Survey Data
Reg No
21517289
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Technical
Previous Name
Tait's Testimonial
Original Use
Clock
In Use As
Clock
Date
1860 - 1870
Coordinates
157600, 156669
Date Recorded
20/07/2005
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding carved limestone Gothic style clock tower, erected in 1867. Polygonal limestone ashlar roof surmounted by decorative cast-iron finial supported on a four-sided base with profiled brackets below. A series of oculus openings to frieze below with a colonnette to each corner having foliate capitals. A clock face to all four sides is set in a trefoil-arched recessed panel flanked by squat pink marble columns supporting an ornate carved gable to each side with a pair of oculus openings above. A carved stringcourse and foliate cornice runs along all four sides below which the tower has eight sides with four slender colonettes alternating green and pink marble resting on a continuous moulded base. A quatrefoil inscribed panel is flanked by square marble columns and has a crested gable above. All resting on a heavy moulded base. A new limestone-clad square-plan base has been constructed below. West plaque to quatrefoil panel reads: 'Erected by Public Subscription in Appreciation of the Enterprise and Usefulness of Alderman Peter Tait.'
Appraisal
Designed by William Edward Corbett with an acknowledgement to the design of Big Ben in London. It pays tribute to Alderman Peter Tait the Scottish entrepreneur who owned the nearby Tait factory, which supplied the British Empire with uniforms. Tait was also Mayor of Limerick between 1866-68. The 'ante-mortem' was paid for by public subscription. It stands 65 feet tall and the builder was John Connolly and cost £750.