SquaresRenew 9: Spire of Hope
Consecrated in 1904, Belfast’s Anglican Cathedral took over 100 years to be completed. The original plans included a 210ft bell tower but the ground the Cathedral is built on could not bear the weight of it. At the beginning of the 21st century a competition was held for young architects throughout Ireland to design a spire, and the winners were Colin Conn and Robert Jamison of Box Architects. The cathedral was duly reconstructed in 2007 to include their 53 metre steel spire, seen on the right of the building above. Its base can be seen by looking up from the Choir.
According to its information panel, the name Spire of Hope represents the same sense of hope which the church has in God through Jesus Christ, and the hope which is in our community following years of violence. Again, that sense of renewal and moving forward which I felt so often in Belfast.
A few more interior shots to end:
Part of Becky’s SquaresRenew Challenge, using images from our April 2024 trip to Northern Ireland to illustrate one or more of the following:
- Move forward
- Reconstruct
- Renew
- Burgeoning
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
You found many examples of hope and renewal in Belfast. 🙂
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What a beautiful church, and I do think it represents progress!
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I agree Ann, on both counts.
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this is a beautiful cathedral. I love the mosaics. So detailed
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Yes, it is – we visited this one on our own so were able to spend as long as we liked there.
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I’ve got behind on my blog reading so just catching up on your posts. It took me a while click on what all your squares were about. Was it urban squares? Some of the posts would fit into that theme.
I now realise that the photos all have a square format. Doh! 🤦♂️
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Yes, Becky’s Square challenge! At least your main image has to be square. On the theme of renew etc etc as I’m sure you’ve picked up. I thought it was a good way of tackling Northern Ireland without getting too deep.
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Love the creation mosaic especially.
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Yes, it’s beautiful.
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Hi Anabel – I can imagine the two sides (or more) to the story – fascinating about the Cathedral – I love the architectural mix of old and new … cheers Hilary
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Yes, I think it’s really successful, and comes with an encouraging message.
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ooh that is different, but it somehow works. And a message the world needs to hear at the moment
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I think so – unfortunately today’s post will be a bit negative, but I did warn you there were wobbles!
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Wobbles are both okay (sometimes!) and are a fact of life – so I look forward to reading it later
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I did try to end on a note of hope!
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How great that the church is finally finished. That spire looks wonderful. And the mosaic inside the dome is stunning.
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The dome mosaic is wonderful. Had I been writing up Belfast in a different sort of post I’d have dwelt on it more. It’s a creation theme, and the artists were two women.
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Perhaps in June you could write a post telling more about it.
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I probably will do some “mop-up” posts about NI in June before going back to what will then be my over a year’s worth of backlog, but whether I have time to revisit the places used in the challenge I don’t know.
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Every single pic here is totally stunning! What a beautiful place!
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Certainly is, we spent quite a lot of time in there.
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What a lovely place
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It was, very peaceful.
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Wonder if they have taken that idea of looking up through glass at the base of the spire from the Louvre in Paris which has the famous transparent pyramid above ground you can also view the tip of from below in a similar window. Bob. BSS.
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Possibly they did!
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Yes, that spire works I think.
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Yes, I liked it.
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Ooh, I like that spire – I have a ‘thing’ about successful blends of ultra-modern and older architecture and this hots the spot for me 😀
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I agree it’s rather beautiful and I like the message too.
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I love everything about this. The widows, mosaics, and the floor in the choir – beautiful 🙂
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we enjoyed our visit – it is really lovely.
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