For centuries, church bells have served as the soundtrack for Irish towns and countryside. Times of joy, sorrow, celebration and remembrance; all punctuated by the ringing of bells.
Irish Country Living talks to bell-ringers in St Mary’s Cathedral and Mount St Alphonsus, both in Limerick city and St Mary’s Church of Ireland in Co Wicklow. They share how the primary role of bell-ringing – to call the faithful to worship – has changed, and how people of all faiths and none enjoy the chime of church bells at Christmas.
There are 37 bell towers on the island of Ireland, only three of which are Roman Catholic bell towers. Limerick is unique to have two active bell towers of different denominations. St Mary’s Cathedral was founded in 1168 and is part of the Church of Ireland tradition. Mount St Alponsus, the first house of the Redemptorist Order in Ireland, was founded in 1853 and is part of the Roman Catholic tradition.
Kieron Brislane (66) is the secretary of St Mary’s bell tower in St Mary’s Cathedral and has been bell-ringing most of his life.
“I’ve been ringing since 1969. My father was a bell-ringer and my grandfather was a very long-term ringer at the cathedral. So it’s been a family tradition for well over 100 years in St Mary’s.”
Christy Pratt (67) is the ringing master at Mount St Alphonsus. He began to ring at age 12.
“I couldn’t sing basically,” he jokes. “So I joined the bell-ringers.” Both men agree that it is a wonderful hobby.
“It’s like playing football,” says Kieron. “But with football, you’ve a limited career. Bell-ringing can be lifelong. You can learn, go away and come back to it. It’s like riding a bicycle.”
Christy is someone who stopped ringing and returned decades later.
“I turned 17 and there were more interesting things than bells. I got married, had kids, life took over. I was gone a while and came back around the millennium.”
Both men say that bell-ringing has brought them friendship.
“I have some great pals,” says Christy. “We’ve travelled to the UK a couple of times as a group.”
“My wife sometimes suffers when we travel,” says Kieron. “If there’s a tower near, I seek it out and I ring with the local ringer. I have rung in Australia, the United States, South Africa, and we now have a daughter in England, so I find the local tower when we visit.”
In St Mary’s Cathedral, the total peal [set of bells] is eight bells. In 1670, Alderman William Yorke, a three-time mayor, donated six bells and the peal was supplemented in 1703 by two more bells.
By contrast, the bells in Mount St Alphonsus are a set of 10.
“The bells were donated by a local businessman, John Quin,” says Christy. “They put in a set of eight bells in the late 1870s. In 1947 they recast them in Loughborough and put them in a set of 10.”
Christy and Kieron say that Mount St Alphonsus has “the best set of 10 in the world”.
“They’re magnificent bells to ring,” remarks Kieron. “Really beautifully balanced.”
Bringing people together
Bell ringers Christy Pratt, Brendan Dunne, Pat Mulcahy, Stephen Holmes, Kieron Brislane and Frank Cusack at St Alphonsus in Limerick city. \ Eamon Ward
The bell-ringers in Limerick enjoy travelling to both churches. The tradition of ringing in both towers has carried on to this day.
Every Sunday, the ringers gather in St Mary’s Cathedral at 10.30am to ring and then go to St Alphonsus to ring for noon. This has been happening since the 1940s, Kieron explains.
“Back in Ireland when religious people didn’t mingle, the bell-ringers in Limerick mixed. The Roman Catholic ringers and the Church of Ireland ringers would visit each other’s towers and meet socially. The ringers multi-crossed the divide when nobody else did,” says Kieron. “It was always said in Limerick that the bell-ringers invented the word ecumenism.”
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re Roman Catholic or Church of Ireland. There are Roman Catholic ringers who learned to ring in St Mary’s Cathedral and are members of the St Mary’s Cathedral Society,” says Christy. “There have never been any issues with religious differences between us.
“Christmas is a lovely time for ringing. It’s a joyous time. Both communities are delighted to hear bells rung in their church for Christmas.”
Kieron says the biggest ringing is the midnight service or mass on Christmas Eve.
“We always ring Christmas Eve as loud as we possibly can,” says Kieron.
On New Year’s Eve, the bell-ringers meet in St Mary’s Cathedral to welcome new beginnings.
“The tradition in Limerick is to meet in the cathedral at 11.30pm for a small party, and then the tenor bell – that’s the heaviest bell – strikes 12 notes at midnight. Then all the bells join in to welcome the new year.
“At midnight, the local pipe band starts, our bells start ringing, and there’s a few dozen people that are outside the cathedral singing Auld Lang Syne.”
