€30k restoration of St Anne's Church doors set to begin
Funding worth €30,000 from the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) will be used to restore the front doors of the church, which is located in Cork City's Shandon area.
The doors, which date back more than three centuries, have served as an entry point to worshippers, locals, and tourists over those years.
This restoration is part of a series of works identified in the Conservation Management Plan conducted last year. Funded by the Community Monument Fund, the plan outlined key preservation and conservation measures central to the building's longevity.
Reverend Meghan Farr from St Anne's Church described the importance of the work involved.
'The doors of St Anne's Shandon have stood as a symbol of welcome and openness for over three centuries.
They are not just a physical gateway but a reflection of our mission to embrace all who come through them. This restoration ensures that we can continue to extend that welcome for generations to come.
She thanked the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and Cork City Council for their support.
The restoration work follows a recent allocation of €130,000 from the Community Monument Fund also run by the department. This funding will support phase one works identified in the Conservation Management Plan, which include repairs to the timber and metal structures supporting the bells.
The projects will complement urgent repairs to the clock face and mechanism with the help of a €250,000 grant awarded to Cork City Council under the Historic Structures Fund. This is part of a broader commitment to revitalising the Shandon area through strategic investment in its architectural heritage.
The church will be closed for construction during certain periods, details of which will be highlighted on the church website and its social media accounts.
For more information visit www.stanneshandon.ie
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Agriland
3 days ago
- Agriland
'35% increase' in corncrake numbers in last 5 years
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne has stated that a "recent survey by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) shows a 35% increase in the corncrake population in the last five years". His statement comes in response to a parliamentary question raised by Sinn Féin's agricultural spokesperson, Deputy Martin Kenny, who asked the minster for "an update on funding for the project to protect the corncrake". The corncrake is listed on Annex I of the Birds Directive (2009/147/EC), and is on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern in Ireland due to historical declines. Minister Browne highlighted the work of the Corncrake LIFE project, which was set up to combat this decline in the bird's population. He said: "Corncrake LIFE is a five-year (2021-2026) €5.9 million project improving the conservation status of one of Ireland's most iconic farmland bird species. "Led by the NPWS of my department, in collaboration with project partners, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), and Fota Wildlife Park, the project works with farmers, land owners and local communities across counties Galway, Mayo and Donegal. "There are currently 150 farmers and landowners active in the project covering more than 1,600ha in conservation and management measures under the results-based scheme. The minister explained that these measures have been incorporated into the national agri-environmental programmes, such as Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES). According to Minister Browne, these measures, "together with direct project actions have restored a significant footprint of corncrake habitat. "The most recent survey from the NPWS shows an increase of 35% in the corncrake population in the past five years with a total of 233 calling male corncrakes recorded nationally in 2024." According to BirdWatch Ireland, corncrakes were once found in every parish in Ireland, but, since the early 1900s, numbers have declined and they are now confined to Co. Donegal and west Connacht. A population remained in the Shannon Callows until around 2010, but summer flooding in the early 2000s resulted in their extinction there also. Corncrakes are summer visitors, breeding in Ireland from April to September and migrating to Africa for the winter. They are generally found in tall vegetation (20cm) in hay and silage fields, rough pastures, and stands of herbaceous species such as yellow flag iris and nettles. One of the measures promoted in the Corncrake LIFE Project is conservation-friendly mowing (CFM). Source: Corncrake LIFE According to Corncrake LIFE, up to 60% of chicks are killed when fields are mowed from the outside-in, which is why CFM is key to increasing the survival rate of corncrakes (and other species) during mowing. CFM consists of maintaining a low mowing speed (5-7km/hr) and mowing from the centre-out to push birds to the edges of the fields. Mowing the perimeter of the plot should be avoided, as corncrakes are reluctant to break cover and cross open ground.
Irish Examiner
04-08-2025
- Irish Examiner
'Hugely significant' Irish archive donated to the State will be unveiled in Cork
A once long-lost archive linked to writer and historian Daniel MacCarthy Glas, a descendant of one of the great 13th-century Gaelic families of Ireland, is to go on display in Cork almost eight years after its donation to the State. The vast trove of hugely significant material, which dates from the 1700s and 1800s, will be unveiled in the Cork City and County Archives in Blackpool later this month as part of Heritage Week. City archivist Brian McGree, who along with other archivists has spent months painstakingly listing, arranging, and cataloguing the collection, said the Daniel MacCarthy Glas Archive and Exhibition will remain on display at other locations around Cork over the next year. It comprises of 1,200 unique items and is of major historical importance, containing personal letters, manuscripts, photographs, and drawings from Daniel and other family members. Daniel MacCarthy Glas, whose donated archive will be unveiled in the Cork City and County Archives in Blackpool later this month as part of the Daniel MacCarthy Glas Archive and Exhibition. The collection comprises an estimated 1,500 unique items including personal letters, manuscripts, photographs and drawings from Daniel and other family members. HISTORY HUB If you are interested in this article then no doubt you will enjoy exploring the various history collections and content in our history hub. Check it out HERE and happy reading 'The scope of the collection is immense, documenting a range of topics — from the MacCarthy aristocratic lineage, to 19th century poetry and historiography, the Irish nationalist movement, the history of early modern Ireland, the French Revolution of 1848, the British Empire in India and South Africa, emigration, and the Great Famine and its dire impact on the local population in West Cork,' Mr McGee said. However, it includes one document Mr McGee