Irish Times Notes
Church of Ireland Notes from ‘The Irish Times’
St Ann’s Stained Glass
St Ann’s Church on Dublin’s Dawson Street has been selected by the National Gallery of Ireland to be a part of its self guided walking tour celebrating the work of An Túr Gloine.
An Túr Gloine (the Tower of Glass) was a stained glass studio founded by Sarah Purser in 1903. The studio was the great achievement of the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. It was from this studio that noted artists such as Wilhelmina Geddes, Beatrice Elvery, Catherine O’Brien and Ethel Rhind produced some of the greatest stained glass windows of the age. St Ann’s is fortunate to possess a suite of windows by Wilhelmina Geddes, as well as a memorial window by Ethel Rhind.
The Vicar of St Ann’s, Canon Paul Arbuthnot, commented: “We are delighted to partner with the National Gallery of Ireland by being a part of their self guided walking tour of the work of An Túr Gloine. St Ann’s is very fortunate to possess a collection of windows by Wilhelmina Geddes, and we are thrilled to share these treasures with the people of Dublin.
“These windows do not only showcase world class Irish artistic talent, but also convey a deep sense of faith and God. To have such artwork in the church in the heart of the city is something which we at St Ann’s value very highly. St Ann’s is an oasis of Godly calm in the middle of the bustling city and the beauty of these windows is a part of this feeling.”.
St Ann’s opening hours are Monday to Friday, from 10am –until 2pm, and admission is free.
Further details are available here: https://sourcenationalgallery.ie/node/118
The St Ann’s windows have been photographed and catalogued as part of the epic project to catalogue all the stained glass in Chrich of Ireland churches. – a project unparalleled in the Anglican Communion. The results may be viewed on the Gloine website (www.gloine.ie) which was conceived and executed for the Church of Ireland by the late Dr David Lawrence.
The late Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe, who with the late Michael Wynee and David Caron, pioneered the academic study of Irish stained glass, was the author of a major study Wilhelmina Geddes: Life and Work which was published by Four Courts Press in 2015.
Tomorrow (Sunday) at 3.30pm the Ven. Alec Purser will be installed as Archdeacon of Cashel, Ferns, Waterford & Lismore during a service of choral evensong in the Cathedral Church of St John the Baptist and St Patrick’s Rock, Cashel. Archdeacon Purser was ordained in 2010 into the Non–Stipendiary Ministry and was based in Abbeyleix. In 2014 he moved to Stradbally union of parishes. He transferred to full time ministry in 2020 and is now priest–in–charge of Stradbally union and Portlaoise union with Ballyfin.
On Tuesday the Standing Committee of the General Synod and the Executive Committee of the Representative Church Body will meet in Dublin where the House pf Bishops will meet on Wednesday.
One of the distinctive features of the interior of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, is the display of the banners of the Knights of the Order of St Patrick in the quire. On Wednesday, St Patrick’s stalwart, Albert Fenton, will give a lecture on ‘The Most Distinguished Order of the Knights of St Patrick’. The lecture, under the auspices of the Old Dublin Society, will be held in the Conference Room of Dublin City Library & Archive in Pearse Steet at 6pm and all are welcome.
Published in the Friday edition of The Irish Times