Tags
athlone cathedral, belcamp, harry clarke, honan chapel, Irish Sweeps, Joe McGrath, terenure church, Waterford Glass. Tully Church
The church in Cabinteely, Co. Dublin has Harry Clarke windows presented by Joe McGrath (Irish Sweeps) who lived locally at Cabinteely House. The Parish Priest says they were done by the Harry Clarke studio if not by Harry Clarke himself.
There are other Harry Clarke windows in the Honan Chapel Cork, Church of St. Peter and Paul, Athlone, Terenure Church, the Metropolitan Art Gallery Dublin and the church attaching to the convent of the former Belcamp School Dublin.
Joe McGrath and the Irish Sweeps have not enjoyed a good press lately. The Sweep founded by McGrath, Bookmaker, Richard Duggan and Publicist Spenser Freeman was in the 1930 the largest Lottery in the world. Legal in Ireland but not so in its main markets the UK, and USA at its height it brought millions of hard currency into into an impoverished country and gave employment if low paid to thousands. The McGrath family ploughed some of their money back into reviving Waterford Glass, the Irish Glass Bottle Company into Irish Racing and through their investment company Avenue Investments. Their former house is now owned by South Dublin County Council and the grounds a public park.
The baptismal font used by the church was rescued many years ago in a field. It is thought to be associated with the ancient church at Tully suppressed during the Penal Laws from the late 17th century.
https://plus.google.com/photos/100968344231272482288/albums/5939727398491815825
Harry Clarke:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Clarke
Joe McGrath:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McGrath_(politician)
Tully Church:
http://www.christiaancorlett.com/#/blog/4564514201/Tully-Church-near-Cabinteely-south-county-Dublin/5971049
St. Barrahanes, Castletownsend, West Cork:
http://www.abbeystrewryunion.com/#/st-barrahanes-church/4557284996