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The Tara landscape in a stained glass window as designed by 4th class pupils of Skryne National School
Detail of the widow showing a fairy as drawn by Jade Halpin and a celtic cross drawn by Tara Farnan.
Emma Thompson of Glasshaus Studio, Michael Starrett CEO of the Heritage Council and Liam McCorkell of Glasshaus Studio pictured in the offices of the Heritage Council in Kilkenny after the arrival of the Tara stained glass piece.
New exhibition at the Heritage Council
A magnificent stained glass window which celebrates the culture, heritage and amenity value of Tara and its surrounding landscape was welcomed to Kilkenny as part of Heritage Week. The 4th class teachers and pupils of Skyrne National School, Co Meath, designed the window.
The project brought together Skryne National School, Glasshaus Studio, and Meath County Council to design a stained glass window based on the theme of My Landscape - People & Places.
Local stained glass specialist, Liam McCorkell and the staff at Glasshaus Studio, Navan worked alongside the 4th class pupils of Skryne National School and their teacher Kieran Fanning and Principal Martin Kennedy. Through a series of design workshops each pupil discussed the Tara landscape and designed a motif or image which captured what it means to them. Glasshaus Studio worked with the pupils to create a stained glass window based on the concepts, ideas and designs created by the children. Images of monuments and megalithic art, as seen through the eyes of children, sit beside ice-cream, hot chocolate, swings and magic trees with fairies.
“It was decided that the images in the window would be connected in a format relevant to the Tara landscape and an aerial photograph was used to complement the overall theme; as Tara is most often shown from the air.” explained stained glass artist Liam McCorkell.
Conor Newman, Chair of the Heritage Council, which provided funding for the project, praised the innovation of the students, teachers and artists involved and asked permission ‘to use this window as a teaching aid in the National University of Ireland in Galway to explain Tara and to show how we see heritage in such a personalised way’
The window is now on exhibition in the offices of the Heritage Council, Kilkenny City until the end of September. The individual pictures drawn by the school children are also on display. It is open to visitors from 10am until 1pm until the end of September. It will then be exhibited at in Co Meath before it is permanently installed at the main entrance to St. Colmcille’s School, Skryne in 2012. This project was supported by Meath County Council, the Heritage Council and the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government.