​The Bishop of Cork, the Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton is delighted to announce that he has appointed the Reverend Meghan Farr, an Episcopal priest currently serving in the Episcopal Diocese of Eau Claire in Wisconsin, USA, as priest-in-charge of Saint Anne’s, Shandon, Cork and also as Chaplain to Saint Luke’s Home, Cork. Meghan will be arriving in time to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Church of Saint Anne, Shandon and to join in the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Saint Luke’s Home, Cork.

​Bishop Colton said:
It has been both exciting and frustrating knowing for some months now that the Reverend Meghan Farr had accepted my offer of appointment to these posts in Cork while we waited for visa permission for Meghan and her family from the Irish Immigration Service. I have been looking forward to making this announcement and now that everything is in place I am delighted to publish this news. Meghan has exactly the gifts needed for these ministries and, together with you all, I look forward to welcoming her, Daniel, Aidan, Declan and Cavan to Cork in the not too distant future.
The Reverend Meghan Farr said:
I am so pleased to accept the call to serve as Priest-in-Charge of St. Anne’s Shandon and Chaplain at St. Luke’s Home. My family and I look forward to making Cork our home and getting to know the parish and community. Please keep us in prayer as we prepare for the transition and know that we are praying for you all as well. God bless you—Reverend Meghan.
The Reverend Meghan Farr grew up in the Episcopal Church in Rhode Island and later Florida. She was active as a child and teenager in Sunday school, youth ministry and as an acolyte. While at the University of Florida studying history, Meghan worked as an assistant youth minister at a local Episcopal Church. It was during this time she met her husband, Daniel, who was also studying history. They were married in 2003. After graduation, they moved to Meghan’s hometown of Melbourne, Florida where she worked for several years in substance abuse prevention and treatment. Meghan and Daniel were active in their Episcopal church serving in various ministries.
Meghan began the discernment process for the priesthood in 2009 and in 2010 she entered seminary at Asbury Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. In 2013 she and her family moved to Wisconsin where she finished her Master of Divinity at Nashtoah House Theological Seminary. Meghan was called to a curacy at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in the Diocese of New Jersey. She served there for two years before accepting a call in 2015 as Assistant Rector for Pastoral Care at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Central Florida. After five years, the family returned to Wisconsin where Meghan became Priest-in-Charge of the Northern Highlands Benefice—a group of four Episcopal churches.
Meghan and Daniel have three boys, Aidan (16), Declan (11), and Cavan (7) as well as two dogs (Magnus and Siggy) and two cats (Nessie and Hamish). Aside from staying busy as mom, Meghan is an avid reader. She and Daniel love getting out for hikes with the dogs, trying new restaurants and all things history. The whole family enjoys traveling and is always up for adventure.

On Sunday 6th February, the tercentenary, 300 years, of the present day Saint Anne’s Church, Shandon, Cork’s iconic church, with its famous Shandon Bells, was  inaugurated by the Bishop, the Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton, who visited the parish to preside at the Sunday Service.  

The year will be inaugurated by a parish initiative called ‘The Shandon Mystery’ and an appeal to Cork people everywhere, Irish people and everyone anywhere, to help the parish to try to discover the exact dates of the building and the date of the consecration (opening) of the Church. 

Bishop Colton explains:
The problem is that the parish records were lost in the fire in the Public Records Office one hundred years ago in June 1922. We need help.
We have looked at all sorts of records, spoken with parishioners, some local people, and spoken to some archivists and historians.  We have checked dates on parish silver, on plaques and on the font in the Church.  There appears to be no foundation stone and no memorial stone commemorating the consecration.  We would like to know these dates and that is what we mean by ‘The Shandon Mystery’.
As Church of Ireland Bishop and as a local Church of Ireland community we are very conscious that Saint Anne’s, Shandon, to the people of Cork and for Irish people, this Church is much more than a parish church.  It is a potent, evocative and emotive symbol of Cork around which the people of Cork rally, unite and identify.  So, we are appealing to everyone to help us to solve our ‘Shandon Mystery’.  It just may be that someone has an original source in an archive that we do not know about, or information from a secondary source in a book or diary for example,  that we are not aware of.  We are going to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Shandon starting later this year, regardless, but it would also, as part of that, be great to solve our ‘Shandon Mystery’. Indeed, someone out there may readily have an easy answer for us.


The Parish and Diocese are in the process of developing a full Tercentenary programme in partnership with the City of Cork, the local community, history groups, and many interested parties, including the Church of Ireland nationally.

We know our bells are currently quiet, but if you have ever wondered why visitors can ring the Church bells so easily, it’s because they are on what’s called an Ellacombe Chiming Method.
 
 An Ellacombe apparatus is a device that enables one person to ring all the bells of a church. It’s said that Revd. Ellacombe devised the mechanism so that all the bells could be rung by one trusted person without involving a band of unruly and perhaps drunken ringers!  So apologies to Revd. Ellacombe, but we have a lot of fun on the system he created to say ‘down with that sort of thing!’
 
  Saturday 26th June 2021, a worldwide celebration is planned for the 200th anniversary of Rev Henry Thomas Ellacombe’s invention of ringing chimes, focused on St Mary’s Church Bitton, England where the ‘Ellacombe Chiming Apparatus’ was invented and first installed.
 
 Bells throughout the world will be ringing at noon local time, starting in New Zealand. They will make their way to Bitton, and then across the Americas, finishing in Vancouver, Canada, 17 hours after they first started. We will be ringing the Shandon bells at noon tomorrow to mark the event.
More Info below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiDdiiQ5s9w&t=4s


http://www.bittonhistory.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Chimes-Leaflet-FINAL1.pdf

​

Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, we are unable to hold services in the Church itself.  Instead, we are bringing the service to you through our YouTube channel.  The Sunday service will be published every week throughout the crisis. The Order of Service will be downloadable before hand from our social media pages on Facebook and Twitter and also on this website on 'St Anne's Church' page.
Link to YouTube Channel below.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdWQDca4JBD9c2lno3ldbkg