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St Columba's Church is a congregation of the Church of Ireland, part of the Anglican Communion, in Ennis, County Clare, western Ireland.
St. Columba's was built between 1868 and 1871 as the new building for Drumcliffe Parish to the design by architect Francis Bindon. Previous locations for the parish include Ennis Friary which was vacated by the Franciscan Order in the early nineteenth century. The present building was the last Anglican Church to be built in Ireland before its disestablishment by the Irish Church Act 1869[1]. It is an example of Gothic revival architecture, and its large size bears testimony to the fact that Anglicans were formerly more numerous than they are today, although they are now part of a growing minority of non-Catholics in Ennis and County Clare.[citation needed] Memorials in the church include a wooden grave cross from Ypres, a reminder of World War I (1914–1918).
The church hall is accommodated in the rear of the building. This was constructed around 1982-3 during the ministry of the former Dean of Limerick Maurice Talbot. A foyer and meeting hall, with kitchen and toilets were incorporated within the Church from space at the rear of St Columba’s.
Stained-glass and Opus Sectile Artistic Works
[edit]Windows and mosaics were executed by Catherine O’Brien.
The Reredos comprises twenty-four arches, supported by marble columns, into which the O’Brien mosaics (opus sectile lancets) are inserted. These were executed between 1938-47, and comprise a total of twenty-four coloured opus sectile works representing the Apostles and well-known Irish saints. This outstanding and unique work of art occupies the length of the Reredos.
Dedicated to her parents, Pierce O’Brien and Sophia Angela are two lancets representing St Patrick and St Brigid which are sited at the centre of the Reredos.
The full list of dedications from parishioners have been inserted beneath the mosaics and read as follows:
Angel Gabriel and Virgin Mary: To the Glory of God and in loving memory of Evelyn Griffin.
St Dorcas and St Nicholas: Nicholas S.P. Waring his wife, Kate Hodder. Erected by their children.
St Thomas and St Bartholomew: In loving memory of Doctor Arthur Greene. Died March 25th 1938. Erected by His Wife.
St Mark and St Luke: In loving memory of William James McNamara, Bushy Park, Ennis. Fell asleep 23rd February1931 aged 68.
St Philip and St James: To The Glory of God in memory of Philip Doyne-Dwyer, MA Canon. Rector of Ennis 1864-1883 and of Ann Slather His Wife.
St Patrick and St Brigid: In loving memory of Pierce O’Brien of Durra Ennis and of Sophia Angel his wife. Erected by their five children.
St Columba and St Ita: In loving memory of Richard Stackpoole, Eden-Vale, Ennis, and of Alice Julia his wife.
St Gobnet and St Dympna: Maria R. Parkinson.
St Brendan and St Kevin: In loving memory of James Jackson Griffin, MA Canon, Rector of Drumcliffe 1919-46. Erected by his children.[2]
Other remaining mosaics from the church which are listed by Stained Glass in the Church of Ireland include St Andrew, St John, St Matthew, St Paul, St Peter, and St Stephen.
Unlike most of the other An Túr Gloine artists, she regularly signed her windows, either as K. O’B or K. O’Brien, sometimes accompanied by a tiny tower which is visible in her mosaic of St Kevin, as K. O’B accompanied by the tower.
Two stained-glass windows 1957-8 representing Mary and Martha, are symbols of work and worship are to be seen in the north porch. These are a memorial to her three sisters, which reads as follows:
"To the Glory of God and in Loving memory of my three dear sisters Henrietta, Norah and Beatrice O’Brien sometime of Durra House. They were baptised, confirmed and received their first Holy Communion in this church"52°50′43.69″N 8°59′9.67″W / 52.8454694°N 8.9860194°W
Category:Churches in County Clare Category:Church of Ireland church buildings in the Republic of Ireland
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Catherine Amelia O'Brien | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 June 1881 Durra House, Spancill Hill, County Clare |
| Died | 18 July 1963 (aged 82) Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital, Dublin |
| Resting place | Whitechurch Parish Graveyard, County Dublin |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Alma mater | Dublin Metropolitan School of Art |
| Known for | Stained glass design |
Catherine Amelia "Kitty" O'Brien (19 June 1881 – 18 July 1963) was an Irish stained glass artist, and a member and director of An Túr Gloine.
