The State's only carillon - made up of 49 bells and weighing 25 tonnes - has been returned to St Colman's Cathedral in Cobh, Co Cork, after a £450,000 restoration project.
On Sunday at noon, Mass-goers can watch the 49 bells being arranged around the base of the 300foot belfry. At 6 p.m. the Bishop of Cloyne, Dr John Magee, will perform a special blessing.
Cobh's carillon was originally cast in 1916 and consisted of 42 bells. But for the international carillon festival in 1958, five additional treble bells were included. As part of the current restoration, carried out in the Netherlands at the Royal Eijsbouts foundry for the past six months, two additional bass bells have been added. They weigh more than three tonnes each and are two of the heaviest bells commissioned in the Republic in the past 80 years.
The final stage of the restoration, will involve rehanging the bells in a new belfry and the installation of a new playing mechanism. The work should be finished by the end of May, and on Pentecost Sunday (May 31st) the cathedral carillonneur, Mr Adrian Gebruers, will give a special recital in the cathedral.
Canon Denis Reidy has overseen the restoration project in the cathedral. He said the restoration committee received a £150,000 grant from the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands under the EU Cultural Development Incentives Scheme. A fund-raising committee was trying to secure the £300,000 balance.
