Harry Clarke stained-glass windows belong to Johnny Ronan’s firm, court rules
But it’s a partial win for Bewley’s as café holds on to two artworks
FOUR of the stained-glass windows in Bewley’s on Dublin’s Grafton Street belong to developer Johnny Ronan’s property company and two belong to Bewley’s, the High Court has ruled.
The café owners expressed disappointment that the majority of the windows, collectively worth about €1million, were ruled part of the building and not owned by the café, which rents the property.
Bewley’s said yesterday that Mr Ronan’s company should now donate the stained glass to charity or an institution so that the public can enjoy them.
The court heard that Bewley’s pays €1.4million a year in rent and was badly hit by the coronavirus lockdown. It wanted to offset its rent by selling the windows to Mr Ronan’s company, which said it already owned them.
There were some heated exchanges during the hearings,
‘We will consider our options’
between a conservation architect, James Slattery, and a barrister representing Bewley’s.
Yesterday, the judge criticised the architect for his behaviour on the witness stand and the way in which he treated questions posed by a Bewley’s barrister as if they were ‘offensive or imbecilic’.
‘It is important that experts should give their evidence dispassionately,’ Judge Denis McDonald said, although he added that he would not discount the evidence, as requested by Bewley’s.
The ornate stained-glass windows were created by renowned artist Harry Clarke, who had been heavily influenced by the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements before his death in 1931.
Judge McDonald noted the works were commissioned in 1927 for ‘a new café to be occupied by Bewley’s Oriental Cafés Ltd, a company then owned by members of the Bewley family’. The judge said he realised, as a resident of Dublin, that the public may be concerned about the ruling in favour of the Bewley’s landlord, and that it could mean the wellknown stained-glass works could be separated or removed.
Judge McDonald ruled that two of the windows should be considered separate works of art – not just windows – and therefore belonged to the building’s tenants, Bewley’s. RGRE Grafton Ltd, Mr Ronan’s company, had argued that the six ‘windows’ were ‘part and parcel’ of the premises.
Bewley’s argued that Mr Clarke created the stained glass as artworks, not as windows, and therefore they belonged to the cafe, not the landlord. The café’s barristers explained to the court that the works are ornamental and were never used as windows.
The dispute focused on four panels called ‘The Four Orders’ and separate works comprising two panels called the ‘Swan Yard’.
Judge McDonald said that at the time of their installation in 1928, ‘The Four Orders’ worked as conventional windows . He ruled these four works acted as windows and therefore belonged to Mr Ronan’s company. Turning to the ‘Swan Yard’ works, he ruled that Bewley’s had moved them to an internal wall in the café to be displayed, and that they were therefore owned by the café. The case comes back before Judge McDonald for final orders next month.
In a statement, Bewley’s said that while confirmation of ownership of the artworks was welcome, it was ‘disappointed with elements’ of the judgement. ‘We will now consider our options with our legal team. Our wish remains that the Harry Clarke stained-glass artworks be transferred into public ownership through a donation to a suitable institution,’ it said.