€170,000 needed to restore bells in Cork city's North Cathedral

A FUNDRAISING campaign has been launched to raise money to restore the bells at the Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne, known locally as the North Cathedral.

€170,000 will be needed for remedial works on the timber support structure for the nine great bells in the belltower and remedial and restoration works on the bells, so they can ring again.

 Fr John O’Donovan, on behalf of the parish finance committee, said: “The biggest bell weighs about one and a half tonnes and is 6ft x 6ft. It just shows the importance of the maintenance of these bells.

“There may be nine great bells, but they have not been fully operational and working together in harmony for a long, long time. There is only one bell working at the moment, thanks to a member of the staff at the cathedral, but it just makes a dull sound. Even this bell is not reaching its potential. I was in Killarney cathedral a few weeks ago, celebrating a marriage, and when I came out the bells of Killarney Cathedral were announcing to the town the joyous and happy celebration that had just happened in this cathedral. The place was alive with the sound of bells from the cathedral.

“We have a lot of weddings celebrated here at this cathedral, but, unfortunately, we do not get that joyful celebration from the bells of our cathedral.”

The money will be raised through personal donations, donations at Masses, sponsorship, and through the parish lotto.

A fundraising thermometer will be displayed in all four churches, showing the contributions received each month.

Fr O’Donovan added: “We look forward to hearing the nine great bells of the Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne being heard again throughout our parish, city, and diocese.”