Overview
St Colman’s Cathedral is an exquisite gem of neo-Gothic architecture by the architects Pugin and Ashlin.
It took 47 years to build, starting in 1868. In 1916 a Carillon of 42 bells was installed. The largest bell is 200 feet above the ground and weighs 3.6 tons. The Cathedral organ, by Telford and Telford, contains 2,468 pipes. The Cathedral is a regular venue for Recitals by Choirs from all parts of the world.
A visit to Cobh Cathedral is a moving spiritual experience. The gothic grandeur of the interior, the delicate carvings, the beautiful arches and the mellow lighting combine to lift the human spirit. The carvings recall the history of the Church in Ireland from the time of St. Patrick to the present century. It is the story of our faith earthed in the story of our people.
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St Colman’s Cathedral the cathedral church of the Diocese of Cloyne, is a large and elaborately detailed neo-gothic building designed by architects E.W. Pugin, George Ashlin and Thomas Coleman.
Construction of the cathedral began in 1868 and was finally completed in 1915. it is prominently sited overlooking Cork harbour.
At the doorway of the cathedral, overhead and to the sides, are statues: pilgrims are welcomed by Christ the Universal King, Our Lady crowned, 12 Apostles, St Joseph and ST John the Baptist. The “door of faith” (Acts 14;27) is always open for us, ushering is into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church.
St Colman’s Cathedral
The St Colman’s Cathedral was to built as a monument in granite to God which would proclaim for generations to come that “man does not live on bread alone but by every word that come form the mouth of God”. The original intention was not to build a Cathedral but to erect a church large enough to accommodate the growing population of Cobh. However, as the work progressed the term Cathedral began to appear in correspondence.
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St Colman’s Cathedral, overlooking Cobh, carries within its walls the traditions of thirteen centuries of the Diocese of Cloyne. It is dedicated to St. Colman who founded the diocese in 560 A.D. Colman was a poet bard to the Court of Aodh Caomh, King of Munster, at Cashel in Tipperary.
Influenced by St. Brendan and St. Ita, he left Palace life to become a priest. He received grants of land at Cloyne, on the eastern shore of Cork Harbour, from the King of Cashel. There he founded his monastery, traces of which still survive.
The Cathedral contains an inscribed list of all the bishops of the diocese from St. Colman to the present day. Three bishops died in exile during Penal Times, Robert Barry at Nantes in 1662, John Sleyne at Lisbon in 1712 and John O’Brien at Lyon in 1769. Thaddeus McCarthy bishop from 1490 – 1492, died at Ivrea, Northern Italy, as he returned from Rome. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1895.
The present bishop is Bishop William Crean, formerly a priest of the Diocese of Kerry. He was ordained at St Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh on Sunday January 27th, 2013. Ad multos annos.
The West Rose window
The West Rose window is a depiction of St John’s vision of the Throne which contains Our Lord seated in Glory, surrounded by elders, clad in white garments and wearing golden crowns. The organ rises to a height of 45 ft. and both sides of the organ are towers in Gothic tracery. 14 of the largest bells of the carillon can be played from a keyboard in the organ gallery. Inscribed under the gallery is the prayer Laus Deo Semper and two rows of sculpted heads. The upper row contains the Four Doctors of the Church and the lower row contains the four earliest composers of Irish Church music.
History
The Diocese of Cloyne has its beginnings in the monastic settlement of St. Colman at Cloyne in East Cork. A round tower and pre-reformation Cathedral still stand at this site. Colman, son of Lenin, lived from 522 to 604 A.D. He had been a poet and bard at the court of Caomh, King of Munster at Cashel.
It was St. Brendan of Clonfert that induced Colman to become Christian. He embraced his new faith eagerly and studied at the monastery of St. Jarleth in Tuam. He later preached in East Cork and established his own monastic settlement at Cloyne about 560 A.D. His feast day is celebrated on November 24th.
Planning the Cathedral
Ten years of extensive planning and generous parochial effort preceded the building of the cathedral. The Building Committee, composed of leading parishioners and presided over by the Bishop, had many complex problems to solve such as the style of architecture and the approximate dimensions of the projected building; the provision of a temporary church, and so on.
In the years of planning(1857- 1867) the building project received most generous financial support from the Parish of Cobh and prominent citizens – whose names appear in Parish records and who gave unstinted service on the Queenstown Cathedral Building Committee.
