From Ronnie –
The final memorial (HARRY CLARKE WINDOW) is where the event starts at THE SCOTS PRESB CHURCH ,CLONTARF (info courtesy of HILARY FAIRMAN,RESIDENT HISTORIAN of THE SCOTS PRES CH)
Memorial Window
Clontarf & Scots Presbyterian Church
Description of the Stained Glass Memorial Window
The 1914 – 1918 Great War Memorial stained glass window was designed and made by Harry Clarke, R.H.A.
In general the design is more conventional in treatment than one normally associates with the work of Harry Clarke, but it must be remembered that it was executed in a transitional period of his career. Nevertheless the drawing up of the figures and details, plus the use of rich colours and especially the use of the deep blue, which he loved so well, convey the elements of Harry Clarke’s distinctive style of work in stained glass.
The treatment of the main subjects and also the smaller ones at the base of the window display a sensitive and imaginative approach to the interpretation of the scenes depicted.
The main subjects which are the dead Christ in the lap of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, with Mary Magdalene at His feet and on the right the Resurrection of Our Lord with Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, are beautifully rendered and angels artistically placed in these two subjects contribute to the solemnity and spiritual nature of the scenes depicted.
The uppermost, or tracery, part of the window is no less beautifully rendered in vibrant stained glass. The tracery is composed of one quatrefoil shape and two cinquefoil shapes, one at each side. On the left we see a soldier struck down by a blast of gunfire and on the right an angel holding a wreath and ministering to the fallen soldier. In the quatrefoil at the top of the window an angel holds aloft the laurel wreath which is the symbol of victory, fame and honour.
The smaller scenes at the base of the window depict from left to right, an angel ministering to a wounded soldier, Christ holding a chalice and standing above a fallen soldier, an angel ministering over a weeping or fallen nurse and finally a mother and child seated beside a soldiers’ cemetery.
The Gothic style ornament which forms a kind of canopy at the top of the four main lights contains four small shields on which are the colours of the British Merchant Navy, the Cross of St. George, the Cross of St. Andrew and the Cross of St. Patrick.
At the bottom of the window there are eight small shields placed on the Gothic ornament which occurs just above the small scene below. These small shields depict from left to right, the insignia of the Australian Commonwealth forces, the Royal Munsters, the 13th London Regiment, The Royal Irish Horse, the Connaught Rangers, the West Yorkshire Regiment, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and the RAF.
Beneath and along the whole width of the window is a long inscription commemorating those members of the church who had laid down their lives in the Great War 1914 – 1918.
The above scenes and detail in the window must have required a great amount of consideration and research on the part of those who commissioned the window, and on the part of Harry Clarke himself who had the task of interpreting artistically the subject matter to be depicted in all its details.
The skill and artistry required for this work necessitated an involved technique requiring the greatest concentration in its execution. It is thought the work received a first and second painting and firing and most likely a third painting and firing in the more intricate parts.
I would like to thank Warren Lawless for the service records of those listed on the Memorial Window (http://homepage.eircom.net/~wlawless/ww1/Dublin.htm) and John Mitchell for printing these pages. Hilary Fairman |
“TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND
GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THE SONS
OF THIS CHURCH WHO LAID DOWN
THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 – 1918
ERECTED BY THE CONGREGATION
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them”
ARMSTRONG , Reginald George · Private in the Household Cavalry and Cavalry of the Line, E Squadron, North Irish Horse. · Killed in action on 26th March 1918 in Flanders at the age of 20. · Cemetery I.B.2A, Toutencourt Communal Cemetery, Somme, France. |
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BAILEY, Albert Henry · Lance Corporal in the Auckland Mounted Rifles, New Zealand Expeditionary Force. · Died on 8th August 1915. · Cemetery: Chunuk Bair (New Zealand) Memorial – Turkey.
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CORRY. Alexander · First Engineer (Engr. Lieutenant Royal Navy Reserve) on the S.S. “W. M. Barkley” (Belfast). · Drowned, as a result of an attack by an enemy submarine, on 12th October 1917 at the age of 48. · Cemetery: Tower Hill Memorial, London. |
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DALLAS, William Reid · Second Lieutenant in the 215th Squadron, Royal Air Force and Mechanical Transport, Royal Army Service Corps. · Killed whilst flying on 24 December 1918 at the age of 24. · Cemetery: V.E. 83, Longuenesse (St. Omer) Souvenir Cemetery, Pas De Calais, France. |
GALT, William Noel Frank
· Acting Corporal in the London Regiment of the 13th (County of London) Battalion (Princess Louise’s Kensington Battalion). · Killed in action on 9 May 1915 in Flanders at the age of 19. · Cemetery: Panel 10, Ploegsteert Memorial, Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium. · Mentioned in Dispatches. |
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HUNTER, Ronald Gordon · Second Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers. · Died of wounds on 25th April 1918 at the age of 19 · Cemetery: V.B.12, Berlin South-Western Cemetery, Berlin, Brandenburg, Germany |
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MacDANIEL, James Robertson
· Second Lieutenant in the 57th Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, Royal Air Force and 3rd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers. · Killed in air combat on 18th August 1917 at the age of 25. · Cemetery: II.A.7, Harlebeke New British Cemetery, Harelbeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. |
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MACNIE, George Francis · Second Lieutenant in the 5th Battalion, Connaught Rangers, attached 6th Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers. · Died on 5th September 1916 at the age of 23. · Cemetery: III.E.9, Struma Military Cemetery, Greece. |
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PAUL, Alexander Charles · Lieutenant in the 11th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles. · Related casualty: Brother Walter. · Died of wounds on 2nd October 1917 at the age of 20. · Cemetery: I.D. 22, Rocquigny-Equancourt Road British Cemetery, Manancourt, Somme, France. |
PAUL, Walter Cecil · Private in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, D Company, 7th Battalion. · Related casualty: Brother Alexander. · Killed in action on 17th August 1915 at Gallipoli at the age of 19. · Cemetery: Special Memorial G.6, Green Hill Cemetery, Turkey. |
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PORTER, George Francis Lambert · Captain in A Company, 11th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own).. · Related casualty: Brother Robert. · Killed in action on 8th June 1917 at the age of 33. · Cemetery: VII, N.5. Railway Dugouts Burial Ground, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. |
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PORTER, Robert Cyril · Private in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers,7th Battalion,. · Related casualty: Brother George. · Killed in action on 8th December 1915 in the Balkans at the age of 21. · Cemetery: Doiran Memorial, Greece. |
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TAYLOR, Second Lieutenant Arthur McCutheon · Served in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers. · Killed in action on 10th November 1917 at the age of 24. · Cemetery: Sp. Mem.6, Poelcapelle British Cemetery, Langemark-Poelkapelle, West-V, Belgium. |
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TENNANT, Andrew Alexander · Company Sergeant Major in the 13th Battalion, Australian Infantry, Australian Imperial Forces. · Died on 28th March 1918 at the age of 32. · Cemetery: Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Somme. |
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