This year's daylight saving time kicks in this Sunday morning, 31st March at 1am. That means the clocks will go forward 1 hour at 1am, technically jumping from 00.59 to 02.00. As a result, you'll possibly lose out on an hour's sleep. It's advised you get to bed an hour earlier than usual to combat any grogginess. (Although it's unlikely we'll heed that advice either!)
Thankfully, most clocks with internet connection (smart phones, smart TVs etc) will change automatically, but don't forget to manually change any wall, radio or traditional alarm clocks.
When do the clocks go forward?
Clocks will go forward 1 hour on Sunday, 31st March, 2019 at 1am.
Why do the clocks change?
According to sources, Benjamin Franklin first proposed the idea to change the clocks while he was in Paris in 1784, on the grounds that if people got out of bed an hour earlier, they’d get extra daylight.
However, the change wasn’t introduced until during The First World War, when Germany and Austria used it as a way to save on coal usage. Ireland and UK quickly followed suit in May, 1916.
It had been discussed a number of years before by the government but many people opposed it the first time around.
According to an article by Ben Shorten for RTE, Irish public opinion appeared to be in favour of the introduction of daylight saving, ‘though scepticism – and good humour – abounded as to how it might work’.
In a letter to The Irish Times in May 1916, which stood out in the press dominated by articles on the fall out from the Easter Rising, the writer warned those with court dates scheduled of the importance of keeping to the new time: “…a sleepy plaintiff or complainant who arrives an hour after his case has been dismissed with costs may get a shock, while a defendant may be dumbfoundered [sic] to find an escort ready to march him off to undergo a month’s hard labour for an offence to which he may have had a perfect answer.”
In the UK, a man called William Willett wrote a whole pamphlet about Daylight Saving in 1907 called The Waste of Daylight, about how people wasted valuable hours of light during the summer. Mr Willett was also a keen golfer and reportedly became annoyed when it got too dark for him to continue playing in the evening. Unfortunately for him, he died in 1915 before daylight saving was introduced.