In 1869 the first Diocesan Collection was made and the entire Diocese contributed generously. Besides such public support, very many private donations were made. There were also substantial contributions to the Building Fund from Australia and America. According to the plaque in the South Transept, the total cost of the Cathedral was £235,000.
By the beginning of 1868 a new temporary parish church was opened for worship. In February of the same year the old Parish Church was taken down and with some expansion of the plot, it was expeditiously developed for the erection of the Cathedral.
Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!
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Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!
Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!
Saturday: 6.00pm
Sunday: 8.30am, 10.00am, 12.00noon, 7.00pm
Holy Day: 8.30am 10.00am 7.30pm
Weekday Masses: 8.00am (except on Saturday), 10.00am
Summertime: Cathedral closes at 6.00 pm, evening Masses and removals excepted
Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!
The sacrament is celebrated in St. Colman’s Cathedral
- After 10 am Mass
- At 3.00-4.00 pm and
- From 5.15-5.45 pm each Saturday.
It is also celebrated each 1st Thursday of the month after 10.oo a.m. Mass in Norwood and the cathedral. It is also available on request.
Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!
Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place in the Adoration chapel located to the rear of the Cathedral.
Hours of opening: every day from 8.30 am to 10 pm
Adoration also take place in the Benedictine Priory (the Mount) during the day from 9.30 am to 7.00 pm
Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!
The West Rose window
The West Rose window is a depiction of St John’s vision of the Throne which contains Our Lord seated in Glory, surrounded by elders, clad in white garments and wearing golden crowns. The organ rises to a height of 45 ft. and both sides of the organ are towers in Gothic tracery. 14 of the largest bells of the carillon can be played from a keyboard in the organ gallery. Inscribed under the gallery is the prayer Laus Deo Semper and two rows of sculpted heads. The upper row contains the Four Doctors of the Church and the lower row contains the four earliest composers of Irish Church music.
Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!
The Architects
In November 1867 the draft plans of architects Messrs, Pugin and Ashlin were formally approved by the Building Committee. Because of the extensive commitments of Pugin and Ashlin in England and Ireland, respectively, it was agreed to divide the work, each architect to work in his own country. In the divide the Cathedral became Ashlin’s exclusive responsibility; thenceforth on this talented architect the whole burden of the work devolved. Later, Ashlin took into partnership T.A. Coleman, a magnificent draughtsman who helped to bring the Cathedral to glorious completion.
Building Work Begins
On April 25th 1868, Bishop Keane raised the first sod of the deep excavations for the foundations. The sharply shelving hillside posed many site-development problems for the contractors who lacked the machinery which now makes site-development comparatively easy. On July 25th 1868, Bishop Keane laid the first stone of the Cathedral’s foundations and on September 30th 1868, he laid the first stone of the superstructure. In this stone was deposited a container with a parchment recording in Latin details of the historic ceremony.
The Years of Building
1869 – 1915
The building of the superstructure began in 1869. When the contractors had carried up the external walls to an average of 12 ft. Bishop Keane deemed it advisable to have the plans made more elaborate and, accordingly, the architects were duly consulted. The whole character of the work had then to be changed; in fact – with the exception of the ground plan – none of the original plans were adhered to. These extra works increased by many thousands of cubic feet of stone the quantity already provided for and substantially increased the cost. Bishop Keane did not live to see the completion of his cherished project as he died in January 1874. His successor, Bishop John McCarthy, determined to carry out strictly the instructions of his predecessor and not supercede them by any suggestion of his own.
Building Work Completed
The erection of the limestone spire – last of the major external works – was to complete the Cathedral’s grace of outline. The detailed drawings of architects Ashlin and Coleman – product of fertile imagination and facile pencil – showed an octagonal spire merging harmoniously with the quadrangular tower and its surrounding pinnacles. In 1911 the building of the spire was begun by the Cork firm of J. Maguire: for four years stone masons worked from lofty windswept platforms, rigged on timber scaffolding, to complete the gracefully tapering spire. In March 1915 the last scaffolding surrounding the spire was taken down; and then the work of the Cathedral builders was virtually completed.
On August 24th 1919, solemn commemoration ceremonies took place to mark the Cathedral’s Consecration. High Mass was celebrated by the Arch-bishop of Tuam. Each year on the anniversary day of the Consecration, candles are lighted before the twelve crosses on the nave pillars which mark the places where the walls had been anointed with Sacred Chrism.