Christ Church is the traditional venue for Dubliners to mark the coming of the New Year and a large crowd is expected there tonight.
But the campanologists feared the annual event would be spoiled after the 2.25 tonne tenor bell broke during practice a fortnight ago.
A piece of the bell's tongue, or clapper, fell off, leaving Christ Church with the prospect of ringing in its first new year for decades without the sound of the "Great Tenor". Disappointment was averted however, thanks to the generosity of nearby St Patrick's Cathedral, which has given Christ Church a spare five-foot clapper for the occasion.
Mr Lesley Taylor, ringing master at Christ Church, said: "We always like to ring the Great Tenor bell, and there was a prospect of us not being able to do so. That would, of course, have meant we couldn't have done the full 19 either.
"We're very grateful to our friends at St Patrick's. They had a clapper of similar weight and size, and thankfully it works."
Mr Tony Reale, a civil engineer and one of Christ Church's 28 campanologists, has been given the honour of ringing the "Great Tenor" tonight after helping to install the new tongue.
Christ Church increased the number of bells in its tower from 12 to a world record 19 as part of its Millennium celebrations five years ago. Since then, however, the tenor bell has gone through three tongues - each of which has failed.
Mr Taylor said all three tongues had been made of spheroidal graphite, a modern substitute for wrought-iron. As a result, the bell-ringers were now seeking to design a clapper in wrought-iron, which "gives a better sound too".
However, Mr Taylor said: "as far as we can see there is a dearth of workers in wrought-iron. If there are any manufacturers in Ireland, we would like to hear from them."
The tenor will swing into action shortly before midnight tonight with 12 strokes to mark the passing of 2004.
There will be 10 minutes' silence before midnight when another 12 strokes will ring out, followed by a cascade of all 19 bells - due to last about 20 minutes.
"Ringing large number of bells like that is prone to disaster," said Mr Taylor. "If one person messes up their timing it can produce chaos.
"We are always striving for perfection," he added with a note of confidence. "All our ringers are very well trained."
