Did You Know Ireland Had Its Very Own Time Zone Until Not So Long Ago?

Consider today officially Fun Fact Friday. 

Did you know that up until 1916, Ireland had its very own time zone that was 25 minutes and 21 seconds behind London’s Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

For 36 years Ireland’s time was set on the longitude of Dunsink Observatory, after The Time Act of 1880 established Greenwich Mean Time for Great Britain and Dublin Mean Time for Ireland.

Yep, a mere 101 years ago we were all on our very own time zone on the island!

On 1 October 1916, just five months after the Rising, Ireland relinquished its individual time zone and adopted Greenwich Mean Time. With the introduction of daylight saving and the end of summertime that year Dublin’s time was aligned to that of London.

The Time (Ireland) Act 1916, which came into effect on the night of 30 September 1 October as all clocks were put back 35 minutes, streamlined the time zones, and Ireland adopted Western European Time, set on the Greenwich meridian. 

Many in the nationalist movement saw this as a further erosion of Ireland’s ability to make decisions for itself, however it was kept for trade reasons. 

Mad eh? No wonder we have a reputation for being shite with time!

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