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

Home , Richard of Wallingford, Turret clock

Connolly Station Clock. Station Connolly

Street Dublin 8. Dublin Street

made for wealthy customers. wealthy for made

Ryan’s pub Parkgate Parkgate pub Ryan’s

Clocks by John Finney of Dublin were were Dublin of Finney John by Clocks

at clock Public

British and Irish time. time. Irish and British

made for the wealthy as expressions of opulence and grandeur. and opulence of expressions as wealthy the for made

In 1916 the Time (Ireland) Act unified unified Act (Ireland) Time the 1916 In

every town in Ireland. Clocks, such as those made by John Finney of Dublin, were were Dublin, of Finney John by made those as such Clocks, Ireland. in town every

ambiance of a Victorian public house. house. public Victorian a of ambiance

the provinces until, by the late eighteenth century, there were clock-makers in in clock-makers were there century, eighteenth late the by until, provinces the

and became an essential part of the the of part essential an became and

principally from London and the north-east of England. Clock-making spread into into spread Clock-making England. of north-east the and London from principally

helped to enforce licensing laws laws licensing enforce to helped

century, dozens of clock-makers had become established in Ireland; they spread spread they Ireland; in established become had clock-makers of dozens century,

the country while the pub clock clock pub the while country the

to expand to satisfy the growing demand for timepieces. By the early eighteenth eighteenth early the By timepieces. for demand growing the satisfy to expand to

Timetables now required railway clocks to be standardised across across standardised be to clocks railway required now Timetables

and appointments and, with the spread of world commerce, clock-making began began clock-making commerce, world of spread the with and, appointments and

Time as 25 minutes 21 seconds behind Greenwich Mean Time. Time. Mean Greenwich behind seconds 21 minutes 25 as Time

beginning of the modern age of timetables timetables of age modern the of beginning

The seventeenth century was the the was century seventeenth The

Irish farm and stable yards. stable and farm Irish

began to create problems and, in 1880, all the clocks in Ireland Ireland in clocks the all 1880, in and, problems create to began

towers, were once a familiar feature in in feature familiar a once were towers,

Domestic clocks clocks Domestic

In an age of industrialisation and travel, the reliance on local time time local on reliance the travel, and industrialisation of age an In Farm clocks, often combined with bell bell with combined often clocks, Farm

Standardisation

. To show the people Castleknock people the show To

weathercock/ a top its on And

clock/ a has Guinness Mister

telescopes. The clock tower is recorded in a local ditty: ditty: local a in recorded is tower clock The telescopes.

Rathmines, an instrument-maker better known for making equatorial equatorial making for known better instrument-maker an Rathmines,

water to the estate. The clock itself was made by Sir Howard Grubb of of Grubb Howard Sir by made was itself clock The estate. the to water

as the ‘last of the Irish watchmakers. Irish the of ‘last the as

at Farmleigh was designed in 1880 as part of a building that supplied supplied that building a of part as 1880 in designed was Farmleigh at

Possibly for this reason, Donegan became known known became Donegan reason, this for Possibly

and to make sure that the estate ran on time. A dramatic example example dramatic A time. on ran estate the that sure make to and

anachronistic by the mid-nineteenth century. century. mid-nineteenth the by anachronistic

often combined with weathervanes, both as an architectural statement statement architectural an as both weathervanes, with combined often

of John Donegan (1794-1862) seemed somewhat somewhat seemed (1794-1862) Donegan John of

Clock towers were sometimes built into farmyards or stable complexes, complexes, stable or farmyards into built sometimes were towers Clock elaborate engraving that distinguished the work work the distinguished that engraving elaborate

Farm clocks Farm

became known for their craftsmanship, but the the but craftsmanship, their for known became

began wearing wristwatches. Irish-made watches watches Irish-made wristwatches. wearing began

watchmakers. Irish

until the early twentieth century, that people people that century, twentieth early the until nineteenth-century last

the of one Donegan, John over the next three hundred years. It was not not was It years. hundred three next the over

by made watches Pocket National Library of Ireland. of Library National

century church clocks are relatively rare in Ireland. in rare relatively are clocks church century fifteenth century, and improved in technology technology in improved and century, fifteenth

