Church of St Michael, Kirklington, North Yorkshire
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Church of St Michael, Whitecross Hill, Kirklington, near Bedale, North Yorkshire DL8 2NBRecommended by
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North aisle east window - 'Suffer the little Children to Come Unto Me'Artist, maker and date
Catherine (Kitty) O'Brien, made at An Túr Gloine, Dublin, 1928Reason for highlighting
Catherine O’Brien of Dublin’s An Túr Gloine (Tower of Glass) studio had a prolific six-decade career at the studio and windows by her can be found throughout the island of Ireland and overseas but only three windows were made for churches in Britain (two for this church and one for a now deconsecrated church, also in Yorkshire). O’Brien was an accomplished craftswoman though is often overlooked by her better-known – and it has to be said, more talented – colleagues, Michael Healy, Wilhelmina Geddes and Evie Hone.
The subject of the window, Christ blessing children, is one Catherine O’Brien returned to many times over her career, each one a different interpretation. Unusually, in this version there is another adult besides Christ, a woman on one knee carrying an infant. The figure is based on a photograph (discovered recently in the An Túr Gloine archive, National Gallery of Ireland) that was taken in the studio, possibly of O’Brien’s close friend and the studio’s general factotum, Eirene Popham. Like many of O’Brien’s windows, this window has a certain charm about it exemplified by the scene that traverses the two predella panels in which Christ, the Good Shepherd, looks back to check to see if his flock of sheep is following him.
Artist/maker notes
Catherine (Kitty) O’Brien (1881–1963) was the second recruit to join An Túr Gloine, commencing her stained glass career in 1903. Throughout her career smaller scale, intimate windows rather than large multi-light windows seemed to suit her style better and these often have a simplicity and modesty in execution and ambition which seem most at home in country churches, something that Sarah Purser recognized when assigning windows. Most of her windows can be found in Church of Ireland churches of which she was a committed member. In time O’Brien eschewed her preference for lighter, mellow tones in favour of a brighter palette and by the early 1930s had adopted regular use of pulsating intense oranges, reds, blues and greens, sometimes evoking a charming folk art quality in her windows.
In 1940, on Purser’s retirement, O’Brien took over as manager of An Túr Gloine until its closure in January 1944. She then bought out the studio and its contents, and from 1954 she rented out space to fellow artist Patrick Pollen. A fire in 1958 destroyed the premises though she rebuilt the studio a year later, a testament to her tenacity and commitment.
Source: David Caron (ed.) Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass (Irish Academic Press, 2021).
An Túr Gloine (the Tower of Glass) was a studio founded on cooperative ideals for stained glass artists, with a sideline in opus sectile mosaic, which was established in Dublin in 1903.
Source: Dublin’s Stained Glass, A guide to the finest twentieth-century windows by David Caron (Four Courts Press, 2025)
Other comments
There is an earlier 2-light war memorial window by O’Brien in the church (south aisle), Kneeling Knight in Armour, and David (1922). It was erected in memory of an Irish soldier, Christopher Prior-Wandesforde whose family had centuries old ties to Kirklington. Michael Healy, O’Brien’s colleague at An Túr Gloine, also created a memorial window (1920) for the same soldier for the Church of Ireland, Castlecomer, County Kilkenny where the family had their principal estate.