Breaking News.ie
7 September 2008


St. Patrick’s Cathedral pierces the fog of the ages. For one thing, Jonathan Swift—author of Gulliver’s Travels—was dean here in the 1700s; his grave sits near the entrance - Photo from Best of Dublin.


Dublin’s oldest public clock – on St Patrick’s Cathedral – is getting a face-lift to restore it to tick-tock order.

The timepiece, which has four faces, is almost 450 years old.

UK-based experts have been hired to recondition the clock’s delicate inner workings and re-gild the face and Roman numerals.

The project is part of a €1.2m revamp of the Church of Ireland building’s tower which is due to be completed by the end of next month.

St Patrick’s, which is Ireland’s largest church, draws up to 300,000 visitors a year.

It can seat more than 1,000 people and has been used in the past for the state funerals of former presidents Douglas Hyde and Erskine Childers.

“The clock is the oldest public clock in Dublin, would have originally dated back to 1560,” said assistant administrator Mark Bowyer.

He added: “It has a lot of character and is fondly regarded by the congregation and the public in general.

“But it had become difficult to read the time in recent months.”

Mr Bowyer said the clock has undergone restoration work before and was completely rebuilt around the 1860s.

“Ongoing restoration work continues on the clock as and when required.

“How much of the original clock which remains is not clear,” he added.

The restoration of the tower, currently obscured by builders’ scaffolding, received a €200,000 grant from the Heritage Council.

Experts will also clean the tower’s surface exterior and octagonal spire as well as re-pointing the stone work.

The bell tower, where the ceiling had become unstable, will also be overhauled.

Most of the funding for the project will come from St Patrick’s Cathedral’s own coffers, which are boosted by admission charges revenue and its gift shop.

Work on the clock is being carried out by UK-based expert Julian Cosby while cathedral architect John Beauchamp is supervising the overall project.