St Fin Barre's Cathedral

Spiky spires, gurning gargoyles and rich sculpture make up the exterior of Cork's Protestant cathedral, an attention-grabbing mixture of French Gothic and medieval whimsy. Local legend says that the golden angel on the eastern side will blow its horn when the Apocalypse is due to start… Yikes!

The grandeur continues inside, with marble floor mosaics, a colourful chancel ceiling and a huge pulpit and bishop's throne. Quirky items on display include a cannonball blasted into an earlier medieval spire during the Siege of Cork (1690).

Most of the ostentation is the result of a competition, held in 1863, to choose an architect for the building. William Burges was the hands-down winner, and once victory was assured he promptly redrew all his plans – with an extra choir bay and taller towers – and his £15,000 budget went out the window. Luckily, the bishop understood such perfectionism and spent the rest of his life fundraising for the project.

The cathedral sits about 500m south of the centre, on the spot where Cork's patron saint, Finbarre, founded his monastery in the 7th century.