Fringe Concerts: Organ Music At St. Fin Barre's Cathedral
St. Fin Barre's Cathedral, Bishop Street, Cork
Fri 01 May 2026
1pm
FREE
Friday, 1st May, 1.10pm
PROGRAMME
Played by Matthew Breen
Fantasia in G minor, BWV 542 – J.S. Bach (1685 – 1750)
Fugue ‘à la Gigue’ in G major, BWV 577 – J.S. Bach (1685 – 1750)
Largo – Flor Peeters (1903 – 1986)
Tuba Tune – Norman Cocker (1889 – 1953)
Psalm Prelude, set 1 no. 2 – Herbert Howells (1892 – 1983)
‘But the meek-spirited shall possess the earth, and shall be refreshed
in the multitude of peace.’ (Psalm 37: verse 11)
Pièce Héroïque – César Franck (1822 – 1890)
The organ was built in 1870 by William Hill & Sons. It consisted of three manuals, over 4,500 pipes and 40 stops. The main organ utilised a tubular-pneumatic action, with tracker action for the other two manuals. It was in place for the cathedral’s grand opening on Saint Andrew’s Day, 1870, and positioned in the west gallery, but moved to the north transept in 1889, to improve acoustics, maximise space, and avoid its interference with the view of the windows. That year, a 14-foot pit was
dug in the floor beside the nave, as the new location for the organ.
Its maintenance has been one of the most expensive parts of the cathedral’s upkeep. It was overhauled in 1889 by the Cork firm T.W. Magahy, which added three new stops. The organ was moved from the west gallery (balcony) down to a pit in the north transept, where it sits today. Most of the choir organ is housed in an enclosure attached to the console, the lid of which the organist can raise or lower electrically. The next major overhaul was in 1906 by Hele & Company of Plymouth, which added a fourth manual (the Solo). By this stage, the action of the organ was entirely pneumatic. In 1965–1966, J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd of London overhauled the soundboards, installed a new console with electropneumatic action, and lowered the pitch.
By 2010 the organ’s electrics were unreliable. Trevor Crowe was employed to reconstruct and increase the number of pipes, and make tonal enhancements, including a 32? extension to the pedal trombone. The project took three years to complete.
