We are thrilled to announce that the April talk will take place on Wednesday 25th April, in St Flannan’s Catholic church at the top of Main St, Killaloe. Our change of venue is because the talk will take place in front of the subject, as it were – the stained glass windows that flank the altar, and date from the 1920s Clarke Studio. Our speaker is Dr Donncha MacGabhann, an expert in Irish art, and who has published on these windows specifically.
The talk is titled “Father and Son: A pair of stained-glass windows in St Flannan’s Church, Killaloe”. The windows flanking the altar of St Flannan’s Church, Killaloe are two remarkable examples of the art of stained-glass. One celebrates the life of an early Irish Saint while the other depicts Gospel scenes from the childhood of Jesus. Although quite different in subject matter and also very different in their artistic styles, the windows are the work of a father and son. As part of his church decoration business Joshua Clarke made stained-glass windows. His son Harry developed his talents in his father’s workshops. In a tragically short but brilliant career, Harry achieved considerable renown for his highly accomplished and very distinctive work as a stained-glass artist.
We would like to thank Don, who is travelling to give us this lecture, as well as St Flannan’s Church for allowing us to use the church as a venue. It will be really special to hear this talk in front of the windows themselves instead of looking at photographs of them in a slideshow. We are hoping that the evening sun will shine and illuminate the panels as we discuss them! We would also like to thank Kincora House, for providing our speaker with accommodation free of charge to the Society, and for Wood and Bell café for staying open after the lecture so that we can continue the conversation there over a glass of wine or a cup of coffee.
See you at the church on Wednesday 25th April! Entry is FREE, and everyone is welcome.
Please help us promote this talk by sharing this post, our website, or the Facebook event. Here is a higher quality version of the poster for printing, if you fancy going that bit further and sticking one up on your office noticeboard! Every little helps. Thanks so much!
Killaloe-Ballina