SHINING A LIGHT IN TRALEE
CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES GROW EVER CLOSER IN TRALEE AS DENNY SCION CRAFTS STUNNING PIECE FOR ST JOHN’S CHURCH
The Denny family once held such power in Tralee that their hand can still be felt in much of the town’s infrastructure and they are once more making an important addition to public life in Tralee – through the stunning craftwork of one of their direct descendants.d
This time, the hand of the famous Denny dynasty is working towards the reconciliation ti of the town’s Catholic and Church of IrelandI communities.
Tom Denny is set to unveil his remarkbale b Reconciliation Window at St John’s Roman Catholic Church during a ceremony on Friday night (from 7.30pm) to be performedo by Catholic Bishop of Kerry Ray Browne and Church of Ireland Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe Dr Kenneth Kearon.
It’s the latest work from an artist who has carried out over 60 major commissions on some of the most treasured Anglican cathedrals,h including Durham and Leicester.
The curious have been popping into thet Church in recent days as Tom nears completionc of the intricate installation project and the vast majority are deeply taken with the artistry of the piece, a triptych depicting St John the Baptist in the wilderness, Christ reading from the Book of Isaiah and, as its central image, the loving father embracing the Prodigal Son.
It is the first stained glass to be installed in St John’s in 60 years and takes its place in exhalted company, including Sean Keating’s masterful Stations of the Cross; Michael O’Connor’s Great Sanctuary Window (from 1861) as well as other stained glass works by Earley Brother, Richard King and Patrick Pollen.
Friday night’s unveiling and blessing will mark the culmination of a plan long in the offing.
“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,” St John’s Parish Priest Fr Tadhg Fitzgerald said.
Five metres high by three metres across, it soars above the pews on the righthand side of the nave - seen immediately on entering the church. The window contains over 30 individual figures and, in a great nod from Tom Denny to the town, includes scenes from Tralee’s history, its bay area and the Slieve Mish mountains.