18.11.2011
Christ Church Cathedral Auction
A letter from the Dean of Christ Church:
Christ Church Cathedral has been at the heart of Christian worship in Ireland for close to a thousand years. Not surprisingly, the wear and tear of a full millennium has taken its toll on the structure of our much–loved and iconic Cathedral and without urgent repair and restoration work, its very future is threatened.
It is with this in mind that we are launching our fundraising campaign, ‘A Bid to Save Christ Church’. The most urgent concern is the Tower and the first phase of our fundraising campaign will be the €1m Tower Project.
The Christ Church Cathedral Tower houses 19 bells which is a world record number for full–circle bell ringing. New Year’s Eve in Dublin is synonymous with the ringing of the cathedral bells, with both local people and visitors gathering at ChristChurch to ring in the New Year. In recent years this unique ritual has drawn an audience from every corner of the globe through live Internet broadcasting.
To fund urgent repairs to the Tower, Christ Church Cathedral has retained Sheppard’s Irish Auction House, one of the country’s leading auction houses, to conduct its Inaugural Biennial Auction. This unique charity auction will take place on 16 December 2011. The Afternoon Sale event will be held at Sheppard’s, Durrow, Co. Laois, and be carried live globally via www.sheppards.ie. All proceeds from the sale will go entirely to the conservation of the Tower of Christ Church Cathedral. Sheppard’s have generously offered to waive all fees and commissions for the auction.
The Christ Church Cathedral Inaugural Biennial Auction belongs to you. The number of items donated, the number of lots sold and the amount of funding we generate – is up to each one of us and our personal commitment to this campaign. Let’s save Christ Church. By lending your support in ‘A Bid to Save Christ Church’ you will be actively safeguarding Ireland’s architectural heritage for future generations.
Thank you.
Dermot Dunne
Dean of Dublin