Michael blows in to make vital repairs to stained glass windows

THEY say it’s an ill wind that blows no good and that’s definitely true of the stormy weather that brought Meister Michael Elsmann into An Diseart in August 2016.

Michael is a German stained glass craftsman and during that August storm he paid a visit to the chapel in An Diseart. While there, he noticed that some of the panes in the stained glass windows were “billowing in and out”.

“He put his hand on the wall to steady himself to check that he was correct,” recalls recalls Joe Lynch of Dingle’s First Cottage by the Sea, where Michael was staying. But there was no doubting the evidence of Michael’s trained eye and, having established that some of the windows had become dangerously unstable, he very kindly offered to carry out a temporary fix to reduce the risk of serious damage. The offer was accepted and the work was completed before Michael went back home to Germany.

As a result of a subsequent survey of the condition of the late 19th Century Mayer windows, Michael returned early this month to perform more comprehensive preservation work.

“In this work, I took out one of the windows with broken lead and replaced the lead completely” said Michael. After resetting the antique glass in new lead the difficult task was to reposition a window that was first installed in the late 19th Century.

Michael also checked and made repairs to other windows in the set of five windows made by the German Mayer company. Coincidentally, Michael had spent two years working for Franz Mayer of Munich where he completed part of his two years work before graduating as a Master Craftsman in Cologne.

It also came to the stained glass artist’s attention while he was working that a nocturnal creature has made its home between one of the stained glass windows and the protective glass outside it.

“Every day the bat comes in and settles behind the stained glass window and leaves again in the evening. The bat is entering and exiting through an air vent below the window,” he said.

Michael returned to Germany on Monday, his work on the windows complete.

Photo by Declan Malone Stained glass master craftsman Michael Elsmann from Germany in the Chapel of An Díseart where he has just completed repairs to the stained glass windows.