ST. FINBARREÕS CATHEDRAL

St. FinbarreÕs Cathedral now stands where FinbarreÕs monastery once was situated .There have been 11 churches built on the grounds of the monastery since Finbarre was in Cork, three of them cathedrals. The present cathedral is the third cathedral. It is a beautiful building. William Burges designed the cathedral. It was begun in 1865 and it was finished in 1870 .The cathedral was blessed on St. AndrewÕs day 1870.The pulpit is made of marble and has the four evangelists carved around it. They are shown as their symbols. Across from the pulpit you can see the lectern, which is made of brass .It is studded with rock crystals, in the shape of grapes. William Burges loved nature and he has lots of animals and plants in his designs. There are butterflies, birds, fish and flowers on the mosaic floor, which was made by Italian craftsmen. The Memorial Book is a memory book of all the people who died in W.W.1 and W.W.2.There is gold writing in the book. The people who died in the wars are also remembered on the Memorial Wall.

ERIC and PAUL.

FINBARREÕS MONASTERY TODAY:

University College Cork

U.C.C. is built on the grounds where St. FinbarreÕs monastary was built hundreds of years ago. UC.CÕ.s motto is ÒWhere Finbarre Taught let Munster Learn.Ó There is a statue of St. Finbarre on top of one the main buildings in U.C.C. It was sculpted by Seamus Murphy,a famous Cork sculptor. Over 12,000 students go to U.C.C. nowadays so the tradition of learning that Finbarre started is still going on today. Students still come from all over the world to study there. U.C.C. was built in Victorian times. The quad was never finished because of the Famine in Ireland. It has a North wing, an East wing and a West wing. The South wing was never built because they ran out of money because of the famine. I visited U.C.C. three times this year. I sang Christmas carols in Italian in the Italian Department, I went to present a project in the Chamber Room and I went for a historical tour around U.C.C. I hope to study there in the future.

Stacey OÕ Donovan

The Arch at U.C.C.

Standing at the Quad.