Cork City's St Fin Barre’s Cathedral undergoes major facelift to reverse ravages of time
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An iconic Cork city landmark is undergoing a specialist facelift to tackle the ravages of time and weather in the latest phase of a mammoth conservation programme.
Expert contractors have been steam-cleaning the stonework and distinctive gargoyles on the front of the landmark 19th-century St Fin Barre’s Cathedral to remove dark stains that have been caused by organic growth in the ashlar limestone over the years. Carbon deposits caused by decades of traffic are also being removed.
The Church of Ireland cathedral, which marks the spot where tradition says Cork’s patron saint founded his first church and school in the seventh century, has also had to undergo complex repairs and upgrades to its drainage and gutters system to prevent water ingress which it’s believed is linked to climate change.
They have been working on an elevated platform at heights of up to 25-metres to steam-clean the western facade, with its extraordinary rose window, using special hoses which deliver high temperature steam at low pressure to gently remove the algae stains and carbon deposits, without causing damage to the stonework or jointing. They have also been repointing the ashlar masonry as part of the painstaking process.
It is hoped that once complete, this work will restore the brilliance of the Cork limestone on what is the most photographed side of the cathedral, and highlight the many magnificent carvings that are the signature of the William Burges designed masterpiece of international architectural importance.
But the experts have also had to undertake complex repair and upgrade work on the cathedral’s drainage and gutter system.
Cathedral authorities say due to recent changes in the climate and the greater frequency and intensity of storms, the cathedral has suffered from the impact of dramatically higher rainfall which has overwhelmed the building’s network of drains and gutters, allowing water to seep into the structure causing damage to decorative marble and wall paintings inside.
The cathedral’s conservation architects, Southgate Associates, worked with highly respected heritage builders, Redmond Building and Restoration (RBR), to come up with innovative solutions to improve the drainage of the water and prevent it seeping into the building.
Their interventions, while hidden from public view, will help protect the building for decades.
All of the conservation work has arisen from a comprehensive conservation management plan which was put in place some 20 years ago to ensure important work was prioritised and that the condition of the building was monitored.
More than €250,000 will be spent on the completion of critical conservation work this year alone.
The Dean of Cork, the Very Reverend Nigel Dunne, said the cathedral authorities take very seriously their custodianship of the landmark building, and are determined to ensure that its astonishing beauty is preserved for many generations to come.
“We have completed a lot of major work over the last 15-years or so and it’s heartening to think that we are about 70% of the way to completing principal restoration work for this generation,” he said.
“When you see the fine carvings on the west front of the cathedral coming back to life you begin to see once again Burges’ telling of the story of human life in the context of divine encounter — heaven and earth meet in the sculptures, just as the cathedral is a place of encounter for humans with the divine.
“Our intention is that that experience is open to all in the city and beyond. Hopefully, with further State support, we can bring the whole project to completion in the coming years.”