Michael surprises with gift of glass
A SURPRISE addition to the artworks in An
Diseart was iinstalled on
Saturday after meister Michael
Elsmann from
Germany arrived with a stained glass window hhe had specially created for the bbuilding.
Michael has bbecome a great friend of An
Díseart since he first visited in 2016 to view the Harry Clarke stained glass windows in the neo- Gothic chapel of the former Presentation Sisters convent. On that visit Michael noticed that a number of panels were loose and in danger of falling out of some of the stained glass windows.
As a master stained glass craftsman Michael was the right man to put the problem to right. He offered his services free of charge and, with the help of locals including some of our resident German speakers, had temporary repairs completed within a few days. He returned last summer to carry out permanent repairs to the damaged chapel windows and he reckons they should now be sound for the next couple of hundred years or so.
Last week Michael was in Dingle again – this time to make arrangements for a visit next June of the Chorart Rheingau choir, in which he sings. While he was in town he surprised An Díseart with a a gift of a new stained glass window which he crafted in his workshop near Mainz in honour of the late Mons Pádraig Ó Fiannachta. Michael is no man for idle holidays and before the weekend was out he had the new window depicting Msgr. Pádraig Ó Fiannachta and the Bíobla Naofa installed at the entrance door to An Díseart.
This new window adds to the stained glass collection housed in An Diseart with works by Harry Clarke and a set by the Mayer company in Munich. More recently the centre acquired a piece of work from local stained glass artist Clare O Halloran. Fr. Jim Sheehy, Chairperson of An Diseart, said: “We are delighted by his generosity, the window is a present to An Díseart and so to the people of Dingle”.
Michael also found time to give a taste of the style of musical work his choir will present in June 2019, when he sang the Credo in Latin from the pulpit in the parish church on Saturday evening.
He returned to Germany on Monday and back to work as a stained glass meister, leaving people delighted by his generosity and his mastery.
An Díseart s open from 10 until 4pm Monday top Friday for anyone who would like to view the new window.