Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne, Cork

The Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne, also known as Saint Mary's Cathedral, The North Cathedral or The North Chapel, is an important Roman Catholic cathedral located in Cork. It serves as the seat of the Bishop of Cork and Ross and is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cork and Ross. The cathedral's name comes from the combination of the ecclesiastical parish of St. Mary and the civil parish of St. Anne.

Baptismal records at the Cathedral date back to 1731, and the parish boundary originally included areas such as Blackpool and Clogheen/Kerry Pike. However, in 1981, two chapels of ease to the cathedral became parish churches, while the Vincentian Parish of Sunday's Well returned to the Cathedral parish after the closure of St Vincent's Church in 2016.

The Cathedral was built during the tenure of Bishop Francis Moylan, and construction began in 1799 on the site of a former church built in the 1730s. The cathedral was dedicated on 22 August 1808 by Archbishop Thomas Bray of Cashel. However, the building was extensively damaged by an act of arson in 1820. George Richard Pain undertook the restoration of the cathedral, enlarging the sanctuary and creating a Chancel Arch. The cathedral re-opened in 1828.

Beginning in January 1965, at the request of Bishop Cornelius Lucey, the cathedral was extended and renovated. The internal layout was simplified and reorganized following the directives of the Second Vatican Council, and these works were completed by 1968. The most recent large-scale works were completed between 1994 and 1996, which included the renovation and refurbishment of the tower and sanctuary, as well as the removal of the high altar, altar rails, and side altars. The contemporary artwork collection in the lady chapel is the work of Irish artist, Patrick Pye.

The Cathedral's bicentenary was celebrated in September 2008, and in 2017, a visitor center was established underneath the sanctuary of the cathedral, with tours of the Cork Folklore Project's exhibition and work.

Designed in early Neo-Gothic Revivalist style, the Cathedral combines sandstone with limestone dressings. The tower over the main door was added in 1869, designed by John Benson. The original altar was fashioned in wood by Italian craftsmen in Lisbon. The nine bells of Benson's tower were cast in 1870 by John Murphy of Dublin and were restored in December 2022.