandon, which has also been adapted into a popular folk song. Since their original installation, they have been recast twice, yet the original inscriptions have been recurved for each new bell. Your group can climb the tower and ring the bells themselves, given there is no ongoing mass in the church below. Not only that, the tower also offers a magnificent panoramic view of Cork not found anywhere else in the city.

St Anne’s Church is built in a unique way, as red sandstone and white limestone were used in the process, making its colouring scheme match the colours if the city of Cork. The red and white colours are not spread evenly, the North and East are red, while the South and West and white. Among the sights inside the church are the 1914-1918 Great War Memorial as well as five beautiful stained glass windows.

Locally, the clock is known as the Four-Faced Liar, as the four clock faces do not always match exactly. Before the construction of London’s Big Ben, this was the world’s only four-faced clock.