Bells in Blessington
From left to right, the bell ringers at St Mary’s, Blessington: Tuncay Musait, Rev Niall Stratford, Elliott Gyves, Neville Gyves, Trevor Gyves, Sandra Doran, Catriona Taylor, Gordon Hudson, Derek McEndoo, Kathleen Halligan, Kathleen McEndoo, Mary Garvey, Grania Glancy, Barry Hamilton and Joan Griffith.
\ Claire Nash
Sandra Doran (68) is the ringing master at St Mary’s Church, Blessington, Co Wicklow. She followed her children into their hobby.
“I got into bell-ringing because my two children were ringing. They both started age nine,” says Sandra. “For me, it was a case of if you can’t beat them, join them.”
The bell tower in St Mary’s boasts the oldest complete circle of bells in Ireland and the oldest working turret clock in Ireland. The bells were all cast in 1683, and have never been taken out of the belfry since they were originally dedicated.
“Archbishop Michael Boyle built the church and donated the bells at the same time. We’re only a small parish church and it’s very unusual for such a small town to have six bells.”
The bells are also anti-clockwise.
“It means most of the bells will be rung looking to your left. That’s very unusual,” says Sandra.
The bells were re-hung in 1923 and a new bell frame was reinstalled in 2007.
“There are a lot of bells mentioned in Christmas songs,” Sandra says. “There are lots of carol services and we ring for those. We’ve held an ecumenical service for the last number of years where we have a live donkey. Mary and Joseph and the donkey walk from the chapel to the church. Then we have a service and the bells are rung.”
Sandra has many festive memories associated with bell-ringing. She recalls the white Christmas in 2010 when St Mary’s did not ring. Sandra explains the -16°C temperatures could have caused water in tiny gaps in the steel to freeze and stretch, risking damage to the bells.
One of Sandra’s favourite Christmas memories was 31 December 2019.
“On New Year’s Eve, the Blessington Forum which organises things in the town, wanted to bring people outside to have something to focus on, rather than being in the pub. Everyone held a battery nightlight and we rang 12 strikes at midnight, and then we rang after that. There was about 500 people in the town square, which was quite amazing.
“There is something about bells,” Sandra reflects. “The bells have been ringing for centuries and have such resonance. They have amazing connections to people.”
For centuries, church bells have served as the soundtrack for Irish towns and countryside. Times of joy, sorrow, celebration and remembrance; all punctuated by the ringing of bells.
Irish Country Living talks to bell-ringers in St Mary’s Cathedral and Mount St Alphonsus, both in Limerick city and St Mary’s Church of Ireland in Co Wicklow. They share how the primary role of bell-ringing – to call the faithful to worship – has changed, and how people of all faiths and none enjoy the chime of church bells at Christmas.
There are 37 bell towers on the island of Ireland, only three of which are Roman Catholic bell towers. Limerick is unique to have two active bell towers of different denominations. St Mary’s Cathedral was founded in 1168 and is part of the Church of Ireland tradition. Mount St Alponsus, the first house of the Redemptorist Order in Ireland, was founded in 1853 and is part of the Roman Catholic tradition.
Kieron Brislane (66) is the secretary of St Mary’s bell tower in St Mary’s Cathedral and has been bell-ringing most of his life.
“I’ve been ringing since 1969. My father was a bell-ringer and my grandfather was a very long-term ringer at the cathedral. So it’s been a family tradition for well over 100 years in St Mary’s.”
Christy Pratt (67) is the ringing master at Mount St Alphonsus. He began to ring at age 12.
“I couldn’t sing basically,” he jokes. “So I joined the bell-ringers.” Both men agree that it is a wonderful hobby.
“It’s like playing football,” says Kieron. “But with football, you’ve a limited career. Bell-ringing can be lifelong. You can learn, go away and come back to it. It’s like riding a bicycle.”
Christy is someone who stopped ringing and returned decades later.
“I turned 17 and there were more interesting things than bells. I got married, had kids, life took over. I was gone a while and came back around the millennium.”
Both men say that bell-ringing has brought them friendship.
“I have some great pals,” says Christy. “We’ve travelled to the UK a couple of times as a group.”
“My wife sometimes suffers when we travel,” says Kieron. “If there’s a tower near, I seek it out and I ring with the local ringer. I have rung in Australia, the United States, South Africa, and we now have a daughter in England, so I find the local tower when we visit.”
In St Mary’s Cathedral, the total peal [set of bells] is eight bells. In 1670, Alderman William Yorke, a three-time mayor, donated six bells and the peal was supplemented in 1703 by two more bells.
