THE carillon of bells at St Bartholomew's, Dublin, is ringing out again, after the city council lifted a ban imposed after a complaint from a new resident in the affluent area silenced them last September.

The bells, which are linked to the church clock, and chime every quarter of an hour, 24 hours a day, had been ringing since 1881. After the complaint, the council wrote to the parish's Select Vestry, warning that fines of up to €3000 could be imposed if the chimes were not stopped between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Despite fitting a special device to silence the bells between the required hours, this failed on two occasions, and expert advice on the protected structure from a horologist warned that the mechanism could suffer permanent damage if restrained. This led to the stopping of the clock, and the silencing of the bells.

The Vicar of St Bartholomew's, the Revd Andrew Croskery, said that he had received a "very short" email from the council stating that the clock and carillon could be reactivated. "The council said they were no longer pursuing action against us in relation to the clock, and we could turn it back on," he said.