Cork’s biggest liar caught telling the truth?

There was temporary panic in Cork city recently when it appeared that Shandon Bells’ clocks, which are famously out of whack, might have been “fixed”.

An observant Leesider noticed that the clocks on both the south and west facing sides of the tower appeared to be perfectly in sync, showing the correct time at the same time (around 2.20pm).

They posted pictures of the anomaly on Cork’s dedicated Reddit page r/cork under the heading “Wait, did they just... fix the clocks?”, to which one commentor replied: “Just pop the battery out for a few hours, sorted.”

Another wrote: “Four Faced Truther doesn’t have the same ring.”

This of course should never be the case for the tower which is known locally as the Four Faced Liar due to its four clocks historically rarely, if ever, showing the same time.

With the tower and adjoining St Anne’s Church having recently undergone major restorative works to the tune of almost €600k, some locals were worried that the tower’s famous quirk might be lost.

However, Cork City Council has assured the public that the quirk has been lovingly maintained, with the four faces only lining up exactly on the hour.

Designed by local clockmaker James Mangan and installed in 1847, the four-faced clock on Shandon Tower pre-dates London’s Big Ben, making it the oldest of its kind on the British Isles.

Rev Meghan Farr of St Anne’s Church, Shandon, said: “We have heard a variety of different reasons for why the faces don’t tell the same time, including Mangan designing it that way to account for the winds at that height. But I think the main answer is that the mechanism itself was Mangan’s first attempt at a large clock and if he had done it even just a few years later, he would have done it differently.

“Basically, the way the arms come out that hold the hand pieces is very sensitive. So, if one side gets off, it pulls at its connecting side. Something like that.

“I think there will be times (pun intended) when they all seem to line up but often, they won’t,” she added.

With the scaffolding now taken down and the restorative works as good as done, a grand re-opening is planned for 27 March. An exact time has yet to be confirmed.