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Pictured after the unveiling and blessing of the new Window of Reconciliation by stain-glass artist Tom Denny at St. John the Baptist Church, Tralee, on Friday night. From left John Griffin, Eng. Cllr. Norma Foley Mayor of Tralee, Tom Denny, Artist, Rt. Rev. David Monteith, Dean of Leicester. Rt. Rev. Kenneth Kearon, Bishop of Limerick, Killaloe & Ardfert. Most Rev. Dr. Ray Browne, Bishop of Kerry. V. Rev. Fr. Tadhg Fitzgerald, PP. St. John the Baptist, Church, Tralee, Bill Looney Pastoral Centre. Photo: John Cleary.
A NEW stained glass window on the theme of Reconciliation was unveiled on Friday in St. John’s Church, Tralee by the Bishop of Kerry Dr. Ray Browne and Bishop of Limerick, Killaloe & Ardfert, Rt. Rev. Kenneth Kearon.
It is the first stained glass window to be installed in St. John’s in 60 years and was a joint undertaking by the Catholic and Church of Ireland communities in Tralee.
The window was crafted by stained glass artist Tom Denny, a direct descendant of the Dennys of Tralee Castle, twenty of whose members travelled from England for the ceremony in Tralee last evening.
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The large congregation in St John’s for the unveiling of the new stained glass window. Photo by Dermot Crean
The large congregation was welcomed by the Mayor of Tralee, Cllr. Norma Foley. There were addresses by John Griffin on the history of St. John’s and by Tom Denny on the window.
Mr. Denny said that despite having completed 60 windows for various churches and cathedrals in Britain and Germany, this was the commission that he felt most honoured to do.
The homily was delivered by the Dean of Leiscester Cathedral, Rt. Rev. David Monteith, originally from Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh.
The ceremony featured a re-enactment of The Parable of the Prodigal Son by transition year students from Presentation Secondary School directed by Fr. Pat Ahern.
The project has been more than five years in planning and was conceived as a Tralee 800 project for the town’s Octocentenary celebrations and Year of Mercy in 2016” according to Fr. Tadhg Fitzgerald, parish priest of St. John’s.
The window, which is 5 metres high by 3 metres across, has as its central light the Loving Father embracing the Prodigal Son, to the right is Jesus reading from the Book of Isaiah and, to the left, St. John the Baptist, patron of the parish.
The new stained glass window at St John’s. Photo: John Cleary.
The window contains over 30 individual figures and includes scenes from Tralee’s history, Tralee Bay and the Slieve Mish mountains.
St. John’s is famous for its works of art – including the Great Sanctuary Window (1861) by Michael O’ Connor, various stained glass works by Earley Brother, Richard King and Patrick Pollen.
The Stations of the Cross are by Sean Keating, RHA. The last window was installed by Dean Reidy as part of a massive programme of renovation in the 1950s.
Mayor of Tralee Norma Foley addresses the congregation. Photo by Dermot Crean
Beautiful!!