Fodor's Expert Review St. Anne's Cathedral

At the center of the eponymous Cathedral Quarter, St. Anne's is a turn-of-the-20th century edifice in the Irish neo-Romanesque style. Lord Carson (1854–1935), who was largely responsible for keeping the six counties inside the United Kingdom, is buried here by virtue of a special Act of Parliament. His is the only tomb. The 175-foot stainless-steel Spire of Hope atop the cathedral's roof adds to the city's skyline and shines brightly as a beacon of newfound optimism for the future. A multilingual audio guide allows visitors to immerse themselves in the history of the cathedral's walls though speech and music. A new trail, incorporating the history and highlights of the building, was launched for visitors in 2020. The German Luftwaffe bombed this section of Belfast during World War II; on the cathedral's Talbot Street side, at No. 21, the Northern Ireland War Memorial has an interactive exhibit about the war.