6 september 2009

A few stragglers were standing outside the Ballast Office . . . waiting for the ball to rise on its pole on the roof. That would mark twelve o'clock, and the time was exact because it was sent in from the Observatory at Dunsink: sidereal time by which people set their watches. Why I cannot say because no-one in Dublin cares whether the time is exact or not and those who were watching the ball did not look as if they owned a watch. Perhaps it gave an air of earnestness to the day.

- Oliver Gogarty, It Isn't This Time of Year At All

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