THE CITIZENS of Cork will warmly welcome news that the bells of St Fin Barre's Protestant Cathedral will soon be ringing out over the city once more. Silent for the first time in their long history, they have not been heard for nearly a year having been taken down for refurbishment.
Deeply rooted in the life and times of Cork, the cathedral site on the south side of the Lee dates from the 7th century and has been a place of worship ever since devotees of St Fionnbharr, the patron saint of Cork, founded a monastery and centre of learning there.
Not far from UCC, the cathedral's twin spires soar above the nearby narrow streets and lanes on the banks of the Lee, a quiet backwater in a bustling city and a popular venue for tourists. The eight original bells, partly refurbished, will now be augmented by five new bells, giving St Fin Barre's a peal of 13 bells. In times of growing secularism, the cathedral bells will continue to remind people of the importance of a spiritual dimension to life.
As a stark reminder of its turbulent past, a 24-pound cannon ball from the 1689 siege of Cork still hangs in the church, just above the impressive line of bells waiting to be installed. It was found embedded in the masonry of the first medieval cathedral when the steeple was demolished in 1865, the year work began on the present building. Designed by "brilliant play-acting" William Burges of London, a somewhat romantic architect, it turned out to be a costly project.
Like so many ventures in modern Ireland it was to run way over budget, landing the diocese with a bill for £100,000. Today, however, the French-Gothic style cathedral is widely regarded as one of the finest 19th century buildings in Ireland. Made of local limestone, its interior walls are lined in red marble, echoing the "blood-and-bandage" colours of Cork which feature even more prominently on the city's other renowned Protestant church, St Anne's Shandon on the north side of the river Lee.
For centuries the bells of St Fin Barre's Cathedral have heralded special events in the life of the city, ringing out, for instance, to mark Cork's inauguration as Europe's capital of culture in 2005. In keeping with tradition, each bell bears an inscription, one of which has particular relevance today. It expresses the hope that the trade of the city will flourish. This apt sentiment will soon be ringing across the Lee valley once more, lending fresh resonance to the cathedral bells in these times of turbulent global economics.