Belfast Cathedral

Belfast has a cathedral situated near York Street beside the Belfast Art College (Belfast campus for Univeristy of Ulster).

St Anne's Cathedral is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first architect was Sir Thomas Drew[1].

The foundation stone being laid in September 1899 by the Countess of Shaftesbury. Initially, only the nave of the Cathedral was built, and this was consecrated in June 1904. The new Cathedral was built around the old Parish Church, which remained in use up until 31st December 1903, when the last service was held in it. The parish church, with the exception of the Sanctuary, which was incorporated in to the new Cathedral, was then demolished. It was only completed in 1981 when the final section, the North Transept was finished. The week before Christmas each year, the Dean (currently Dr. Houston McKelvey) and members of the Cathedral Chapter sit outside the Cathedral from 10am til 5pm each day to raise money for charity and are collectively known as the 'Black Santa'. Since the tradition began in 1976 £2.2million has been raised for charity[2].

References

  1. Wikipedia, St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast. Available [online] from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Anne%E2%80%99s_Cathedral%2C_Belfast [Accessed 4 April 2007].
  2. Wikipedia, St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast. Available [online] from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Anne%E2%80%99s_Cathedral%2C_Belfast [Accessed 4 April 2007].