Shandon Steeple

Shandon Bells

Shandon Steeple officially know as the Church of St Anne's is the most famous land mark in Cork City. Locally know as the Four Face Liar because each of the four clocks on it told a different time.

The name Shandon comes from the old Gaelic name Sean Dun, which means Old Fort which as the name suggests it was build on the site of an old fort on Mallow Street as Shandon Street was previously known as. Standing 170 feet high the tower was built in 1722, using the sandstone from the old Shandon Castle on two sides and the limestone from the Franciscan Abbey which was located on the North Mall on the other two sides.

The steeple of St Anne's Church in Shandon, where Shandon Bells rest, consists of a square tower surmounted by a lantern and on top of the lantern is a copper dome with a gilded weather vane in the shape of a salmon which is eleven feet three inches in length, knows as "the goldy fish" locally. The tower is the home of the famous Shandon Bells where the visitor is invited to play a tune on the bells.

The Cork City Tour which operates a hop on and hop off service stops at St Anne's Shandon where you can climb up the steeple and ring the Shandon Bells and take in some of the wonderful view of Cork City and County it offers and then go next door and explore Cork Butter Museum and when finished join the Cork City Tour again.