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Clocks in Ireland Ireland in Clocks the All 1880, in And, Problems Create to Began

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Clocks in Ireland Ireland in Clocks the All 1880, in And, Problems Create to Began With thanks to Sven Habermann Sven to thanks With Library of Ireland. of Library Edited by Eleanor Flegg Eleanor by Edited Collection, Courtesy of the National National the of Courtesy Collection, Dublin, c.1900-1920, Fergus O’Connor O’Connor Fergus c.1900-1920, Dublin, Text and images Nigel Barnes Nigel images and Text Clock tower and town hall, Rathmines, Rathmines, hall, town and tower Clock An initiative of the Heritage Council Heritage the of initiative An www.westdean.org.uk/CollegeChannel/FullTimeCourses/ClockMaking.aspx A full-time course in the conservation and restoration of clocks: clocks: of restoration and conservation the in course full-time A National Museum of Ireland: www.museum.ie Ireland: of Museum National The Bunratty Castle Medieval Collection: www.bunrattycollection.com Collection: Medieval Castle Bunratty The The Antiquarian Horological Society: www.ahsoc.org Society: Horological Antiquarian The The British Horological Institute: www.bhi.co.uk Institute: Horological British The The Heritage Council: www.heritagecouncil.ie/home Council: Heritage The To find a conservator: www.conservationireland.org conservator: a find To To find a clock repairer: www.ihcf.ie repairer: clock a find To Care and conservation of clocks: www.icon.org.uk/images/stories/clocks.pdf clocks: of conservation and Care Find out more out Find A contemporary clock-maker at work. at clock-maker contemporary A decided on a case-by-case basis. case-by-case a on decided whether to repair or conserve a clock should be be should clock a conserve or repair to whether necessary repairs or restoration. The dilemma of of dilemma The restoration. or repairs necessary to give advice on a conservation approach to any any to approach conservation a on advice give to accredited horological conservator will be able able be will conservator horological accredited historical integrity) or to stop the clock. An An clock. the stop to or integrity) historical worn parts (thus compromising the object’s object’s the compromising (thus parts worn must decide whether to repair or replace the the replace or repair to whether decide must function. At this point the owner of the clock clock the of owner the point this At function. or replacement if the clock is to continue to to continue to is clock the if replacement or mender. Eventually, clock parts may need repair repair need may parts clock Eventually, mender. to be serviced regularly by a qualified clock clock qualified a by regularly serviced be to timepieces other and S k cloc of heritage he T intended function. Like all machines, they need need they machines, all Like function. intended require care and maintenance to perform their their perform to maintenance and care require HOROLOGY Clocks are special-purpose machines that that machines special-purpose are Clocks clocks of conservation conservation Care and and Care Clocks in Ireland Church clocks Longcase clocks Few early church clocks survive in Ireland but the clock at Salisbury Cathedral Longcase clocks, also known as grandfather (1386) is probably similar to those installed in Irish religious establishments clocks, were made for the grand houses of the during the fourteenth and fifteenth Irish aristocracy and, after about 1730, a trend centuries. The Salisbury clock remains in developed for smaller bracket clocks. In longcase operation and it is possible that parts of it clocks, a certain Irish style had developed quite are original. The first definite documentary early in the eighteenth century with larger dials evidence for an Irish mechanical clock and profuse decoration. As the decades passed, refers to a clock in a public building near longcase clocks became more plentiful and, by the Christchurch, Dublin in the late fifteenth mid nineteenth century, were also found in houses century. The late seventeenth-century clock of more modest means. in the church tower at Blessington, which This hand-made longcase clock by Robert O’Shaughnessy Ballinode church, showing a is still in use, is a rare survivor from that dates from the 1830s – every part is made from either steel relatively rare example of a period. The clock bells at Saint Anne’s, bar or flat or from brass sheet for the wheels and plates, and nineteenth-century church clock. Shandon, in Cork were first rung in 1752 brass bar for the rest. but when the clock itself was erected by Cork Corporation in 1847, it reputedly became known as the ‘four faced liar’ since the four clocks were not always synchronised. By the mid nineteenth century, as Church Street, Shandon, Cork domestic clocks and pocket-watches became more widespread, the church clock Portable time City, c.1965-1914, The Lawrence was no longer needed as a community resource. For this reason, nineteenth - Pocket watches have been around since the Collection, Courtesy