Ireland prepares for autumn clock change on 25 October

On Sunday 25 October 2026 the clocks in Ireland will go back one hour at 02:00, becoming 01:00, marking the annual end of daylight‑saving time.

The change gives an extra hour of sleep but also means darker evenings. The practice, often linked to farmers, actually has a varied history.

In 1784 Benjamin Franklin wrote a satirical letter about Parisians saving candle‑light by rising earlier, but it was not a serious proposal. The first serious suggestion came in 1895 from New Zealand entomologist George Vernon Hudson, who wanted more daylight after work to collect insects and proposed moving clocks by two hours.

British builder William Willett expanded the idea in 1907 with a pamphlet titled “The Waste of Daylight”, recommending a series of 20‑minute adjustments over four Sundays, though his campaign failed.

Daylight‑saving time was adopted during World War I when Germany and Austria‑Hungary advanced their clocks in April 1916 to conserve fuel. Britain and Ireland followed in May 1916, shortly after the Easter Rising.

At that time Ireland used Dublin Mean Time, 25 minutes 21 seconds behind Greenwich. When the first summer‑time experiment ended on 1 October 1916, Ireland aligned with Greenwich, moving clocks back by 34 minutes 39 seconds rather than a full hour. The change was politically contentious but persisted after independence, keeping Ireland largely in step with Britain.

Modern research shows the energy savings from daylight‑saving are modest; a 2018 meta‑analysis of 44 studies found an average electricity reduction of just 0.34 % during the period. Health experts note the spring shift can disrupt sleep and raise short‑term safety risks, and many advocate for a permanent winter time.

Source: Irish Examiner. Photo: Kara Koles / Pexels.