Saint Fin Barre’s celebrates 150 with new CD release

This year Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral is 150 years old, and the cathedral’s choir has launched a new CD this week to celebrate.

Incredibly, Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral Choir has been in existence since 1324. It is comprised of 40 children and eight adults and has recorded an album of favourite anthems in celebration of this anniversary.

The CD entitled ‘Let All the World in Every Corner Sing’, was officially launched online last Sunday, includes the premiere recording of a new set of canticles, written for the anniversary by Composition Competition winner Nicholas O’Neill.

Though the current building is 150 years old, worship has taken place on the same site since 606AD when Saint Fin Barre founded his monastery. The cathedral was consecrated on 30 November 1870.

The Cathedral’s Director of Music, Peter Stobart said: “We are pleased to be able to celebrate the cathedral’s anniversary through the release of this CD. We were all delighted to have a new set of canticles to sing, and we really enjoyed the challenge of learning and recording them.”

The Dean of Cork, the Very Rev. Nigel Dunne explained that the recording was completed during the February half term break, just before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. “This recording is the second in recent years, and it was most fortunate that our hard-working musicians, singers and choristers put in such hard work, often late into the night, to bring it to completion. I greatly welcome the inclusion of the new setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis by Nicholas O’Neill, which are so wonderfully presented on the CD. I can’t wait to hear them premiered live in the cathedral when we get past the current Coronavirus restrictions.”

The CD is available from the cathedral’s webstore corkcathedral.webs.com/apps/webstore.

Early ordering is advised to allow delivery in time for Christmas.