He went as far as the clock of the College of Surgeons: it was on the stroke of ten. He set off briskly along the northern side of the Green, hurrying for fear of Corley....
- James Joyce; 'Dubliners'
With the release of the Central Bank of Ireland's commemorative medal to James Joyce a few months back the above quote from 'Two Gallants' has been in my mind.
The clock above the front entrance to the College is a beautiful eye-catching sky blue colour, much like Dublin's sky these last few sunny days. It was made by James Booth and Sons who were prominent watch and clock makers based in Dublin. James had his workshop near Stephen's Green North from 1823 and he is registered in the Dublin Street Directory 1862 as a 'foreign and English watch and clock maker' . His son James Jnr. worked on Nassau Street in 1868 and the business continued up until the 1950s. Booth was popular among the fashionable and wealthy in Dublin and he received a large share of public patronage.
If your eyes drift above the clock you will see the as the carved key stone the head of Hippocrates, the father of medicine. Let your eyes drift further up to the top of the building and you will see the large tympanum (vertical triangular space forming the centre of the pediment) where the king's arms are carved in Portland stone. The incorporation of the king's arms as part of the fabric of the building is a mark of respect and alludes to the establishment by charter in 1784 of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland by George III.
The royal arms consist of a quartered shield. The first and fourth quarters representing England, feature three leopards passant guardant. The second quarter, representing Scotland, features a lion rampant within a double border. A stringed harp in the third quarter represents Ireland. The whole shield is encircled with the Garter, emblem of the most notable Order of the Garter.
According to legend this order of chivalry was founded in 1348 to commemorate an incident in which Edward III was dancing with the Countess of Salisbury when one of her blue garters dropped to the floor. As bystanders snickered, Edward gallantly picked up the garter and put it on his own leg, admonishing the courtiers in French with the phrase that remains as the order's motto Honi soi qui mal y pense. These words form part of the royal arms, but, on the RCSI carving, after two hundred years' erosion, they are now discernible. The popular translation is 'Evil to him who evil thinks' but the simpler 'Shame to him who thinks evil of it' conveys more to those with the incident in mind!
The shield has for supporters a lion guardant on the right and, on the left, a unicorn with around the neck a coronet collar from which a chin passes between the forelegs. The crest, resting on top of the shield is a Royal Crown Proper. The motto DIEU ET MON DROIT ('God and my right'), first used by Richard 1, appears on the scroll below.
The royal arms in the College's pediment are the work of John Smith (1775-1834). An entry in the RCSI minutes of 5th January 1827 records that the building committee
'begs to recommend that the plan and estimate proposed by Mr. Smith be agreed to and adopted
by the College, not only in consequence of its being considerably cheaper than any other
presented, but also as Mr. Smith's character as a sculptor stands deservedly high...'
- James Joyce; 'Dubliners'
With the release of the Central Bank of Ireland's commemorative medal to James Joyce a few months back the above quote from 'Two Gallants' has been in my mind.
The clock above the front entrance to the College is a beautiful eye-catching sky blue colour, much like Dublin's sky these last few sunny days. It was made by James Booth and Sons who were prominent watch and clock makers based in Dublin. James had his workshop near Stephen's Green North from 1823 and he is registered in the Dublin Street Directory 1862 as a 'foreign and English watch and clock maker' . His son James Jnr. worked on Nassau Street in 1868 and the business continued up until the 1950s. Booth was popular among the fashionable and wealthy in Dublin and he received a large share of public patronage.
If your eyes drift above the clock you will see the as the carved key stone the head of Hippocrates, the father of medicine. Let your eyes drift further up to the top of the building and you will see the large tympanum (vertical triangular space forming the centre of the pediment) where the king's arms are carved in Portland stone. The incorporation of the king's arms as part of the fabric of the building is a mark of respect and alludes to the establishment by charter in 1784 of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland by George III.
The royal arms consist of a quartered shield. The first and fourth quarters representing England, feature three leopards passant guardant. The second quarter, representing Scotland, features a lion rampant within a double border. A stringed harp in the third quarter represents Ireland. The whole shield is encircled with the Garter, emblem of the most notable Order of the Garter.
According to legend this order of chivalry was founded in 1348 to commemorate an incident in which Edward III was dancing with the Countess of Salisbury when one of her blue garters dropped to the floor. As bystanders snickered, Edward gallantly picked up the garter and put it on his own leg, admonishing the courtiers in French with the phrase that remains as the order's motto Honi soi qui mal y pense. These words form part of the royal arms, but, on the RCSI carving, after two hundred years' erosion, they are now discernible. The popular translation is 'Evil to him who evil thinks' but the simpler 'Shame to him who thinks evil of it' conveys more to those with the incident in mind!
The shield has for supporters a lion guardant on the right and, on the left, a unicorn with around the neck a coronet collar from which a chin passes between the forelegs. The crest, resting on top of the shield is a Royal Crown Proper. The motto DIEU ET MON DROIT ('God and my right'), first used by Richard 1, appears on the scroll below.
The royal arms in the College's pediment are the work of John Smith (1775-1834). An entry in the RCSI minutes of 5th January 1827 records that the building committee
'begs to recommend that the plan and estimate proposed by Mr. Smith be agreed to and adopted
by the College, not only in consequence of its being considerably cheaper than any other
presented, but also as Mr. Smith's character as a sculptor stands deservedly high...'