Campaigners win decade-long fight for tower repairs

Repair work on a historic 600-year-old West Cork tower is finally set to begin after a determined campaign by locals which has lasted for more than a decade.

Residents of the village of Innishannon have been lobbying for years to have crucial work carried out on St Mary’s Tower, which was damaged by lightning in 2000 before partially collap-sing seven years later.

The Friends of Innishannon committee, which was set up to lobby for the repair of the tower — one wall of which cracked after being struck by lightning — has been told work is set to start in November.

The 22-metre tower has been fenced off from the public for safety reasons, and is surrounded by a graveyard that is also closed off.

“Prior to the collapse, this tower was a unique feature of the village streetscape, while the graveyard was a beautiful, wild-flower garden,” said local resident and author Alice Taylor. “It all formed part of the tourist trail of Innishannon — it is very much part of the village, both in terms of culture and commerce.”

She said the Friends of Innishannon had received confirmation from Cork County Council that work would begin shortly. “However, until the work actively begins we will not be happy — we’ve been at this point before and no progress was made,” she said.

The tower dates from the decree by Pope Sixtus in 1475 that permission be granted to Cormac McCarthy, a local landowner, to build a church to St Mary. In 1500, the church and tower were acquired by the local Protestant congregation and used as a place of worship before the church was partially rebuilt in 1761.

A side chapel was constructed a few years later to accommodate the village’s new Huguenot population, many of whom are now buried in the graveyard.