For the weekend that's in it, folklorist Michael Fortune shares a memory of times past...
As the clocks change this weekend, I thought I'd share a story about how, for a time there were three different time zones within one small area of County Wexford.
For those of you who don’t know, Summer/Winter Time was introduced in Ireland in 1916, in the middle of the First World War, and it took decades before country people accepted it — time simply wasn’t as important in rural life as it was in the business of towns.
Watch: 'Living on Old Time' - Jim Dunne, Oulart
It seems the Germans had the bright idea first, in a bid to save energy for the war effort by shifting clocks forward to make better use of natural daylight and reduce coal consumption. The British followed suit, and soon after so did other European countries and the United States.
Many rural people decided to stay on Old Time, while the townies moved to New Time. This went on for decades, and you’ll find newspaper ads right up through the 1950s and 60s clearly stating whether an event was in Old Time or New Time.
Watch: Still on Old Time in Wicklow' - Sammy and Joan Woolmington, Rathdrum
Our newspaper archives are littered with these examples — from dances to auctions — and you’ll usually find that the towns operated on New Time, while the country people stuck to Old Time.
However, here in Ballindaggin, they couldn’t quite make up their minds regarding the changes — and as a result, there were three time zones within the one area at one stage.
I couldn’t believe this at first when I heard it and back in November 2018, I recorded two men, Jim Byrne of Ballindaggin and Pat Lambert from Curragraigue (my father-in-law) telling me all about it.
They explained how rural people like themselves were always an hour behind the towns up until the early 1960s. So if you were going into Enniscorthy, about seven miles from Ballindaggin and five miles from Curragraigue, you’d have to allow for the time difference.
What’s also interesting is that Pat remembers the national school in Ballindaggin during the 1950s compromised and operated on what they called "Half-New Time." So, just to spell it out — it could be 10 a.m. in Enniscorthy, 9 a.m. in Curragraigue, and 9.30 a.m. in Ballindaggin village.
Technically, there were three different time zones within a few miles of each other.
Find out more about Michael Fortune and Folklore.ie here
