Next Index Previous
The Tower of Shandon
The Tower of Shandon
The church in architectural terms is best known for its three-storey tower, over 170 feet high with walls 13 feet thick, with a copper dome that a vane in the form of a salmon. Nine feet high the ‘fish of Shandon’ has long remained one of the most familiar features on the Cork landscape. The weather vane on top is in the form of a golden fish, a salmon 13 feet high. The fish symbolizes the salmon industry in the River Lee. Beneath the fish is the pepper pot shaped lantern surmounted by a lead dome and four points of the compass. The square tower itself is 120 feet high.
.
Red and white stands Shandon Steeple’
The tower is unique in that two of its faces are of white limestone and two are of red sandstone. The limestone faces South and West to the limestone country while the sandstone faces North and East to the sandstone country. Tradition has it that the limestone came from the ruins of Shandon Castle and the limestone from the Franciscan Abbey on the north Mall.
A local rhyme describes it as:
"Party-coloured, like its people".
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.