Irish Museum of Time

About the museum

The Irish Museum of Time opened on 14 June 2021 on Greyfriars Street in Waterford's Viking Triangle, as part of the Waterford Treasures group of museums. It grew out of the clock collections of Colman Curran and Elizabeth Clooney, who offered them to the state in 2015, and of David Boles, who agreed to donate his collection in 2018. Together they amount to about 600 timepieces, the oldest dating from 1551.

The museum is housed in a refurbished neo-Gothic church that was built in the 1880s as a Methodist church. Its collection includes Irish-made grandfather clocks, table clocks and watches from the seventeenth century onward, as well as pieces from Switzerland, England, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Russia and Japan, and working turret clocks of the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. A highlight is a London clock of 1663 by William Clement, described as the earliest known example of the anchor escapement.

In 2024 the museum acquired the cuckoo clocks and a Black Forest fairground organ from a closing museum in England. After an expansion, the largest public exhibition of Black Forest cuckoo clocks opened on 27 March 2026 and the museum reopened on 28 March 2026.

Highlights

• Irish clocks and watches from the 17th century onward
• William Clement clock of 1663 with an early anchor escapement
• Black Forest cuckoo clock exhibition with automata and a fairground organ
• Working turret clocks of the 16th and 18th centuries
• "How it Works" section for younger visitors

Permanent exhibitions

• Irish and international timepieces – Irish-made grandfather clocks, table clocks and watches from the 17th century onward, with international pieces and a 1663 clock by William Clement showing an early anchor escapement.
• Black Forest cuckoo clocks – Hundreds of nineteenth-century Black Forest cuckoo clocks, including automata, miniature works and carved showpieces, with a century-old fairground organ.
• Turret clocks and "How it Works" – Working turret clocks of the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries and a section for younger visitors explaining how clocks work.

Founded

2021

Operated by

Waterford Treasures

Admission & discounts

Discounts of about 10 to 15 per cent are offered for online booking. Individual visitors do not need to book in advance.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: no information
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

A lift serves the museum. Wheelchairs and mobile stools are available at reception on request, and Blue Badge parking spaces are on Greyfriars Street and The Mall.

Kids & families

A "How it Works" section is aimed at younger visitors, and under 16s enter free. Waterford Treasures offers a free Treasures Trail for families through the Viking Triangle, with maps at the Bishop's Palace.

Getting there & parking

In the Viking Triangle at Greyfriars, next to Reginald's Tower.

Amenities & dining

• Coat check

Toilets on the ground floor. Cloakroom and luggage storage at reception; large bags must be left there. Food and drink are not allowed on the gallery floors. The Bishop's Palace Café, run by Waterford Treasures, offers 10 per cent off with a ticket.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit