June 8, 2009 by robert jarvis

From my investigations so far, in order of acoustic importance, the different clocks and their chimes around the City of Armagh appear to be:
Cathedral Church of St Patrick, Cathedral Street –Due to its elevation, the bells of this cathedral can be heard from most places within the City. It rings on the quarter-hour and also rings the Angelus on certain days. The church tower houses a carillon (situated in a room directly below the bells) whereby different tunes can be played on special occasions by means of a musical keyboard.
St Mark’s Parish Church – can also be heard in many places throughout Armagh, due to its elevation. The chimes are heard on the quarter-hour and also play a hymn tune at the end of the working day.
The Old Queen’s Building – this is a quieter less assuming sound only really being heard in the immediate vicinity. Instead of the usual clock chime it chimes a tune apparently composed by a Queen’s University student on the hour, with the usual increasing segments of it on the quarter hour.
Church of St Malachy, Irish Street – rings the Angelus on alternative days to the Cathedral Church of St Patrick.
Shambles Market Clock – simply chimes the number of the hour on the hour.
Dobbin’s Street Health Centre Clock, Dobbin’s Street – another quiet sounding chime for the local community. Again,
St Patrick’s Cathedral (CoI) – This church does not have a clock but does have eight bells which are rung by a series of bell-pull ropes which in turn operate the hammers that ring the stationery bells. (They are not swung in the conventional change-ringing format). This means that they can all be rung by one player in order to play different tunes. As far as this church is concerned, this usually happens on a Sunday.