Collection, Courtesy of the the of Courtesy Collection,

was no longer needed as a community resource. For this reason, nineteenth - - nineteenth reason, this For resource. community a as needed longer no was

Pocket watches have been around since the the since around been have watches Pocket City, c.1965-1914, The Lawrence Lawrence The c.1965-1914, City,

domestic clocks and pocket-watches became more widespread, the church clock clock church the widespread, more became pocket-watches and clocks domestic

Church Street, Shandon, Cork Cork Shandon, Street, Church Portable time Portable

the four clocks were not always synchronised. By the mid nineteenth century, as as century, nineteenth mid the By synchronised. always not were clocks four the

Cork Corporation in 1847, it reputedly became known as the ‘four faced liar’ since since liar’ faced ‘four the as known became reputedly it 1847, in Corporation Cork

but when the clock itself was erected by by erected was itself clock the when but

Shandon, in Cork were first rung in 1752 1752 in rung first were Cork in Shandon,

brass bar for the rest. the for bar brass

nineteenth-century church clock. clock. church nineteenth-century

bar or flat or from brass sheet for the wheels and plates, and and plates, and wheels the for sheet brass from or flat or bar period. The clock bells at Saint Anne’s, Anne’s, Saint at bells clock The period.

relatively rare example of a a of example rare relatively

dates from the 1830s – every part is made from either steel steel either from made is part every – 1830s the from dates

is still in use, is a rare survivor from that that from survivor rare a is use, in still is

Ballinode church, showing a a showing church, Ballinode

This hand-made longcase clock by Robert O’Shaughnessy O’Shaughnessy Robert by clock longcase hand-made This

in the church tower at Blessington, which which Blessington, at tower church the in

of more modest means. modest more of century. The late seventeenth-century clock clock seventeenth-century late The century.

mid nineteenth century, were also found in houses houses in found also were century, nineteenth mid Christchurch, Dublin in the late fifteenth fifteenth late the in Dublin Christchurch,

longcase clocks became more plentiful and, by the the by and, plentiful more became clocks longcase refers to a clock in a public building near near building public a in clock a to refers

and profuse decoration. As the decades passed, passed, decades the As decoration. profuse and evidence for an Irish mechanical clock clock mechanical Irish an for evidence

early in the eighteenth century with larger dials dials larger with century eighteenth the in early are original. The first definite documentary documentary definite first The original. are

clocks, a certain Irish style had developed quite quite developed had style Irish certain a clocks, operation and it is possible that parts of it it of parts that possible is it and operation

developed for smaller bracket clocks. In longcase longcase In clocks. bracket smaller for developed centuries. The Salisbury clock remains in in remains clock Salisbury The centuries.

Irish aristocracy and, after about 1730, a trend trend a 1730, about after and, aristocracy Irish during the fourteenth and fifteenth fifteenth and fourteenth the during

clocks, were made for the grand houses of the the of houses grand the for made were clocks, establishments religious Irish in installed those to similar probably is (1386)

Longcase clocks, also known as grandfather grandfather as known also clocks, Longcase Cathedral Salisbury at clock the but Ireland in survive clocks church early Few

Longcase clocks Longcase clocks Church Clocks in Ireland in Clocks

Care and conservation of clocks

Clocks are special-purpose machines that require care and maintenance to perform their H o r o lo g y intended function. Like all machines, they need The heritage of clocks and other timepieces to be serviced regularly by a qualified clock mender. Eventually, clock parts may need repair or replacement if the clock is to continue to function. At this point the owner of the clock must decide whether to repair or replace the worn parts (thus compromising the object’s historical integrity) or to stop the clock. An accredited horological conservator will be able to give advice on a conservation approach to any necessary repairs or restoration. The dilemma of whether to repair or conserve a clock should be decided on a case-by-case basis.

A contemporary clock-maker at work.

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An initiative of the Heritage Council Clock tower and town hall, Rathmines, Text and images Nigel Barnes Dublin, c.1900-1920, Fergus O’Connor Edited by Eleanor Flegg Collection, Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland. With thanks to Sven Habermann