West Cork church offers classes in traditional bell-ringing

A West Cork cleric is offering classes to people interested in becoming traditional church bell-ringers.

Reverend Cliff Jeffers, who is running tutorials on bell-ringing every Wednesday evening at Dunmanway’s historic St Mary’s bell-tower, has now urged anyone — age 10 and upwards — interested in learning the traditional skill to contact him about the weekly bell-ringing tutorials.

And in a move which brings to mind the old nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons, which names different churches in which bells are ringing, Dunmanway too is returning to the tradition: “We’re looking for people to join in the classes and learn this ancient art.”