Did you know Dublin used to be 25 minutes behind London until 1916?
Or that 100 public clocks lie between the two canals in the capital, only two thirds of which actually tell the right time.
These are just some of the facts that will be outlined at a talk entitled ‘All In Good Time: The Fascinating History of Dublin Public Clocks’, which is one of more than 250 talks, walks, exhibitions and performances taking place across the capital to mark the Dublin Festival of History.
Adrian Le Harival, who will lead the talk on clocks, said many people pass by the timepieces every day without noticing because most are located high up on buildings.
“During the 19th century there’s enormous expansion of all types of buildings and its reflected in the number of clocks that suddenly appear on them. They’re useful but they’re also an asset around the city.
“They’re a feature of public buildings, on commercial premises, on pubs. We are all obsessed by time. They span over two centuries,” he said.
Before the Easter Rising, clocks in Dublin showed a different time to those in London but this was updated to deal with issues such as train schedules.
“In 1916, Dublin was 25 minutes and 21 seconds behind London, actually following the path of the sun. There’s a certain logic but clearly in a modern world you have to have the same time,” Mr Le Harival said.
His favourite clock in the capital is in the National Gallery, but he suggests those interested in learning more about time should visit the National Museum in Collins Barracks, which has the mechanism of the inside of a clock built in 1849 on display across two floors.
However, not all the talks in the Dublin Festival of History are about times past.
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Another talk looks at the history of the Cantonese community in Dublin, whose story in Dublin begins with the establishment of a restaurant in the 1950s.
While many might believe that the community has it origins on Dublin’s northside around Parnell Street, the first Cantonese businesses were actually in the south city.
Alice Chau Ginguene is leading the talk on the history of the Cantonese community and said: “Asia Market is actually a very iconic representation of the Cantonese community.
“They are one of the first prominent Cantonese businesses in the city if not the country. They’ve been here since 1981.
“Around the corner we have the Good World restaurant, which is one of the original Cantonese restaurants in Dublin.
“One of the reasons I want to do this talk is to get Irish people to understand that there’s actually huge diversity within the Asian community and we all have different food, different culture, different languages and we’re not just one group of people,” she said.
She said the Cantonese community is now based mainly in Dublin’s south suburbs.
“Things have changed so much obviously. The newer generations of Cantonese people would often come to work for major Irish industry and I think with our lifestyle we gravitate towards new build modern apartments, maybe with a gym.
“We don’t have a very front-yard back-yard culture. So as a result a lot of them would prefer to live in the south Dublin area.”
The Dublin Festival of History runs until 13 October and entry to all of the events in the festival, which is now in its 12th year is free, but some of the events do require advance booking.
