Our next two planned public meeting will be via ZOOM  (1) on Tuesday 12th JANUARY 2021 @ 20:00 p.m.

The story of the Stained-Glass Window of the Madonna and Child in Foxrock Church.
 

By Liam Clare

 

Parishioners in Foxrock have long spoken about the ‘Harry Clarke’ stained glass window panel in the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. The story behind the image had faded from the community memory, although there was a certain feeling that the panel was not the work of Harry Clarke RHA himself, but instead was the work of one of his artists who designed and created it under Harry Clarke’s influence. This understanding was based on an incorrect belief that the window panel was manufactured during the building of the church in 1935, four years after Harry Clarke had died. Many other parishioners have never heard of a ‘Harry Clarke window’ in the church. Liam was given the incorrect story that the decorative window panel had been donated by the architect who designed the church, but this is now known to be incorrect. No records relevant to the provenance of the ‘Harry Clarke’ panel, were held by the parish. Liam has done extensive investigation to find out the background to this window.

(2) on Tuesday 19th JANUARY 2021 @ 20:00 p.m.

William Orpen
 

By Dominic Lee

                                                                                                                                                              Born in Stillorgan, County Dublin, William Orpen was a fine draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful, painter of portraits for the well-to-do in Edwardian society, though many of his most striking paintings are self-portraits.

During World War I, he was the most prolific of the official war artists sent by Britain to the Western Front. There he produced drawings and paintings of ordinary soldiers, dead men, and German prisoners of war, as well as portraits of generals and politicians. Most of these works, 138 in all, he donated to the British government; they are now in the collection of the Imperial War Museum. His connections to the senior ranks of the British Army allowed him to stay in France longer than any of the other official war artists, and although he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1918 King’s birthday honours list, and also elected a member of the Royal Academy of Arts, his determination to serve as a war artist cost him both his health and his social standing in Britain.

After his early death a number of critics, including other artists, were loudly dismissive of his work, and for many years his paintings were rarely exhibited, a situation that only began to change in the 1980s.

mEMbers will receive an e-mail with the invite password.         

Non-Members please send an email to: info@foxrocklocalhistory.ie for a password to this meeting.

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All our meetings are held in the Foxrock Pastoral Centre, which is at the junction of the N11 and Kill Lane. We meet on the third Tuesday of every month between September and May. The meetings start at 20:00 and firstly is a short talk of 20 to 25 mins. this is then followed by the main talk. After the talks there is an opportunity for questions and answers. Then after the vote of thanks, tea and biscuits are served and you can get a chance to meet the speakers and ask questions you may have.

Admission for members is Free.

Admission for Non- Members is EUR 5.00

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MEMBERSHIP – Our Annual Membership is EUR 25.00 and this covers free admission to our eight meetings in the year ( Admission is EUR 5.00  for non-members per meeting). Members also get first choice on our annual outing.  Membership  year is from January to December