Cork - Part 2 - Gaol, Shandon and St. Fin Barre

Cork City Gaol, a former prison and now a museum, is well worth a visit if only to get a sense of how awful life was for prisoners here a century ago.  In 1806 it was decided that Cork needed a new gaol -their current one was nearly 100 years old and was very overcrowded and unhygienic.  Building started in 1818 and this new gaol, a magnificent castle-like building, opened in 1824.  It was reported as being “the finest in 3 kingdoms”, and in 1870 the west wing was remodelled into a double sided cell wing.  Times were harsh in the 19th-century penal system.  Many of the prisoners were repeat offenders locked up for what would not today be imprisonable offences, frequently that of poverty;  many of the inmates were sentenced to hard labour for stealing loaves of bread.  In the twentieth century many of the prisoners were from the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) and following that from the Irish Civil War (1922/1923).  The Gaol closed in 1923 and all the prisoners were either released or transferred to other prisons.

How do you like these stairs - nothing holding them up from underneath

Cork’s most famous building is the church tower of Shandon, which dominates the north side of the city.  It is widely regarded as the symbol of the city.  The north and east sides are faced in red sandstone, and the west and south sides are clad in the predominant stone of the region, white limestone.  At the top sits a weather vane in the form of an eleven-foot salmon.  It was built between 1722 and 1726 and is noted for its 8 bells (rung via an Ellacombe),  The largest bell weighs a little over 1.5 tons.  They first rang in 1752 and have been ringing ever since.  Today visitors can climb to the first floor and ring the bells themselves - that was lots of fun!  The clock of the tower is known to Corkonians as “The Four Faced Liar” because, depending on the angle of the viewer, and the effects of the wind on the hands on a given face, the time may not appear to be the same on each face.

I had my turn next and it was quite the experience to know you were the person making the bells play their song!

It was a very narrow, and somewhat claustrophobic staircase to get to the top

Spiky spires, gurning gargoyles and elaborate sculpture adorn the exterior of Cork’s Protestant cathedral - Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral.  It is an attention grabbing mixture of French Gothic and medieval whimsy.  It was completed in 1879, dedicated to Finbarr of Cork (patron saint of the city) and is located on ground that has been a place of worship since the 7th century.  The grandeur continues inside, with marble floor mosaics, a colourful chancel ceiling and a huge pulpit and bishop’s throne.

As you might expect, Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral has a beautiful organ but what I thought was most fascinating about it is that in order to avoid the organ blocking the view of any of the magnificent stained glass windows, in 1889 a 14-foot pit was dug as the new location for the organ, and here it remains to this day.