Tait's Clock in Limerick City was erected to honour the entrepreneurial spirit of Peter Tait who began the Tait's Clothing Factory in Limerick during the 1850s.
Tait came to Limerick from Lerwick in Scotland in 1838 and worked in drapery. Through his work, he saw an opening for mechanised tailoring. Fortunately, in the USA, Singer had already invented the sewing machine and Tait established the locality’s first ready-made clothing factory. Tait's Factory supplied military uniforms in both the Crimean and American Civil wars.
The clock is an important landmark in the city and recalls a time when manufacturing and factories were the heart of the city’s industrial landscape, providing good employment for locals.