stained glass – Killaloe-Ballina

Our Tour of St Flannan’s Cathedral

Killaloe-Ballina Local History Society — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 13:41:14 +0000

We had a really wonderful time last Sunday afternoon at our members-only tour of St Flannan’s Cathedral in Killaloe. Probably the most historic spot in the whole of Killaloe-Ballina, this is where we came to hear about how our twin towns had developed since the middle ages, and see the memorial plaques of those who lived there, even hearing about the Viking who is buried just outside the walls. Please enjoy a selection of captioned photos of the tour below.

We would like to thank Bryan Brislane for directing our day there, treating us to a display on the historic organ, and talking us through the history of the building. Bryan was ably assisted by Jessica Brown (also our valued committee member at the society!), who demonstrated musical bell-ringing, baked delicious treats, and gave us a history of top floors of the tower. Rodney and Sandra from the cathedral congregation also helped out on the day. Thank you to all of you for a really brilliant and stimulating afternoon!

Jessica beginning the tour just inside the front door and introducing Bryan.

Bryan welcoming our society members to the tour.

A shot of the ogham stone between attendees’ legs!

We make our way through to the vestry.

Many of the memorial plaques were made by Killaloe Marble Works – we would later see the old marble mill from the roof of the cathedral.

The incredible apostolic stained glass window, with its dramatic story of replacement panels!

The beautifully-painted organ.

A memorial plaque for the Purdons from Tinerana. So many little potted histories on these plaques.

Memorial plaques for the Lefroy family, referencing World War One. We also connected Harry here with the old flour mill at the bottom of the Aillebaun.

Bryan demonstrated many songs on the historic organ, and explained exactly how it worked.

The old stone stairwell – we did not have to climb this, thank goodness!

Jessica demonstrates musical bell-ringing.

Bryan oversees our members trying their hands at bellringing!

One of our younger attendees came ready for the clanging bells!

The bells themselves were enormous.

A view of St Flannan’s holy well (with sheela na gig) from the top of the cathedral tower. This holy well is located at the back of the AIB bank across the road.

A photo of Main St, Killaloe, from the top of the cathedral, last Sunday afternoon.

The old marble mill, from the top of the cathedral. The memorial plaques did not have to travel far!

The chimney pots of Clarisford Palace, where the bishop lived, can be seen in the distance, from the top of the cathedral tower.

Abbey House, next door to the cathedral, as seen from the top of the tower.

A view of Ballina from the top of the tower.

Jessica talked us through all the sights from the top of the tower.

The old barracks, across the road from the cathedral.

One of the bells up close.

We passed the bells again on our way down.

A medieval grave plaque in the floor of the cathedral.

A little lion bade us goodbye on our way out the door.

A final glimpse at the medieval doorway.

We hope you enjoyed our virtual tour of the Cathedral if you could not make it on the day! We will go back there soon, as it really was an amazing experience.

Our next talk is on 22nd August and takes place in Wood and Bell Café – watch this space for more info on that coming soon!

Thank You Don!

Killaloe-Ballina Local History Society — Sun, 29 Apr 2018 14:25:21 +0000

A huge thank you to Dr Donncha MacGabhann who gave around sixty of us an animated and fascinating lecture last Wednesday night in St Flannan’s Catholic Church at the top of Main St in Killaloe. We are fortunate in Killaloe to have a really special pair of Clarke Studio windows flanking the altar. The left is the earlier and is the work of Joshua Clarke, Harry Clarke’s father. The right is later, and is unmistakably the work of Harry himself. Don talked us through the windows showed (not St Patrick, for a start!), how stained glass work was produced and how many people it took to make one window, and the story of Clarke Studios and of stained glass art in the early twentieth century. We moved from one window to the other during the course of the lecture, and were able to appreciate every detail of the beautiful jewel-like colours as the late April evening sun slanted through them. In fact, Don had chosen this date specifically so the lower panels would be illuminated in this way for us.

We were also treated on the night to some extra history surrounding this special pair of windows by the attendance in the audience of two people connected to the names inscribed on the windows themselves. It was wonderful to witness the exchange and collaboration of information and scholarship between relatives, genealogists, and Don as art historian on the night itself. Thank you to all who took part in this really engaging discussion!

Don travelled to give us this lecture, and we would like to thank Kincora House for sponsoring his accommodation. Kincora House is fabulous historic guesthouse dating from the 1840s, and situated on Main St, Killaloe. We would also like to thank Wood and Bell café for staying open so that we could continue the conversation over a glass of wine or a cup of tea in their own historic surroundings (for a short history we provided of the building occupied by Wood and Bell café today, click here). Thank you too to St Flannan’s Church for allowing us to hold the talk in front of the Clarke windows themselves – how much more special an experience this was rather than having to view the work on a slideshow! Fr Grace and Pat McLeish facilitated us very generously.

If you haven’t visited St Flannan’s and viewed these extraordinary windows yet, we would highly recommend it.

Details of our May lecture coming soon!

April Lecture: Killaloe’s Harry Clarke Windows

Killaloe-Ballina Local History Society — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 14:57:11 +0000

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!