Holy Family Catholic Church, Millbrook, Southampton
Address
Holy Family Catholic Church, Redbridge Hill, Southampton SO16 4PLRecommended by
Artist, maker and date
Helen Moloney, fabricated by Abbey Stained Glass, 1966Reason for highlighting
The Creation, Fall, and Redemption of Mankind, along with a smaller sanctuary window, The Holy Family, are the only windows designed by Irish artist, Helen Moloney, for a church in Britain, or indeed for any other overseas location. The architect who commissioned the work was also Irish, Liam McCormick, who was arguably Ireland’s most distinguished ecclesiastical architect of the period and Moloney was his favourite artist.
The 28ft by 20ft wall of glass features some of Moloney’s favourite symbols. The Creation is symbolised by the sun, moon, stars, tree of life, water, fish and bird. The Fall is represented by Adam and Eve contemplating the forbidden fruit, and what Moloney referred to as ‘the tree of knowledge of good and evil’ around which the serpent is coiled. The Redemption is represented by the lamb symbolising Christ, and the ark emerging from the deluge which she viewed as a symbol of regeneration. Like most of her windows, Moloney eschewed painting the glass and relied entirely on shapes, easily discernible symbols, the power of strong, dynamic leadlines, the best of pot-metal glass, and the impact of pure unadulterated colour.
Artist/maker notes
Helen Moloney (1926–2011) trained as a painter and turned to stained glass in her early thirties having been inspired by seeing French medieval stained glass and, in 1958, visiting the large Evie Hone retrospective in Dublin. 1964 marked a turning point when she was commissioned by the ecclesiastical architect Liam McCormick to make eight stained glass windows for his church at Desertegney, Co. Donegal; this was the start of a fruitful relationship which amounted to twelve commissions over the following eighteen years. She made her designs in her small top floor Dublin flat and had them fabricated by different stained glass studios. By 1982, despite requests from prominent architects like McCormick, she declined all commissions, seemingly having lost faith in her own creativity; she was only 56. In addition to stained glass, Moloney also created a few works in dalle de verre, in enamel, and made designs for altar and ambo textile hangings.
Sources:
Helen’s Moloney’s research notes for the window, Moloney Collection, National Irish Visual Arts Library, Dublin.
Bart Felle, ‘Helen Moloney, stained glass artist, her life and works’, unpublished dissertation, M.Phil, University College Dublin, 2018.
Bart Felle’s biographical note on Moloney in the Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass (Irish Academic Press, 2021).
Abbey Stained Glass Studios has its roots in The Dublin Glass and Paint Company, set up in Abbey Street in the 1920s by Tom Ryan. Tom’s nephew, Frank Ryan, joined the business in 1944 and set up Abbey Stained Glass. The business today is managed by Ken Ryan, son of Frank and the third generation of Ryans to run the business.