[Bell Historians] McShane bells in the British Isles

[Carl S Zimmerman]

One of the major bellfoundries in America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was that of Henry McShane, in Baltimore, Maryland.  The McShane name became so widely associated with bells that it was retained as part of the company name when no members of the McShane family were still associated with the foundry, and it survives today in the McShane Bell Company (no longer a foundry) of Saint Louis, Missouri.
The McShane name has been known in the UK for almost a century, following the gift of a 13-bell chime by Irish-American lumber and shipping magnate Robert Dollar to his home church in Falkirk, Scotland, in 1926.  This set of bells is not yet recorded in Dove, but probably will be when the chimes of Scotland are added to that database.  The sole McShane entry in Dove at present is not in the UK at all--it is the 1890 chime of 10 bells in Exeter, Ontario, which contains six bells hung for change ringing.
However, a project to digitize a typewritten index to the handwritten McShane bell records has led to the discovery that the McShane Bell Foundry shipped five bells to the British Isles at various times.  Four of those went to Ireland, perhaps because the buyers wanted to deal with an Irish-born bellfounder.  The five are as follows (using current country names and avoirdupois weights):
21 Oct 1881 - Rev. B. O'Hagan, St. Coleman's Church, Gilford, Northern Ireland - 3700#
19 Aug 1884 - Rev. P. Lowry, Achonry, co.Sligo, Ireland - 175#
28 Sep 1885 - St. Mary's Church, Heaton Norris, (Stockport area?), England - 450#
9 Jan 1888 - St. John's Church, Gilford, Northern Ireland - 1500#
9 Mar 1896 - St. Malachy's Church, Castlewellan, Northern Ireland - 3400#

I have not attempted to discover whether any of these bells survive, thinking that other subscribers to this list would be far better equipped to do so than I am.  But I would of course be interested to learn more about them.  The weights given are pattern weights, not finished weights, which might appear stamped on top of the shoulder of a bell.

Carl Scott Zimmerman, Campanologist 
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA -
 - 19th c. home of at least 37 bell founders or resellers 
Tel. +1(314)821-8437 
Webmaster for www.TowerBells.org
 * Avocation: tower bells
 * Recreation: handbells
 * Mission: church bellsWebmaster for www.TSCChapter134.orgTreasurer, World Carillon Federation
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