Two renowned stained glass windows from Saint Mel's Cathedral in
Longford, which were extensively damaged in the fire that consumed the
building at Christmas 2009, were returned this week to the Diocese of
Ardagh and Clonmacnois after a year's restoration.
The windows, by one of Ireland's leading stained glass artists Harry
Clarke, were restored by skilled craftsman at Abbey Stained Glass
Windows in Dublin.
Company spokesperson Ken Ryan said, “The windows were extensively
damaged and buckled in the fire. Our craftsmen had to go down to
Longford and take them out very gingerly and get them back to Dublin. They had to be painstakingly taken apart to be repaired and our
craftsmen had to work with photographs taken in the cathedral in 1997 to
get the restoration work completely correct.”
“We have now turned our attention to restoring other windows in the
cathedral but the restoration of the Harry Clarke painted windows,
because of their huge historical importance, was the most urgent.”
He added that the Christ and the Majestic window had in
particular suffered a fair amount of damage and artist Brendan Mullins,
with the help of rubbings and photographs, was able to recreate the
missing pieces.
He explained that the windows are divided up into seven sections or
panels that allows them to be moved together and when installed the
artwork should flow naturally.
Each of the windows will now be stored
until the diocese is ready to use them.
Dublin born artist Harry Clarke was one of the leading 20th century stained glass artists in Ireland.
Some of his most famous works include in the Honan Chapel in UCC, the
Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin and of course Bewley's Cafe in Dublin.
In an interesting connection to Longford, one of the first awards he
won as a painter was in 1910 for a depiction of Saint Mel being ordained
as Bishop of the diocese by Saint Patrick.
SIC: CIN/IE