Works begin on historic church clock tower in Cork

Scaffolding has gone up around the clock tower at St Anne’s Shandon, and the priest in charge of the historic church has said she fears she may be a nervous wreck before refurbishment work is completed.

The four-faced liar, as the iconic clock has been known to generations of Corkonians, has been telling the wrong time since May of last year, while its eastern face has been completely stopped for all of that time.

Earlier this year, Cork City Council, which is responsible for the maintenance of the clock, estimated that the cost of repairs would likely start at €400,000.

In April, €130,000 in funding was allocated for Shandon under the Government’s Community Monuments Fund (CMF), which followed an investment in March of €250,000 under the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage’s Historic Structures Fund (HSF).

Works will cover the refurbishment of the support beams, the clock-face windows, and the clock mechanism itself.

Now, with scaffolding in place ahead of the refurbishment, Reverend Meghan Farr of St Anne’s Shandon, said she expects the work to continue until Christmas.

“We are delighted to work with the council, and very grateful that work is to begin,” she said.

“Services will continue as normal and hopefully we will be open during the week for tourists, with a makeshift tunnel in place to the entrance.

"We hope to be finished by the Christmas holidays, though I fear I may be a nervous wreck for the next few months.” 

Sinn Féin councillor Kenneth Collins said he was delighted that the work was beginning, as he had raised the issue of repairing Shandon clock several times at council level.