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<\/a>Oliver Cromwell<\/p><\/div>\n
Legend has it that Christchurch was used as stables for the army\u2019s horses and when Cromwell ordered the church bells to be taken down and melted to make cannon he was angrily confronted by the church minister Neptune Blood. Cromwell was said to reply:<\/p>\n
\u201cThat since a priest had invented gunpowder he, as General of the Army, was entitled to make further use of Church property<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Blood, a committed Royalist, was later forced to go into hiding. When Blood fled Cork he took Christchurch\u2019s silver plate with him to save it from being plundered by Cromwell\u2019s army. On the restoration of Charles II in 1660, Blood became Dean of Kilfenora and kept the Christchurch silver for use in the Cathedral there. In 1665 the Christchurch Parish Records state that a representative of Christchurch went to Kilfenora (at a cost 10 shillings) to retrieve the silver plate but Blood managed to retain possession of it by paying \u00a314 to Christchurch in lieu of its return.<\/p>\n