About Us

Armagh is a small town in the North of Ireland. Today it is a busy market town and although provided with all the amenities which modern life demands, including an internationally known Planetarium, it is for the wealth of its past that it is best known throughout Ireland and further afield.

There are few towns which have such a depth of historical significance. For over 600 years, from 310 BC to 332 AD it was the main seat of the Kings of Ulster, the most northerly province of Ireland. Today the coat of arms of the City of Armagh is topped by the Irish crown signifying its royal importance and the city is the last resting place of Brian Boru, the greatest of Ireland’s High Kings, who was buried here in 1014. Armagh has had its share of the age of chivalry with local knights and chieftains fighting not just among themselves but withstanding invasion from the Norsemen from Scandinavia and the Normans from France. All this has given the area a wealth of relics and memorials from the past.

Armagh is, however, best known as the place where Saint Patrick founded his principal Church in Ireland in 444 AD. From this beginning other churches, schools and colleges followed and Armagh became a seat of learning during the Dark Ages in Medieval Europe By spreading this knowledge abroad, Ireland itself became widely known as the ‘Isle of Saints and Scholars’. Today it has two imposing Cathedrals representing both sides of/he Christian tradition and the Royal School in Armagh founded by King James in 1608.

The two Cathedrals in Armagh

It is from this background of learning and culture that the enterprise for many skills and crafts developed over the years. Foremost among these have been woodworking and manufacture of fine traditional wooden products. Today this area is the centre of the furniture industry in this part of Ireland and generations of families have been employed in the small family concerns wicich have kept these traditions alive and flourishing.

One tradition is the making of longcase clocks which is a skill handed down from one generation to the next.

James Stewart and & Sons is a family business with numerous members of the family actively involved in the business, who with other skilled craftsmen make longcase clocks of quality

 

Fine Clocks of Distinction

These clocks are made from the finest materials available in the world today There are no cheap substitutes used in their manufacture but only the very best in timber, veneer and brassware, in keeping with the highest standard of skilled craftsmanship required to produce such pieces

 

Design

All Stewart clocks are based on traditional English designs combining elegance and quality and will enhance any family home large or small

 

Investment

Our workmanship stands comparison with many of the great masters of the past. Care has been taken to ensure that it is not just a beautiful piece, which you will enjoy, but it will be an heirloom for your family for many generations to come.

 

Finish

The finish on our clocks is achieved by a high quality unique process involving many hours of painstaking work, beginning at the stage of selection of the timber and ending when the final coat of polish has been applied.

 

Movements

All movements are of German origin and are readily accessible by means of the detachable hood.

 

After Sales Service

Every Stewart clock is unique in character, and is given a model registration number which assists in the after sales service. It is reassuring to know that James Stewart & Sons will still be available to help, perhaps years after your purchase, should you need advice or parts.

 

2006 ©