Ann Dalby (b. 1931) Part 2

Ann Dalby, granddaughter of R.R. Cherry, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland was a bell ringer at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. Ann was recently invited to the Cathedral to view the dedications to her grandfather. The invitation was issued by Very Rev. Dr. William Morton and Mr. Andrew Smith, Education Officer at the Cathedral. During this recording which was compiled during the visit, Dr. Morton initially indicates the plaque in the Baptistry marking the occasion of the marriage of Ann’s grandparents, R.R. Cherry and Mary Cooper. Ann speaks about her grandfather’s background in Waterford and his studies in law in Dublin. He was accompanied from Waterford by his cousin, John Henry Bernard, who was to become Provost of Trinity College in later years. While moving into the tower and up the steep stone spiral steps to the belfry, Andrew Smith gives a brief account of the history of campanology at St. Patrick’s Cathedral over the centuries. He indicates and contextualises the wooden plaques dedicated to R.R. Cherry, and Ann’s son, Julian Dalby, reads from one of the plaques. Ann reads the dedication inscribed on another plaque: ‘In memory of the Right Honourable R.R. Cherry, Lord Chief Justice and President of St. Patrick’s Society of Chain Ringers 1923’. Ann relates a family story about her grandfather, who suffered from Parkinson’s Disease (or creeping paralysis as it was then known). He had a helper to carry him on his back up the steep steps to the belfry in the Cathedral to perform his bell-ringing duties. Moving upwards to the clock room, Andrew describes the workings and mechanics of the clocks, and finally, as the magnificent views of Dublin appear as we reach the top of the tower, he indicates the locations of many churches and other buildings in the city spread out below.