ST. COLEMAN'S CATHEDRAL IN COBH

Designed by Edward W. Pugin and George Ashlin, this magnificent cathedral, which dominates Cork Harbour from land and sea, took 47 years to build, and was completed in 1915.

Construction began in 1867 and was not completed until over half a century later due to increases in costs and revisions of the original plans.

The architects were Edward Welby Pugin and George Ashlin; construction began in 1867. When Pugin died in 1875, Ashlin took on the services of a Dublin architect, Thomas Aloysius Coleman, to assist him in the completion of the project. The clerk of works was Charles Guilfoyle Doran, who supervised the project until his death in 1909, when the cathedral was almost complete. The cathedral was finally consecrated in 1915.

The cathedral contains the only church carillon in the Republic of Ireland, which with 49 bells is one of the largest carillons in the British Isles. An automated system strikes the hour and 15 minute intervals while it also rings the bells in appropriate form for Masses, funerals, weddings and events. The carillon is also played on special occasions and generally every Sunday afternoon by its current carillonneur Adrian Gebruers.