Early life and education
[edit]
Catherine Amelia O'Brien was born in Durra House, Spancill Hill, County Clare on 19 June 1881. She was one of five children of Pierce O'Brien, a gentleman landowner, and Sophia Angel St John O'Brien. Her first cousin was woodcarver Sophia St John Whitty. O'Brien attended the Mercy Convent in Ennis, going on to win a scholarship to the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art.[3] Whilst there she studied under William Orpen, and Alfred E. Child who taught her the art of stained glass.[4]
Artistic work
[edit]Amongst her first commissions was the St Ita window for St Brendan's cathedral in Loughrea in 1904, which was designed by Sarah Purser. O'Brien joined An Túr Gloine in 1906, beginning her career there by designing Angel of the Annunciation window in the Enniskillen convent chapel. For a window in the Wilson private chapel Coolcarrigan, Naas, County Kildare in 1912, O'Brien incorporated Celtic design, some drawing on the Book of Durrow. In 1914, she toured the cathedrals of Paris, Rouen, and Chartres with Purser and Wilhelmina Geddes.[3] O'Brien designed three windows depicting St John, St Flannan, and St Munchin, for the Honan Chapel in University College Cork in 1916.[5] Her 1923 design of the centenary memorial window in St Andrew's church, Lucan, represented the parable of the Good Shepherd. When in 1925 An Túr Gloine became a cooperative society, O'Brien became a shareholder along with Ethel Rhind, Evie Hone, and Michael Healy.[3]
Her 1926 lunette The spirit of night represented night, twilight, and dawn, and was for the private home of Keng Chee Roselands in Singapore, the building was later demolished.[6] The window of St Catherine of Siena for the Sacred Heart convent chapel, Newton, Massachusetts dates from 1927. O'Brien's 1931 St Patrick window, for the De La Salle school, East Coast Rd, Singapore, commissioned by architect Denis Santry, and is the only extant stained-glass work by an Irish artist in that country.[3] Much like Rhind, O'Brien also employed opus sectile, such as in her 1936 Mass in penal days in the Franciscan friary, Athlone, County Westmeath.[4] O'Brien contributed two windows, Pelican and lamb and Host and chalice: wheat and grapes, to the ten windows An Túr Gloine produced for Brophy College Chapel, Phoenix, Arizona in 1937. From 1937 until 1947, O'Brien worked on 22 opus sectile panels and two windows for her home church St Columbas Church in Ennis.[3]
Purser retired from An Túr Gloine in 1940, and O'Brien succeeded her as director, going on to purchase it and the contents in 1944.[4] O'Brien rented a section of the premises to fellow stained-glass artist Patrick Pollen from 1954 onwards. O'Brien exhibited at the 1953 Irish Exhibition of Living Art, and the 1958 exhibition of the Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland. When the An Túr Gloine studios were fire damaged in 1958, she rebuilt then and reopened by 1959. O'Brien was an active member of the Soroptimists and the Guild of Irish Art Workers. The last work she completed was a three-light window for the Church of St Multose, Kinsale in 1962. A commission for two windows for the private chapel of Áras an Uachtaráin for President Éamon de Valera was left unfinished at her death.[3]
Death and legacy
[edit]
O'Brien died in Dublin on 18 July 1963, and is buried in Whitechurch Parish Graveyard, County Dublin.[3] She is commemorated in a window designed by Pollen in St Laurence O'Toole chapel, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, where for forty years she made floral arrangements. Over 150 of her An Túr Gloine drawings from notebooks are now in the National Gallery of Ireland.[4]
Selected works
[edit]- St Patrick window, St Edan's cathedral, Ferns, County Wexford (1931).
- Scenes from John Bunyan's The pilgrim's progress, St Bartholomew's church, Ballineen, County Cork (1936).
- Transfiguration of Christ window, St Naithi's church, Dundrum, County Dublin.
- Window in memory of Bishop Harry Vere White, St Bartholomew's church, Clyde Rd, Dublin (1942).
- St Francis of Assisi window, Church South Kinacop, Nairobi County, Kenya (1953).
- The sower, Killoughter Protestant church, Redhills, County Cavan (1953).
- 16 roundels, St Helen's church, Vero Beach, Florida (1958).[3][7]
References
[edit]- ^ Comerford, Patrick. "Saint Columba's Church, Ennis, the last church built before disestablishment". Retrieved 27 October 2023.
- ^ O’Connell, Gerald (1981). Catherine Amelia O’Brien (1881-1963) Artist in Stained Glass. The Other Clare italics Volume 5. pp. 14–25.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Doyle, Carmel (2009). "O'Brien, Catherine Amelia". In McGuire, James; Quinn, James (eds.). Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- ^ a b c d "Catherine Amelia O'Brien". Clare County Library. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ^ "The Honan Chapel & Collection – Virtual Tour". Honan Chapel & Collection Online. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ^ Caron, David (2001). "From Dublin to the Far East An Túr Gloine Stained Glass in Singapore" (PDF). Irish Arts Review. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ^ "O'BRIEN, CATHERINE". Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720–1940. Irish Architectural Archive. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
Further reading
[edit]- White, James and Wynne, Wynne (1963) Irish Stained Glass Gill and Son, Dublin, pp. 44.
- Gordon Bowe, Nicola, Caron, David and Wynne, Michael (1988) Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass. Irish Academic Press, Dublin, ISBN 0-7165-2413-9, pp. 96–97.
Category:1881 births
Category:1963 deaths
Category:20th-century Irish women artists
Category:People from Ennis
Category:Irish stained glass artists and manufacturers
Category:Alumni of the National College of Art and Design
Category:Artists from County Clare