Cork in 50 Artworks, No 4: St Gobnait stained glass window, Honan Chapel, UCC

Harry Clarke was in his early twenties when he was commissioned  to create the famous windows at the chapel of the Cork College 

A detail from Harry Clarke's stained glass of St Gobnait at the Honan Chapel, University College Cork. 

While revolution was in the air in Dublin in 1916, not far from the epicentre of the Rising at O’Connell St and the GPO, artist Harry Clarke was at work on what would become one of Ireland’s most celebrated series of artworks, his stained glass windows for the Honan Chapel at UCC.

Clarke was only 21 years old when he was commissioned to create the windows for the chapel, the construction of which was overseen by Dublin solicitor, John O'Connell, a leading member of the Celtic Revival and Arts and Crafts movements. A taste of what was to come from Clarke can be seen elsewhere in Cork, at the city’s Crawford Gallery, where three of his earliest stained glass panels are on display.