By contrast, the bells in Mount St Alphonsus are a set of 10.
“The bells were donated by a local businessman, John Quin,” says Christy. “They put in a set of eight bells in the late 1870s. In 1947 they recast them in Loughborough and put them in a set of 10.”
Christy and Kieron say that Mount St Alphonsus has “the best set of 10 in the world”.
“They’re magnificent bells to ring,” remarks Kieron. “Really beautifully balanced.”
Bringing people together
Bell ringers Christy Pratt, Brendan Dunne, Pat Mulcahy, Stephen Holmes, Kieron Brislane and Frank Cusack at St Alphonsus in Limerick city. \ Eamon Ward
The bell-ringers in Limerick enjoy travelling to both churches. The tradition of ringing in both towers has carried on to this day.
Every Sunday, the ringers gather in St Mary’s Cathedral at 10.30am to ring and then go to St Alphonsus to ring for noon. This has been happening since the 1940s, Kieron explains.
“Back in Ireland when religious people didn’t mingle, the bell-ringers in Limerick mixed. The Roman Catholic ringers and the Church of Ireland ringers would visit each other’s towers and meet socially. The ringers multi-crossed the divide when nobody else did,” says Kieron. “It was always said in Limerick that the bell-ringers invented the word ecumenism.”
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re Roman Catholic or Church of Ireland. There are Roman Catholic ringers who learned to ring in St Mary’s Cathedral and are members of the St Mary’s Cathedral Society,” says Christy. “There have never been any issues with religious differences between us.
“Christmas is a lovely time for ringing. It’s a joyous time. Both communities are delighted to hear bells rung in their church for Christmas.”
Kieron says the biggest ringing is the midnight service or mass on Christmas Eve.
“We always ring Christmas Eve as loud as we possibly can,” says Kieron.
On New Year’s Eve, the bell-ringers meet in St Mary’s Cathedral to welcome new beginnings.
“The tradition in Limerick is to meet in the cathedral at 11.30pm for a small party, and then the tenor bell – that’s the heaviest bell – strikes 12 notes at midnight. Then all the bells join in to welcome the new year.
“At midnight, the local pipe band starts, our bells start ringing, and there’s a few dozen people that are outside the cathedral singing Auld Lang Syne.”
Bells in Blessington
From left to right, the bell ringers at St Mary’s, Blessington: Tuncay Musait, Rev Niall Stratford, Elliott Gyves, Neville Gyves, Trevor Gyves, Sandra Doran, Catriona Taylor, Gordon Hudson, Derek McEndoo, Kathleen Halligan, Kathleen McEndoo, Mary Garvey, Grania Glancy, Barry Hamilton and Joan Griffith.
\ Claire Nash
Sandra Doran (68) is the ringing master at St Mary’s Church, Blessington, Co Wicklow. She followed her children into their hobby.
“I got into bell-ringing because my two children were ringing. They both started age nine,” says Sandra. “For me, it was a case of if you can’t beat them, join them.”
The bell tower in St Mary’s boasts the oldest complete circle of bells in Ireland and the oldest working turret clock in Ireland. The bells were all cast in 1683, and have never been taken out of the belfry since they were originally dedicated.
“Archbishop Michael Boyle built the church and donated the bells at the same time. We’re only a small parish church and it’s very unusual for such a small town to have six bells.”
The bells are also anti-clockwise.
“It means most of the bells will be rung looking to your left. That’s very unusual,” says Sandra.
The bells were re-hung in 1923 and a new bell frame was reinstalled in 2007.
“There are a lot of bells mentioned in Christmas songs,” Sandra says. “There are lots of carol services and we ring for those. We’ve held an ecumenical service for the last number of years where we have a live donkey. Mary and Joseph and the donkey walk from the chapel to the church. Then we have a service and the bells are rung.”
Sandra has many festive memories associated with bell-ringing. She recalls the white Christmas in 2010 when St Mary’s did not ring. Sandra explains the -16°C temperatures could have caused water in tiny gaps in the steel to freeze and stretch, risking damage to the bells.
One of Sandra’s favourite Christmas memories was 31 December 2019.
“On New Year’s Eve, the Blessington Forum which organises things in the town, wanted to bring people outside to have something to focus on, rather than being in the pub. Everyone held a battery nightlight and we rang 12 strikes at midnight, and then we rang after that. There was about 500 people in the town square, which was quite amazing.
“There is something about bells,” Sandra reflects. “The bells have been ringing for centuries and have such resonance. They have amazing connections to people.”
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