St. Coleman's, Cobh is the cathedral church of the Catholic diocese of Cloyne. Perched high above the port below, its location over looking Cork Harbour was a dramatic statement by the Catholic community of its new found confidence and wealth in the post-Emancipation period. Construction of the new cathedral began in 1867 to the designs of Edward Welby Pugin and George Ashlin. Built in the early French Gothic style the cathedral has been described as the most ambitious project undertaken by the Irish Church in the nineteenth century, taking some forty-seven years to build, completed only in 1915, at a cost of £235,000.
The cathedral c. 1914
The view from the harbour below
In the nineteenth century Cobh, known then as Queenstown, was transformed into one of Ireland's busiest ports, with an estimated 2.5 million Irishmen and women departing for North America from there. Famously it was the final port of call for RMS Titantic, before setting off on its ill fated Atlantic voyage.
A view of the north aisle looking east. To the right is the magnificent pulpit carved from Austrian oak.
The great west rose window, characteristic of French Gothic cathedrals.
An early picture of the high altar, with only the centre window adorned with stained glass. In spite of recent attempts, and unlike many Catholic cathedrals in Ireland, St Coleman's survived the ravages of reordering since the 1960s, with the altar and sanctuary remaining wholly intact.
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