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Heather O’Sullivan of John Ross Jewellers with the old clock back where it belongs.
IT’S back where it belongs and brighter than ever.
The John Ross Jewellers clock was hoisted above the jewellers on Castle Street early on Tuesday morning after a six week period where it went through a refurbishment.
“We’re just thrilled, it’s a wonderful moment to see the clock working again,” said Heather O’Sullivan of John Ross, when we called down on Tuesday.
It’s part of a larger conservation project on the shop which has been operating there for the past 118 years.
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“The clock is a protected structure and has been there spanning seven decades. It’s the final icing on the cake of the conservation project. We needed to do some work on the inside of the shopfront this year, in association with Kerry County Council with heritage-approved contractors.”
The John Ross Jewellers clock.
“We had a small bit of damage to the cornice above the ‘N’ and ‘R’ on the shopfront and a local master craftsman, Aidan Hannebery, replaced about two feet of it and you would never know the work was new,” said Heather.
The new casing on the clock was supplied by Bolger Fabrication, who were also involved the last time it was replaced.
“That’s actually the third casing the clock has had. The original case was replaced in 1984 and my father [Brian Kenny] and the Bolgers did that job. Here we have the 2017 case. The dials are the originals and the clockwork inside is the same, it’s just the case has changed over the years and the writing on the casing has now been changed to match the sign on the shopfront,” said Heather.
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The inner workings of the clock, which is German-made, were giving problems so a Cork company did the repairs. Electrician Billy O’Sullivan from Tralee connected it up on Tuesday morning after it was installed by Bolger Fabrication and Ned O’Shea builders.
There is also one final detail restored to the clock which makes it extra special.
“When the clock was installed 60 years ago the dials lit up at night, but it became cumbersome to replace them. So now we have it lighting again for the first time since the 1970s,” said Heather. (see below)
• To mark the 60th birthday of the clock, John Ross is holding a special weekend of celebrations on this Friday and Saturday, with the official launch at 11am on Friday morning followed by some fantastic giveaways over the two day event.