of the century church clocks are relatively rare in Ireland. fifteenth century, and improved in technology National Library of Ireland. Pocket watches made by John Donegan, one of the over the next three hundred years. It was not last nineteenth-century until the early twentieth century, that people Irish watchmakers. began wearing wristwatches. Irish-made watches Farm clocks became known for their craftsmanship, but the elaborate engraving that distinguished the work Clock towers were sometimes built into farmyards or stable complexes, of John Donegan (1794-1862) seemed somewhat often combined with weathervanes, both as an architectural statement anachronistic by the mid-nineteenth century. and to make sure that the estate ran on time. A dramatic example Possibly for this reason, Donegan became known at Farmleigh was designed in 1880 as part of a building that supplied as the ‘last of the Irish watchmakers. water to the estate. The clock itself was made by Sir Howard Grubb of Rathmines, an instrument-maker better known for making equatorial telescopes. The clock tower is recorded in a local ditty: Mister Guinness has a clock/ And on its top a weathercock/ To show the people Castleknock. Standardisation Farm clocks, often combined with bell In an age of industrialisation and travel, the reliance on local time Domestic clocks towers, were once a familiar feature in began to create problems and, in 1880, all the clocks in Ireland The seventeenth century was the Irish farm and stable yards. (© Anna Meenan). were standardised. An Act of Parliament defined Dublin Mean beginning of the modern age of timetables Time as 25 minutes 21 seconds behind Greenwich Mean Time. and appointments and, with the spread of world commerce, clock-making began Timetables now required railway clocks to be standardised across to expand to satisfy the growing demand for timepieces. By the early eighteenth the country while the pub clock century, dozens of clock-makers had become established in Ireland; they spread helped to enforce licensing laws principally from London and the north-east of England. Clock-making spread into and became an essential part of the the provinces until, by the late eighteenth century, there were clock-makers in ambiance of a Victorian public house. every town in Ireland. Clocks, such as those made by John Finney of Dublin, were In 1916 the Time (Ireland) Act unified made for the wealthy as expressions of opulence and grandeur. British and Irish time. Public clock at Clocks by John Finney of Dublin were Ryan’s pub Parkgate made for wealthy customers. Street Dublin 8. Connolly Station Clock. With thanks to Sven Habermann Sven to thanks With Library of Ireland. of Library Edited by Eleanor Flegg Eleanor by Edited Collection, Courtesy of the National National the of Courtesy Collection, Dublin, c.1900-1920, Fergus O’Connor O’Connor Fergus c.1900-1920, Dublin, Text and images Nigel Barnes Nigel images and Text Clock tower and town hall, Rathmines, Rathmines, hall, town and tower Clock An initiative of the Heritage Council Heritage the of initiative An www.westdean.org.uk/CollegeChannel/FullTimeCourses/ClockMaking.aspx A full-time course in the conservation and restoration of clocks: clocks: of restoration and conservation the in course full-time A National Museum of Ireland: www.museum.ie Ireland: of Museum National The Bunratty Castle Medieval Collection: www.bunrattycollection.com Collection: Medieval Castle Bunratty The The Antiquarian Horological Society: www.ahsoc.org Society: Horological Antiquarian The The British Horological Institute: www.bhi.co.uk Institute: Horological British The The Heritage Council: www.heritagecouncil.ie/home Council: Heritage The To find a conservator: www.conservationireland.org conservator: a find To To find a clock repairer: www.ihcf.ie repairer: clock a find To Care and conservation of clocks: www.icon.org.uk/images/stories/clocks.pdf clocks: of conservation and Care Find out more out Find A contemporary clock-maker at work. at clock-maker contemporary A decided on a case-by-case basis. case-by-case a on decided whether to repair or conserve a clock should be be should clock a conserve or repair to whether necessary repairs or restoration. The dilemma of of dilemma The restoration. or repairs necessary to give advice on a conservation approach to any any to approach conservation a on advice give to accredited horological conservator will be able able be will conservator horological accredited historical integrity) or to stop the clock. An An clock. the stop to or integrity) historical worn parts (thus compromising the object’s object’s the compromising (thus parts worn must decide whether to repair or replace the the replace or repair to whether decide must function. At this point the owner of the clock clock the of owner the point this At function. or replacement if the clock is to continue to to continue to is clock the if replacement or mender. Eventually, clock parts may need repair repair need may parts clock Eventually, mender.
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