harrytempest

J. Murphy, I think, J for James. The word after 1905 may be CARDINAL.

Niall McAuley Have taken J under advisement and changed it above, thanks. And good call on Cardinal, I think.

Aha! J is for John: (from www.stpatrickscathedral.org.au/bells/a-history-of-the-bel...) John Murphy was a Coppersmith of 14 Thomas Street Dublin who established his business in 1837. In 1843 he branched-out into bell founding, casting a bell for the Roman Catholic church in Tuam in County Galway. In the years that followed Murphy cast many single bells and at least eight rings of bells. Many of Murphy’s bells were thinner in profile than bells cast by other founders and intended for ringing, but that did not prevent Murphy bells being awarded prizes at the Dublin and London Exhibitions and First Prize in 1900 at the Paris Exhibition. John Murphy, who had founded the business, died in 1875. His son, John J. Murphy, then ran the foundry until it eventually closed. John J. died in 1948. In 1885 Matthew O’Byrne, who ran a foundry in James Street in Dublin, persuaded James Gaskin to join him. Gaskin had been the bell-maker at Murphy’s. Thereafter the Murphy Bell Foundry declined. According to Fred Dukes the last dated bell traceable to Murphy’s was cast in 1900.

Suspended Carol, suspended! Bell casting was very skilled work. Witness the Liberty Bell in the US which was cast in one of the oldest foundries in the world in Whitechapel in London. The darned thing cracked and they mangled it trying to mend it over there. John Murphy was a brave man to take on that work.

"It's the way they toll them" as Frank Carson might have said. I saw him a few times in Blackpool where his family lives. RIP Frank.

Beautiful !!!

░S░i░l░a░n░d░i░ ☮ Thank you!

I can hear her now "Off with his head !!" or was that the Queen of Hearts ?

Wikipedia tells us that "The Queen of spades is considered to be a sign of intelligence. It is representative of judgment that is practical, logical, and intellectual. It represents a woman who is creative and makes her plans ahead of time." My guess is that she's off to a Tchaikovsky opera.

Cuddly Nutter Yep, Queen of Hearts.

If the world does end today - It was nice knowing you all. By the way - is it GMT or Mexican time I should be worried about? By the way two - there is no Dog in this Photograph....

The bones of three dogs were found in the chamber of Newgrange during excavations, one each from the east and west chambers and one from just outside the end chamber. It is not known for sure whether these bones are ancient or more modern. It is thought they may have belonged to stray dogs who got into the passage but could not get out again.

If you're very, very good DannyM8 the first photo of 2013 will have a Dog in the Photograph! :)

It looked much nicer 100 years ago... Today the stones feel a bit plastic...

I just went out and bought a 2013 calendar from a shop that says it sells Mayan stuff. I'm suspicious. It's just 12 sheets of blank paper stapled together.