[1]Information on the bell

Extracted by Dickon R Love: Irish Weekly and Ulster Examiner - Saturday 29 September 1894 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004159/18940929/056/0003 The bell, which has been cast by Byrne, of Dublin, weighs 45 cwt, and is a separate contract from the spire.

Irish Weekly and Ulster Examiner - Saturday 15 December 1894 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004159/18941215/040/0003 On Thursday the new bell for St. Patrick’s Memorial Church, Downpatrick, which arrived a few weeks ago, was tested. … It is the gift of the late Mr. Anthony Macken, hotel-keeper, Downpatrick, who by his will left a sum of money to his trustees – the Very Rev. P. O’Kane, P.P., V.G., Downpatrick; Rev. Robert Crickard, Adm., Belfast; and Messrs. John McNabb, J.P., Clogher Hall; Henry Johnston, and Hugh Crickard, Downpatrick – to finish the tower and erect a spire and bell on this magnificent church … The bell was manufactured at Byrne’s Fountain Head Foundry, James Street, Dublin, and has cost £300. It is the second heaviest bell manufactured by that eminent firm in Ireland, its weight being 45 cwt., and is made from a mixture of copper, tin and silver. It is fitted up with Byrne’s patent rotary mountings, made of cast and wrought iron, and through this patent the bell can be adjusted to strike on any point, so as to save injury by reason of the constant striking in a particular part. It is hung on pivots, working into a gun metal bushen, fitted on to cast iron standards bolted down to the floor of the bell chamber, and is rung by a wheel which is fitted into the patent mounting, secured with bolts, and attached to the wheel is the bell rope, which extends to the floor of the church. The bell is coloured light green and bears the following inscription in raised brass letters: - “Most Rev. Patrick McAlister, D.D., Lord Bishop of Down and Connor; Very Rev. Patrick O’Kane, P.P., V.G., Downpatrick. Dedicated to St Patrick and St. Anthony, 1894. M. Byrne, Fountain Head Bell Foundry, St. James Street, Dublin, 1894.”

Published: 19/06/2024

[2]References

O’Byrne 1962 catalogue: 45 cwt bell for Very Reverend Patrick O’Kane, P.P., V.G., Downpatrick, Co. Down, 1894

Published: 02/07/2024