Local historian on the clock for restoration of iconic Limerick timepiece

A LOCAL historian is planning to restore a unique piece of the city’s heritage to its former glory.

Randel Hodkinson has acquired one face of the Cannocks Clock, which looked proudly down on O’Connell Street between 1888 and 1961.

He acquired the clock after its previous owner rescued it from the scrapheap.

“It was just by chance this man had bought it off the scrapyard. He saw it, and said it should not be scrapped - it’s a piece of Limerick history,” said Randel.

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He had originally heard of the existence of the clock face 20 years ago.

But it was not until around 12 years ago when he finally got his hands on the piece of Limerick history.

The clock made an appearance in O’Mahony’s Bookshop on Thursday last to mark the launch of a book by Frances Twomey exploring the impact of Cannocks on the local economy.

Measuring six foot in diameter, it took three people to bring the clock into the shop.

Randel has made contact with a successor firm to the company which originally produced the clock, Gillett and Johnson of Croydon, just outside London.

An archive full of specifications of all the clocks made by the firm is available.

Randel will be working with the company to replace some of the pieces which are no longer around.

“There are no hands with the clock, so they said they could make up the exact hands. My plan is, down the road, to replace the glass, put the original glass back in, put the hands in and perhaps put an electric mechanism in the back of it,” he said.