Free Guided Tours of Saint Colmans Catholic Cathedral, Cobh, County Cork, Sunday 31st of August, 2014 Cobh is one of the first and finest examples of early suburban development in Ireland. Sea views became popular in the Victorian era and the attractive prospect of Cork Harbour fostered the construction of over one hundred elegant villas for the merchant middle class. The culmination of building activity in Cobh was the construction of Saint Colmans Catholic Cathedral, one of the most ambitious nineteenth-century ecclesiastical projects in County Cork. The commission was awarded to Edward Welby Pugin (1834-75) and his brother-in-law and student, George Coppinger Ashlin (1837-1921), on the strength of their successful completion of the Catholic Church of Saints Peter and Paul (1859-66) in Cork City. The initial design called for a modest church but two further schemes followed, of which the second was realised. The cathedral is constructed on an elevated site and in the High French Gothic style employing a rich variety of building materials, principally blue Dalkey granite and Mallow limestone dressings. Bath and Portland stone line the inner walls with imported and native marble decorations culminating in one of the finest Victorian interiors to survive in the country. Progress was steady, but costly, and £73,000 had been spent on the project by 1878. Saint Colmans Catholic Cathedral was finally completed with the construction of its lofty spire in 1914. Its forty-two bells – increased to forty-seven in 1958 – were shipped from Liverpool under naval escort in 1916, and the cathedral was consecrated three years later. Free guided tours of Saint Colmans Catholic Cathedral will be given on Sunday 31st of August, 2014. Tours start at 2:30pm and 3:30pm and last approximately 45 minutes. Visit heritageweek.ie/ to discover what other events are being held in County Cork during the final weekend of National Heritage Week 2014.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 11:03:29 +0000
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