Meet the men who rescued hundreds of historic Irish clocks from disappearing abroad
Horologist David Boles at the Museum of Time in Waterford City. Photo: Patrick Browne
While many of us wish we could turn back the hands of time, avid collector David Boles is excited to watch hundreds of his clocks go forward as part of a military operation this weekend.
It’s been almost four years since the 81-year-old co-founder of the Museum of Time in Waterford parted with his precious clock collection which is now housed in the historic building. Described as the only one of its kind in the country, the experience forms part of the Waterford Treasures museum collection in the heart of the city.
The idea for the initiative was sparked after David and fellow timepiece collector Colman Curran grew increasingly concerned about the fates of their collections.
Neither had family who wished to inherit the antiques, meaning the clocks would have to be sold separately after their deaths. The pair, who both live in Dublin, believe the clocks would likely have ended up in the US, which is home to some of the largest timepiece collections in the world.
At first it appeared that no one wanted their clocks, leaving Colman and David disillusioned. That is until Eamonn McEneaney, director of Waterford Treasures, stepped in to offer them a home for their collections in a former neo-Gothic-style Methodist church which dates back to the 1800s.
While technological advances mean the majority of us no longer have to worry about altering the time on our clocks, Colman and David will have all hands on deck this weekend.
Their team of dedicated staff and volunteers share the unenviable task of changing the time on more than 600 clocks.
Everything including grandfather clocks, marine clocks and turret clocks, among other attractions at the museum will go forward by an hour this weekend. While some of us will undoubtedly lament the hour lost in bed, others will celebrate the start of summer and the onset of longer evenings.
Colman explained why the task of changing the clock times at the museum is not as straightforward as it seems.
“We have to be very careful when adjusting the clocks,” he told the . “For example, if the hour goes back you don’t wind the hands backwards to reflect the hour going back. Instead, you stop the clock and wait for the hour to catch up. With a lot of these clocks you can’t move the hands backwards or you risk doing a lot of damage.
"In the museum, in particular, we’re very careful to make sure that nobody does any damage. There is a bit of a production to it but we’re happy to do it.”
The former solicitor detailed why he and David gave up their collections to fulfil a dream of founding Ireland’s first national horological museum.
“I had amassed what I believe was quite an important collection of clocks over the 40 years I was working. When you’re an obsessive collector, as I am, you start to ask yourself about what is going to happen to the clocks when you die. This was the case for me after I retired.
"You can’t exactly turn around to your next of kin or siblings and offer them 50 grandfather clocks. I decided the best way to keep them all together was to put them in a museum, so we went about setting one up.”
Meanwhile, David said he had almost given up before Colman secured a home for the treasured items.
“I was 14 when I started collecting clocks,” David recalled. “Now, I was wondering where I was going to leave them. None of my relations are particularly interested in them. I had hoped to get a museum in Dublin to take them many years ago. I tried and gave up. That was 20 years ago.
"When I started looking I had been full of enthusiasm. Everyone I spoke to said they were very interested but had to put it to the committee. There were committee meetings after committee meetings and it just dragged on from there. Because of a combination of lethargy and bureaucracy it never happened but the difference in Waterford was astonishing. Their enthusiasm was refreshing.”
He said the thought of their clocks being purchased by overseas buyers was devastating.
“Neither of us wanted to see our clock collections put on the market. If this happened, they would almost certainly be snapped up by American buyers and all these fine Irish clocks would end up in the US. When I met Eamon from Waterford Treasures, I told him he was welcome to my entire collection of clocks.”
David reminisced about how his love affair with clocks started.
“My father had a slight interest in old clocks. He would buy the odd one. You could pick them up very cheaply in the 1940s and 50s. He bought one or two, and decided to take them apart on the kitchen table and fix them up and get them going.
"From the age of about 10 I was very interested in them but I didn’t start collecting until I was 14. I used to look around antique shops trying to find interesting ones. I was interested in Irish clocks in particular. People were telling me that they were all made in England and just had Irish names on them but I gradually realised that was a load of rubbish. Every old Irish clock was absolutely made in Ireland.
"One of the reasons some of these clocks were found in the UK was the Acts of Union which came about in 1800. Some of the wealthiest families in Ireland moved to London and brought their most valuable possessions with them. These were the finest clocks of their day owned by the wealthiest families.”
David derived great joy from purchasing clocks in his youth.
“The English people had no interest in them, so I managed to pick these up very cheaply. Irish clocks could turn up in America, Sweden, France and Germany among other countries, but you mostly found them in England and Scotland.”
Colman hopes their collections will inspire the next generation of clock collectors.
“That’s part of what I want,” Colman said. “Clockmaking died out in Ireland in the 20th century as it did in other parts of the world but these pieces are fantastic historical reference points and items. They tell the time but they can also make for beautiful furniture.
"Clocks create a mood in a house with the ticking sound they make and the ringing on the hour which many of them have. From that point of view they are very satisfying things to collect.”
Colman also enjoys restoring timepieces.
“There is a very curious element to clocks for people like myself. One of the things that older people like me with an interest in them enjoy most is finding an old clock that’s neglected and bringing it back to life.
"A clock is like a human in that it has a heartbeat. It ticks away gently almost at the same speed as the human heart. It can seem almost alive, so there is a joy in finding something that's broken and literally bringing it back to life.”
