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Kilkenny Sundial
Shankill Castle
Shankill Castle at Paulstown, Co. Kilkenny

Multi Facet Sundial
Multi Facet Sundial


Shankill Castle has the only known polyhedral sundial in Ireland, with dials on the eight vertical sides and the top face of an octagonal prism. Similar dials are to be found in Scotland and this one, or its design, may have originated there. This type of dial is a highly distinctive product of complex mathematical craftsmanship.

The dial was restored and the brass gnomons replaced by Owen Deignan for the Cope Family in 1998.

Shankill Castle was originally a Butler family tower-house. Peter Aylward bought the lands from his wife's family in 1708, and it was rebuilt in the early 18th century and set in a formal landscape with a vista to the front and canal to the rear. It was enlarged and castellated in the 19th century and the dial probably dates from then.


Lat 52° 41' North    Long 7° 1' West

Irish Grid     S  266450    160000



If you know the location of a sundial in Ireland (NOT a mass produced DIY Store garden ornament) please email it to me (Click here to email M.J.Harley) - a member of British Sundial Society
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