St Malachy's Church, Belfast

This Roman Catholic Church is replete with turrets painted terracotta pink and even has arrow slits on the exterior walls. Standing at the end of the long avenue of Clarence Street, it looks like a transplanted Tudor castle and invites you to find out more. It was built in the 1840s, in the decade of famine in Ireland, and was designed by the architect Thomas Jackson. The vaulted ceiling is an imitation of Henry VII's Westminster Abbey chapel and has been likened to a wedding cake turned inside out. The bell tower also houses the largest bell in Belfast. There are some fine paintings in the church, and its doors are always open.