ST ANNE’S CATHEDRAL – BELFAST
Artistry, Industry and Titanic
St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast is not especially old as cathedrals in Europe go, but nevertheless and beautiful edifice and fascinating to visit for its unique elements especially associated with the life of the city. The current cathedral replaced an earlier parish church which stood on the spot on Donegall Street in the heart of what is now the Cathedral Quarter. Just a bit beyond 100 years, the foundation stone for the cathedral was laid in 1899 with work continuing for 80 years. Queen Victoria had just made Belfast a city in 1888 and it was decided a cathedral was needed and would be built in place of the old church. The walls and pillars were built around the old one while services continued, until it was finally demolished in 1903. Because the ground was so subject to water infiltration, piles had to be driven down 50 feet. Then, following the First World War, the west front was built as a memorial to the men and women of Ulster who served and died in the Great War (see Belfast War Memorial), with the façade completed in 1927.
The overall design of the building is in Romanesque revival style, with a high reaching grandeur of massive pillars of stone and semi-circular arches through the nave and high windows, offering the traditional intended sense of wonder at the greatness of God. For the visitor perhaps the most important visual aspects of the Cathedral are the mosaics, most of them created by the hands of two sisters, Margaret and Gertrude Martin, working over seven years to complete them. Above the west door is a striking example of mosaic art, of five angels against a gold background, with three playing musical instruments while one kneels and prays while the other sings, a memorial to the sacrifices of the war. The Cathedral features many fine stained glass windows and delicate woodcarving, set off by the marble tiles of the floors and walls.
The dome of the chapel holds mosaics of four angels bearing symbols while a mosaic above the chapel entrance features St Patrick, shown in the bow of a ship, sailing past the Mourne Mountains, holding a cross aloft as the light of Christianity changes the gloomy and dark side of his journey into the landscape bathed in brightness. A look at the capitals of the great pillars will reveal the symbols of the daily life and progress of man. Stone carvings around each side of the pillars depict; Courage, in the form of a Celtic Chieftain; Science, with four great scientists Archimedes, Roger Bacon, Sir Isaac Newton, and Lord Kelvin; Industry, particularly features the linen industry which provided much of the city’s wealth at the time; Healing; Agriculture and Justice; and those particular crafts of Shipbuilding and Freemasonry, with Knights Templar symbols. Only one person is actually buried at St Anne’s Cathedral, Lord Carson of Duncairn, requiring an act of Parliament.
Titanic Pall at St Anne’s
Most unique to Belfast’s history is the memorial to the men of the Titanic at St Anne’s Cathedral. On a dark night in April of 1912, on the cold waters of the North Atlantic, 1,517 lives were lost when the most famous ocean liner, built in the shipyards of Belfast (see Titanic Drydock) hit an iceberg and sank into myth and memory. On the 100th anniversary of the Titanic, a beautiful hand-crafted funeral pall by textile artists at the University of Ulster, Helen O’Hare and Wilma Kirkpatrick, was dedicated to the victims of the disaster in the form of a large cross fashioned from tiny crosses representing the souls who were lost.
Visiting St Anne’s Cathedral Belfast
The Cathedral is open to the public Monday to Saturday from 9 am to 5:15 pm, and Sundays 1 pm to 3 pm. Closed to visitors during services. Admission for tourists is £5 for adults, including a guide book, an audio tour lasting about 40 minutes is available for £3. There is a family rate for £15, and children under 6 years are free. The chapel is free to visit at any time for prayer. © Bargain
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St Anne's Cathedral
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SEE ALSO:
ULSTER TRANSPORT & FOLK MUSEUM BELFAST
GAME OF THRONES LOCATIONS TOUR
