Rosscarbery, Cathedral of St Fachtna

We next find that, in 1612, the church was built and completed, but in 1641 the tower was levelled. It was not then until 1696 that the chapter decided to proceed with the building of the steeple and to provide a bell. This bell was sold in 1753, when a new one weighing 2 cwts was provided.

In 1897, the then Dean, Very Rev I.M.Reeves, and his sister, Mary Reeves, enabled Ireland's only ring of five bells to be installed in the tower, by becoming the main contributors towards the cost of the installation. These bells were dedicated by the Lord Bishop of Cork on Sunday, December 12, 1897.

The five bells were cast by Taylor's of Loughborough and hang on two levels because of the narrowness of the tower. Bells One, Two and Three are situated above the Fourth and Tenor bells. They are all fitted with cast iron headstocks and hang in plain bearings. Stays and sliders, and whole wooden wheels, enable them to be rung by a team of bellringers and this was done until the mid nineteen-twenties by local teams. They were taught how to ring by the Cathedral's organist, as he himself was a practical bell ringer. Ringing by swinging full-circle ceased because, some say, the tower was unsafe, but it was more likely due to lack of local talent to form a team. In 1926 Taylor's was given instructions to provide a chiming apparatus, and it was first chimed on January 9, 1927.

In late 2004, the Cathedral restoration committee took the brave decision to re-instate the five bells at Rosscarbery Cathedral for full circle ringing, rather than for stationary chiming, which was an option that was being considered. The bells were removed from the tower between the 8th and 13th of January 2005, in a delicate and sometimes precarious operation involving the use of oxy-acetylene cutting equipment, the state of the installation being such that all the nuts & bolts, etc, holding everything together had rusted solid.

Over the next 5 months, the bells, fittings and frame sides were cleaned and re-finished, with certain fittings being replaced with new ones, and the badly rusted supporting steelwork was replaced with galvanized steelwork of a heavier design, to ensure a longer life than the 29 years that they were rung for in the late 19th/early 20th centauries.

A steeplejack's inspection revealed the perilous state of the spire, which led to extra expense for the restoration committee, and delays in getting the bells re-hung. However, in the last week of June, first week of July, the team from Matthew Higby & Co, of Bath, U.K, returned with the bells and fittings, and re-hung them in their new position, some 9 ft lower down the tower than they previously had been.

Rosscarbery now has a superb ring of 5, the only one in Ireland and, having adjustable sound control, are readily available for all to ring! And also is the only tower in Ireland containing a ring of bells to have a ringers' gallery, from which ringing of bells takes place in full view of those entering or leaving the cathedral.