William Burges - St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork

St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork

Despite early competition setbacks, Burges was sustained by his belief that Early French provided the answer to the crisis of architectural style that beset mid-Victorian England, writing "I was brought up in the thirteenth century belief and in that belief I intend to die"; and in 1863, at the age of 35, he finally secured his first major commission, for St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork. Burges's diary records his delight at the result: "Got Cork!"

The competition for St Fin Barre's occurred as a result of widespread dissatisfaction with the existing church of 1735 which the Dublin Builder described as "a shabby apology for a cathedral which has long disgraced Cork." It was to be the first new cathedral built in the British Isles since St Paul's. The proposed budget was low, at £15,000, but Burges ignored this constraint, producing a design that he admitted would cost twice as much. Despite the protestations of fellow competitors, it won, though the final cost was to be in excess of £100,000."

Burges, who had worked in Ireland before, at the Church of St Peter, Carrigrohane, at the Holy Trinity Church Templebreedy, at Frankfield and at Douglas, enjoyed strong local support, including that of the Bishop, John Gregg. In addition, as the Ireland Handbook notes, Burges "combined his love of medievalism with a conspicuous display of Protestant affluence" which was an important factor at a time when the established Anglican Church in Ireland was seeking to assert its predominance.

For the exterior, Burges re-used some of his earlier unexecuted plans, the overall design from the Crimea Memorial Church and St John's Cathedral, Brisbane, the elevations from Lille Cathedral. The main problem of the building was its size. Despite the prodigious efforts of its fundraisers, and despite Burges exceeding the original budget, Cork was still unable to afford a really large cathedral. Burges overcame this obstacle by using the grandeur of his three-spired exterior to offset the lesser scale of the remainder of the building.

Although the cathedral is modest in size, it is very richly ornamented. As was his usual practice, from his office in Buckingham Street and in the course of many site visits, Burges oversaw all aspects of the design, including the statuary, the stained glass and the furniture, charging 10% rather than his usual 5%, owing to the high level of his personal involvement. He drew designs for every one of the 1,260 sculptures that adorn the West Front and decorate the building inside and out. He sketched cartoons for the majority of the 74 stained glass windows. He designed the mosaic pavement, the altar, the pulpit and the bishop's throne. Lawrence and Wilson consider the result "undoubtedly greatest work in ecclesiastical architecture" with an interior that is "overwhelming and intoxicating." Through his ability, by the careful leadership of his team, by total artistic control, and by vastly exceeding the intended budget of £15,000, Burges produced a building that in size is little more than a large parish church but in impression is described in Lawrence and Wilson's study as "a cathedral becoming such a city and one which posterity may regard as a monument to the Almighty's praise."