St. Anne's Shandon Tower

St. Anne's Shandon is without a doubt Cork's most famous attraction,
but known more for it's bells than the structure that houses them.
The church was built in 1726 on the site of an earlier church, which had been destroyed
during the 1690 attack on the city. The church's fame is due primarily to the famous song.
the Bells of Shandon written by Francis Sylvester Mahony (a.k.a. Fr. Prout). Fr. Prout was
born in 1804 and wrote the song while studying at the Jesuit College in Rome. He died in
Paris in 1866 and within earshot of the Bells.

The Tower is unusual in that the two of it's sites are white and two red. Like most of
Cork's buildings, it is built of limestone and sandstone. The receeding stages on top
of the tower, the final stage with a dome, give the church it's distinctive appearance.
The weather vane on top is in the form of a gold fish.

But it is the bells that bring visitors to Shandon. One of the eight bells bears the
We were all cast at Gloucester in England. Abel Radhall, 1750. Although the narrow
streets sometimes make Shandon hard to find, visitors can reward themselves by playing
the bells or by climbing to the first stage of the tower to experience the wonderful
view it commands of the city.

click here for Fitzgerald's Park
click here for Blarney Woollen Mills
click here for City Hall
click here for Cork General Post Office
click here for St. Finbarre's Cathedral