Dr. Nessa Roche Panel Discussion: Caring for Stained Glass in our Custody

Event Information

How best can we take care of the stained glass in our custody?

The responsibility of care for historical master works in stained glass often falls to individuals, clergy and caretakers of buildings in which they are housed. How do we best care for them so that we will pass it to future generations in the optimal condition possible? Are new contemporary works any different, do they need different kinds of care? What are the correct steps to take if the work is damaged, needs restoration or needs to be protected from the weather? How do you identify if the work is at risk or not?

Our panel will discuss these issues and more. Chaired by Dr Nessa Roche this expert panel is made up of practitioners in stained glass conservation, historians and architects. We invite you to join us if you have stained glass in your care, and wish to know more about its long term care. If this is a subject that interests you or you would like to contribute to the conversation, please join us!

Biographies:

Dr Nessa Roche is a Senior Architectural Advisor with the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, with a doctorate in architectural conservation from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh (1999). She has published on Irish architectural history and conservation, with a speciality in windows and glass. She wrote the Department’s Windows Advice Series booklet (2007), project managed the Places of Worship booklet (2010) and was one of the editors of the statutory Architectural Heritage Protection Guidelines (2004). She managed the Department’s review of the operation of Part IV of the Planning and Development Act (published 2016). She also was centrally involved in preparing the National Landscape Strategy (2015). Nessa is currently responsible for developing the new architectural policy and is also working on a strategy for cultural heritage skills development in Ireland and the EU

Colette Langan is a stained glass conservator and maker. Originally trained in the UK in 1983, she served her time working under mentors Alfred Fisher and Steve Clare from the UK’s leading stained glass conservation studio, Holy Well Glass. There she worked on many iconic glass windows in buildings including Westminster Abbey, Winchester Cathedral and The Tower of London at Chapel Studio, UK. On her return to Ireland she set up her own studio in the North West, in Carrick on Shannon Co Leitrim, where she continues to practice stained glass restoration alongside contemporary design. Today as well as conservation her studio practice includes stained glass design, incorporating glass painting, and glass fusing techniques. She also makes one off large and small autonomous art works. She sees education as an important element of her work in both restoration and the creative experience. She has turned her attention to the challenge of sustainability in her work practice, using exploratory techniques with an emphasis on reusing glass.Large scale public stained glass work can be seen in The Loreto Convent, Rathfarnham, Dublin, SS Sebastian and Pancras Church, Kingsbury, London, St Mary’s Church, Athlone with recent private commissions for clients in Tipperary, Cork, Sligo and Dublin Airport. She received the Governing Body Award, IT Sligo in 2016 and in the same year was shortlisted for RDS Visual Art Award. She was recently granted a residency by CraftHub to represent Ireland in Germany at the famous Glasmalerei Peters Studios in April 2022.

Evan Connon comes from a long line of stained-glass craftsmen stretching over three centuries. His paternal grandfather Charles Connon (1900 – 1939) worked for Joshua Clarke at the Harry Clarke Studios as a master glass painter and designer. As a teenager Evan was immersed in the stained glass tradition and served a six-year apprenticeship with William Earley of the Earley Studios Dublin. In 2004, he set up Connon Glass studio in Dublin, designing and manufacturing both private and public stained-glass windows., Their extensive portfolio of stained-glass work in many churches throughout Ireland, includes contemporary windows and large restoration projects. These include: St Patrick’s cathedral Dublin, Mary’s Cathedral in Limerick, Christchurch Cathedral and University Church in Dublin. An extensive restoration of St Kevin’s church in Harrington street Dublin was undertaken by the studios in 2013. The works comprised the removal of five windows to facilitate repairs to the window reveals and stone tracery.

Alan Tomlin is a second generation Stained glass artist. His father Stanley Tomlin b 1916 worked at the Clarke studios and set up Irish stained glass. Alan is known for designing new stained, leaded glass and repair/restoration in all styles for churches, private dwellings, public and commercial buildings. He also specialises in the highest quality restoration of old or damaged stained glass windows while paying particular attention to the guidelines of the heritage council. In the public domain are windows for Bewleys café on contemporary interpretations of artworks by Pauline Bewick, Jim Fitzpatrick, Church of Our Lady of Loreto and St Brigid at Casement Aerodrome. IN recent years he has been working on a 300 piece painted commission for the Irish Air corps.