Cork city--The Shandon Experience

Our father used to nostalgically recall from his Irish childhood the sound of the Shandon bells which rang out across the city from the landmark church of St Annes built 1772

Mural on Shandon street


Shandon street scenes today




St Annes in the background with a 4 metre long salmon up on the weather vane


View from AirB&B

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bartholomew Cooke

Image
Bartholomew Cooke, son of William and Bridget Cooke, was born in Cork in 1818. He had one sister, Eliza. His first marriage was to Eliza Eccles who died June 28 1847 aged 22, when their daughter Anna Christina born August 1, 1847, was just over a year old. We were very fortunate to meet one of her descendants earlier this week; Patricia Sargent who still lives here in Cork. She makes amazing delicious rocky-road style chocolate squares! Bartholomew married Sarah Jane Kiely Connor in 1850 (no children recorded).  She died in 1856 aged 34. When he was 42 years old he married our great grandmother Alice Levingston and they had one son together, William Levingston Cooke born 13 July 1865 in Cork.  Bartholomew was a successful businessman but lost all his savings in the Munster bank crash. However he must have partially recovered financially by the time he died as his will held in the record Office, Dublin gives the value of his estate at 3064 pounds which would be worth about half...
Read more

The Hook peninsula , Wexford

Image
For the next week I will be  staying in the Wexford/Wicklow area researching the Levingston ancestors, who descended from the McDougall clan of Scotland.  Today I drove out around the beautiful Hook peninsula.  Ireland is so physically gorgeous and the history so interesting! I can't help but be in awe of the skill and expertise, not to mention the determination and perseverance, that went into the building of structures like Tintern Abbey and the Hook lighthouse in the Middle Ages. And that they were treasured and maintained by generations since.. This medieval lighthouse built in the early thirteenth century to help sailing ships safely navigate the dangerous Wexford coastline, is one of the oldest operational lighthouses in the world. It is 4 stories high and the walls are up to 4 metres thick. It's believed that before it was built the monks of St Dubhan had kept a fire burning to warn ships. The lighthouse was commissioned by William Marshall, Lord of Leinster. (More...
Read more

St Mary's: Blessing the journey

Image
On my first morning in Ross On Wye  I was u p at dawn with no sign of jet lag! I wandered around this beautiful historic town Ross-on Wye which I am exploring  for a few days.While I was admiring the exterior of the 13th century church overlooking town, an elderly well-dressed gentleman who i think was a priest came out to greet me through the rather incongruous self- opening electronic double doors. He pointed excitedly up at the ancient bell tower saying "Look ,what can you see?"  I was able to (thanks to the efforts of my eye surgeon) spot a fluff of feathers high up on the edge of  the belfry which he proudly told me belong to a juvenile harrier which he hopes has come back to stay.  He then invited me to explore the interior of the magnificent church. It was pretty special because he left me to have it all to myself for my own personal  communion, and to receive a blessing for my journey. As the first of the congregation began arriving for 8am mass, I ...
Read more