Further €130,000 allocated to St Anne's in Shandon to protect iconic clock tower

St Anne's Church in Cork City is to receive €130,000 in funding for capital conservation works. Picture: Dan Linehan

The historic St Anne's Church in Cork City, home to the famous four-faced clock tower and Shandon Bells, is to receive €130,000 in funding as part of a new Government initiative to safeguard the country's archaeological monuments into the future.

The €130,000 being allocated for capital conservation works at St Anne’s under the Community Monuments Fund (CMF) follows the announcement last month that €250,000 would allocated to the church under the Government's Historic Structures Fund (HSF).

In recent years Cork City councillors and local historians have raised concerns about the condition of the church's steeple and that of the clock mechanism. In February, Cork City Council said it could cost as much as €400,000 to repair and refurbish the landmark.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage says €7.5m is being allocated to 122 projects nationwide under this year's CMF. The grants, the department says, will support "a range of initiatives to conserve, maintain, protect and promote local monuments and historic sites" by enabling conservation works, repairs and the building of resilience "through protecting monuments from the effects of extreme weather and climate change".

In Cork, 12 locations are being allocated funding worth just over €590,000. Aside from St Anne's, other locations included are:

• the historic graveyard of Churchtown, which is set to receive €100,000;
• the Abbey Tower in Carrigtwohill, which is being allocated, €65,854.19;
• the Round Tower in Cloyne, which is being allocated €130,000;
• and St Mary's in Schull, which is being allocated €24,784.50.

Announcing the funding, heritage minister James Browne said the importance of our archaeological heritage cannot be overstated. He said the CMF "has a very real and profound impact on the custodians and communities in our cities, villages, towns and countryside".

“I sincerely thank the owners of archaeological monuments for their dedication to the preservation of our wonderful heritage," he added.

"This investment will ensure that our built heritage can continue to be enjoyed by local and visiting communities, as well as acting to create work and preserve important traditional skills in towns and villages right across Ireland.”

Junior minister at the Department of Heritage, Christopher O’Sullivan, said the CMF fund "not only preserves our rich heritage but also strengthens the connection between our communities and their history creating opportunities for education and tourism".

He said that the CMF has invested €25.5m in communities nationwide since 2020.

“This scheme helps to build robustness in our heritage against the extremes of weather, addressing key actions in our Climate Adaptation Plan as well as under Heritage Ireland 2030," he said.