described as of 'immense cultural and historical significance' — a 1784 family pedigree of the Gaelic prince Jeremiah MacCarthy (Diarmuid an Dúna) compiled by the famous poet/schoolmaster John Collins of Myross, known as 'the last bard of Munster'. Written on parchment in a combination of both Irish and English, the pedigree bears the wax seal of John Butler, a former bishop of Cork and later Baron Dunboyne, who was a controversial figure. Historian Michelle O'Mahony and senior Cork City Council archivist Brian McGee with two of the collection of paintings which have been donated to the State as part of the archive. Experts say it is one of very few original manuscripts in existence from Collins or any other Gaelic scholar from the period. The pedigree has been subject to a detailed process of transcription and interpretation by Cornelius Buttimer, formerly of UCC. Daniel MacCarthy Glas's family was directly descended from the princes of Carbery, the MacCarthy Reaghs and the MacCarthy Glas, based at Togher Castle near Dunmanway in Co Cork — the 'Glas' differentiating this branch of the MacCarthys from others in the region. His grandfather emigrated from Cork to England in 1763, and Daniel was born into a wealthy Irish Catholic shipping and coal merchant family in London in 1807. Educated to a high standard, he was very well-read and well-travelled, was a fluent Irish speaker, and took a major interest in his ancestry and in Irish history, writing two important books: The Life and Letters of Florence MacCarthy Reagh (1867); and A Historical Pedigree of the Sliochd Feidhlimidh, the MacCarthys of Gleannacroim (1875). He contributed historical articles to The Nation and various journals during the Irish historical awakening of the 19th century. Senior Cork City Council archivist Brian McGee and historian Michelle O'Mahony — who helped secure the Daniel MacCarthy Glas archive from the US — with some of the paintings which have been donated to the State. Many of his works involved painstaking research through State papers and other records, and he was in regular and detailed correspondence with celebrated Cork historian Richard Caulfield, the first librarian at UCC, and with a large circle of other Irish antiquarians, archaeologists, and early pioneers of Irish scholarship during the Irish historical awakening of the 19th century. He was also a noted philanthropist, sponsoring the education of students in Dunmanway, helping Catholic institutions, and helping to preserve historic buildings and monuments such as Togher Castle and St Patrick's Church in his native Dunmanway. Some of his family were poets and writers, and some held important positions, reflecting the fact that they intermarried with the British elite. His father-in-law, for example, was Rear-Admiral Home Riggs Popham, who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He invented a flag signal code adopted by the British royal navy in 1803, which was used by British naval hero Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar to keep navy tactics secret. Daniel was very close to his daughter-in-law, Alice, who kept all his letters, writings, notes, and notebooks. The archive then made its way to Oregon over a century ago, where it was kept safe by later generations, finally ending up with a descendant, Susan MacCarthy, who agreed in 2017 to donate it to the state. Mr McGee said the complex process of repatriating the archive was started a number of years ago, and it was successfully concluded thanks to the efforts of Dunmanway historian Michelle O'Mahony, Mervyn O'Driscoll of the school of history at UCC, Nigel McCarthy of the McCarthy DNA Project, and the archivists of the Cork City and County Archives Service. Ms O'Mahony said she is delighted the collection is ready to be unveiled. 'It is of immense importance to Cork City, Cork county, nationally, and internationally. There was a lot of work involved in cataloguing it, and I'm just delighted to see it finally going on display,' she said.
Agriland
31-07-2025
- Agriland
What are the proposed new rural planning permission exemptions?
A four week public consultation has opened today (Tuesday, July 29) on proposed changes to planning permission exemptions. Current planning exemptions have been in place for more than 20 years but the government is now examining what is exempt from planning and assessing whether it is "fit for purpose". New regulations will be drafted in the coming months and people are now being encouraged to share their "insights and concerns" by making a submission to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage until Tuesday, August 26. A government review of exempted development regulations has already identified "areas of specific interest that are in need of updating". These include current rural exemptions which "allow for appropriate flexibility on what can be carried out on agricultural land without the need for planning permission" - while meeting European Directives. Under the proposed changes there are potential new areas where exemptions should be considered according to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. These range from additional slurry storage capacity to fencing specifications, animal housing and biomass boiler units. Proposal 1: Extending the exemption in respect of the erection of fencing on farms under Class 4 to sites where there is an environmental plan approved by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM). Proposal 2: In support of compliance with the nitrates directive, provide additional slurry storage capacity on farms with a total maximum capacity of no more than 1500 cubic metres. However under the proposals consideration "needs to be given to this aggregated total and appropriate separation distances" between farm holdings and adjacent properties. It has outlined that this aggregated total would include existing slurry storage exemption provisions associated with structures for the housing of animals under Class 6 and a new exemption for a stand-alone slurry storage tank of up to 1000 cubic metres. Proposal 3: In the interest of animal welfare "increase the exemption under Class 6 in relation to animal housing size from 200 m² to 300m²". The government has detailed that this would involve an aggregated threshold "of no more than 450 m²". Proposal 4: Solar panels on the roofs of farm buildings to support the running of a farm with supporting battery storage to assist in promoting resilience. Proposal 5: Wind turbine exempted size under Class 18 is currently 20m but the government is questioning if this should be reconsidered to support self-generation power? Proposal 6: Should the conditions of current exemption for biomass boiler units be reviewed with regard to size and location? Proposal 7: Should the placement of Anaerobic Digestion (AD units with regard to size and location be considered? The government has said that following a review of all submissions received during the public consultation process updated exempted development regulations will be "finalised as quickly as possible".
