The Irish standard., 1895-03-09
The BELLS OF sHANDON

High in the steeple OF the church Of
St Anne Shandon, Cork, hang the
bells that Father Prout has made ring
SO musically for all the world.
The name Shandon is from Seandon,
meaning the old fort, or castle, near
| which stood church called St. Mary
! Shandon. This last was destroyed
during the siege of Cork, by Marlboro,
and the church of st. Anne built on
| it's site.
There are eight of the Shandon bells,
says writer in the Boston Common
wealth. and upon each one is an in
scription: a
First God preserve the church and
king, 1854 1.-THE date Of the casting Of
the bells at Gloucester, by Abel Rud-
hall.)
| Second-When you us ring we will
sweetly sing. A. R. 1850.
Third-Health and prosperity to all
our benefactors. A. r. 1850.
Fourth-Peace and good neighbor-
! hood. A. r. 1850.
Fifth-Prosperity to the city and
trade thereof. Recast, 1869, r. D. M.
ST. George, rector. (Rev. Francis De
Montmorency ST. George, a late rector
of the parish, who died in 1922
Sixth-We are all cast in Gloucester,
in England. Abel Rudhall, 1850.
Seventh-Since generosity has OPEN
ed our mouths, our tongues shall ring
aloud its praise. A. r.
Eighth to the church the living
call, and to the grave do summon all.
la. r. 1850.
Close to the UNCOVERED wall of the
church, in the old churchyard, under
the shadow of the tower and the bells,
lies the body of Rev. Francis Sylves-
ter Mahoney, whom we know so we'll
as Father Prout.
Father Mahoney was born at Cork,
and all the early years of his life were
spent at his home on Camden quay,
where he listened to the melody of the
bells as their music flowed with the
River Lee His parents decided that
he should become a priest and his edu-
cation was carried on with that end in
view, till later he studied in France
at Amiens and in Paris-and was
finally ordained priest at Rome.
It was while he was in Rome that
he wrote his "Shandon Bells,'' and
there is something infinitely touching
in the deep homesickness that lies III
the little poem:
with deep affection and recollection,
1
Whose sounds so wild would, in days OF
childhood,
Fling around my cradle their magic
spells.
On this I ponder, where'er 1 wander, y
! And thus grow fonder, sweet Cork, Of
| thee;.
With thy bells Of Shandon that sound SO
The pleasant waters of the River Lee.
d Father Mahoney found that his
tastes inclined to literature rather
than in spiritually directing people, sc
he went to London and entered upon
literary life, doing a good deal Of
work on "F'razer's Magazine" It was
then that he took the name Of Father
Prout, this belonging to learned and
very eccentric priest who was friend
of Father Mahoney. He first wrote q
series of PrOut papers, and later took
it as his nom de plume. &
It is characteristic of the Irish peo-
pie that however far they may wander
from their Emerald Isle they still
retain warm affection for it, and so
it was with Father Prout. Nearly all
his life was spent abroad, but still his
heart kept warm corner for Ireland,
and nearly everything he wrote show
| ed this. He was remarkable lingulst,
and translated into French, Greek,
Latin and italian many of Moore's
poems, and it is said that Garibaldi's
soldiers sang '.The Groves of Barney
! in soft and limpid Italian upon the
| shores of their own lakes.
| A restless, eager spirit sent Father
Prout travelling in Egypt, Greece, Hun
gary and Asia Minor, from which
points he wrote brilliantly, adding not
a little to the literature of that period.
There is soon to be more fitting
memorial above the grave of this
gifted son of Erin, for at present it is
difficult to read even the name in the
stone, it is so defaced by time and the