Praxiteles

Here we have a view of the lancet windows of the Sout Trnscept with their theme of water as a source of salvation building up to the crucuifixion scene underneath with water flowing from the side of Christ which was pre-figured in the Old Testament scenes in the lancets:

The Rose windows in the north and south transepts in St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork are based on the Rose Window in the north transept of Laon Cathedral which dates from c. 1200.

The South Window in St. Colman’s Cathedral, Cobh, Co. Cork designed by Henry Mark Harnett and executed by Hardman’s of Birmingham:

Just discovered an interesting thing about the window in the South Transept of Cobh Cathedral. In October 1879, G.C: Ashlin asked one Barnett to prepare a design for the South Window. It looks as this is probably Henry Mark Barnett of Newcastle, a company with strong Pugin connections: “Henry Barnett, whose father and grandfather were both stained glass makers in York, trained in Newcastle with William Wailes, a major North-Eastern stained glass manufacturer and proprietor of what was the largest stained glass factory in Britain in the 1840s and 1850s. Barnett set up his own firm in Newcastle in 1858, when he was 25, and continued in business until his death in 1888. There is no reference to Barnett in the National Archives or the Stained Glass Museum at Ely Cathedral”.

Re. William Wailes, the following: “Wailes, William
(1808-1881AD)
William Wailes was a local stained glass manufacturer. He was born in Newcastle in 1808AD and originally took up a grocery and tea-dealing business. Though he had studied stained glass in 1830AD at Munich, (Germany) it was not until 1841AD that he gave himself over to glass manufacture. Previously he advertised, with the food provisions, decorative enamels for sale. (The grocers was taken-over by his original assistant).

Wailes set up in various Newcastle premises – though was soon to become one of the largest employers in the field outside of London. Most of his output is to be found in local Northeast churches – but by no means is this exclusively so. Several designers were employed by Wailes such as Francis Wilson Oliphant R.A. (1818-1859AD), Henry Mark Barnett and George Jospeh Baguley (1824-1915AD). (Some of these men were later to set up their own respected studios, such as Baguley and Barnett separately). The stained glass made by Wailes’s firm is particularly noted for its following of Medieval styles and colours – indeed the Medieval revivalist Augustine Welby Northmore Pugin (181-1852AD) who designed the Houses of Parliament, London 1840-1860AD, frequently used Wailes glass exclusively from 1842AD till his death.

Commemorative windows for individuals or groups were becomingly increasingly popular at this time and Wailes workshop produced many examples of note. These were common to young children – and Wailes and his wife, Elizabeth, must have known the anguish suffered as they lost three children in their infancy themselves. A further daughter was death – and a Wailes window, (at Saint Andrews, Newcastle), is amongst the first to shown the use of sign language.

The studios of Wiles designed and made their own glass for new churches. They also undertook the restoration of Medieval stained glass at York Minster, and worked around existing windows, as at Ely Cathedral. Wailes was among the exhibitors of ‘The Great Exhibition’ of 1851AD held at London’s original Crystal Palace. The partnership of Wailes Company with his son-in-law Thomas Rankine Strang (1835-1899AD) took the firm as a viable concern after Wailes death in to the 1910s AD – though retained and was constrained by the style of the Medieval revivalist work, then out of fashion.

Wailes’s entry to glass making was unexpected to other artists. William Bell Scott wrote the Wailes is the last man one would have expected to organise and succeed. Indeed Wailes did undergo financial difficulties – though only after buying the Saltwell Estate in Gateshead, in 1860AD. Here he landscaped the grounds and built the colourful Saltwell Towers as his home. Wailes sold the estate to the Gateshead Corporation for £35, 000 in 1876AD – when it became Saltwell Park. Wailes died in 1881AD whilst living at Saltwell, (a condition of the sale), and was buried at Saint Peter’s Church, Bywell, Northumberland. This was a place where there were both business and family links; there is glass attributed to Wailes in the church, and it is where his father had been buried”.

Well, finally, it looks as though reality has begun to dawn on the Cobh Cathedral restoration Fund. We have ONE resignation after the great debacle – surely others must follow? The latest from the Companies Registration Office:

And a rare photograph of the parish church in Cobh, Co. Cork, demolished in 1867 to make way for the present Cathedral.

Here is an 1888 family picture of James Pearse, born in London on 8 December 1839, but originally from a Devonshire family. He did extensive work in the Dominican Church in Newrey; St. Saviour’s, Dominic Street; St Mary of the Angels, Church Street, Dublin; Sts. Augustine and John, Dublin; The Passionist Monastery, Harold’s Cross; St. Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick, Letterkenny Cathedral; Enniscorthy Cathedral; the Catholic churches in Inchicore, Trim, New Ross and St. Mary’s, Athlone. At this time, James Pearse lived and maintained a studio at 27 Great Brunswick Street, Dublin – from where his children were baptized in St. Andrew’s in Westland Row.

His son, WIllie Pearse (1881-1916), seen here on the right, did notable work in St. Andrew’s, Westland Row and is responsible for the Altar in the Mortuary Chapel in Cobh Cathedral.

The Chapel in Markree Castle – which seems to have a new paint scheme.

Francis Goodwin’s church of St. Peter (1822-1824) at Ashto-under-Lyne near Manchester:

The foundation stone of this “Gothic edifice” was laid by Dr LAW, Bishop of Chester, on 24th October, 1821. It is one of the “Waterloo” churches. The Napoleonic Wars following the French Revolution had ended in 1815, and to show their gratitude for victory, the Parliamentary Commissioners voted one million pounds to the Church of England. Large, imposing churches were to be built with this money, so that English people might see how grateful the country was for peace at last.
St Peter’s received £12,000 from the Parliamentary Commissioners, leaving only £2,000 to be raised locally. A medal struck in 1821 states that “the area of the church will be 142 feet long by 65 feet wide and will be capable of containing 1,800 persons. The height of the tower will be 128 feet.”

Here is a picture of the interior of the Chapel at Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin. It was built in 1839 to specifications by Patrick Byrne who had consulted A.W.N. Pugin on the design of the chapel. The High Altar encases a pietà by John Hogan and is flanked by two angels also by Hogan. Does anyone have any idea as to it present condition – if for no other reason than the fact that Mother Teresa of Calcutta began her religious life here in 1928.