Harry Clarke sculpture unveiled in grounds of Mayo church

A fabulous new stained-glass sculpture celebrating the renowned Harry Clarke windows has been officially unveiled on the grounds of St. Mary’s RC Church, Ballinrobe.

In 1924, to accommodate the large population in Ballinrobe, two large extensions on either side of St. Mary’s Church were built. It is here you will find the marvellous Harry Clarke stained-glass windows - 16 jewel-like panels inserted in 1924-25.

The large triple light over the church organ gallery was added in 1930 before Harry Clarke died in 1931.

Further improvements occurred in St. Mary’s Church over the years, with interior alterations. In 1988, major restoration work was carried out on the windows.

In 2013 and to mark the church’s 150th anniversary, extensive repairs and conservation works were carried out on the fabric of the building. One result was the redesign of the organ gallery, giving a better view of the Harry Clarke window of Saint Brigid, Saint Patrick and Saint Colmcille.

Those entering the church will see that the Harry Clarke windows on the right celebrate the lives of Jesus and Mary, and the windows on the left feature the ancient Irish Saints.

Those visiting St. Mary’s Church can go on a self-guided tour of the stained-glass windows by scanning a QR code located beneath each window.

Tommy Kerrigan (Tommy K Chainsaw Carvings) carved the stone for the sculpture, and he explained his involvement. “A lot of my work is done with timber sculptures, and I enjoyed working on a stone sculpture as it is a material that I would like to do a lot more work with.

“I was delighted when Ballinrobe Tidy Towns approached me about doing this project. It was originally supposed to be a timber sculpture. However, I felt that due to the fact that a lot of Harry Clarke windows are in stone that it would be nice to commemorate this by doing the sculpture in stone, and that it would be here forever more. We all agreed on the stone sculpture, and I think we are all happy with the end product.”

Tommy said it was the biggest stone sculpture project he has completed so far. “This is probably the biggest stone sculpture project that I have done, and the weight of it as well was a big challenge, especially moving the sculpture.

“The Ballinrobe Tidy Towns committee were excellent, and they played a big part by getting the community input into what design they wanted. This is a real community project, and everybody had a say on it.”

Tommy was also the sculptor for the life-sized horse sculpture on the Castlebar Road, Ballinrobe, that celebrates the town’s association with horse racing.

He said there are also plans to install a light behind the new Harry Clarke window sculpture.

“I have done a few projects for Ballinrobe Tidy Towns in the past, such as the racehorse sculpture on the Castlebar Road. I like challenges, and this stone project was a challenge, and I am happy with how things turned out in the end,” he said.

“They are hoping to put a light behind the Harry Clarke sculpture, and it will be a nice spectacle at nighttime for locals and visitors alike.”

Local visual artist Ruby Staunton was involved in the design of the project and said that she was always eager to highlight Ballinrobe’s unique connection with Harry Clarke. “I have always been a fan of Harry Clarke, and I felt that something needed to be done to highlight the fact that we have those fabulous windows in the church.

“Niamh Coyne from Ballinrobe Historical Society helped set up the QR codes which gives a guided tour of the windows in the church.”

Ruby said there was a real community effort behind this project.

“I felt that it was important to involve the community in this sculpture, and after I did up the design, I managed to get the help of six different groups in the community and in those groups, there were some very talented artists. They were excellent at cutting the glass and I was really impressed by their dexterity.

“The shape of the sculpture is quite abstract, and the Harry Clarke colours are very ‘jewel like’ colours and that helped us with the design process.

“I did all of the design drawing and Tommy K was great as the sculptor. There was plenty of consultation throughout this project.

“It was a real town and community effort, and it is great to see this project finally realised.

“I feel that the sculpture complements the church, and it is also contemporary as well.

“It will also be nice for people to take pictures beside the new sculpture on Holy Communions and other church celebrations.”

Ruby hopes to see more artistic projects take place in the town in the future. “One of the previous projects we worked on was the bottle-cap wall mural project on New Street. Members of the community also became involved in that and there was great curiosity about that project.

“There will be more projects planned for Ballinrobe in the future, and I hope that the community is once again involved.”

Ballinrobe Tidy Towns would like to thank Councillors Michael Burke, Damian Ryan and Patsy O'Brien for once again allocating GMA funding to Ballinrobe Tidy Towns this year. Those monies have helped towards the completion of the stained-glass sculpture on the church grounds.