Memorials are everywhere in our city. When the term ‘memorial’ is used, often our first thought is of a great statue in stone or bronze, such as the statues in front of City Hall. These are perhaps the most prominent memorials in Belfast, and are a common sight around the world, but they only represent a small proportion of the memorials that exist around Belfast! We have churches named after religious leaders and saints, fountains dedicated to wealthy residents, hospitals named after philanthropists, and we have streets named after Georgian land-owners who owned the land on which Belfast was built.
Nods to members of the Belfast of yesteryear are all around us, remembered in the fabric of the city itself, and to round out the year, the Archive and Project Co-ordinator is highlighting a couple of the memorials present across the North Belfast Heritage Cluster. In this blog, it is memorials in Stained Glass!
The Rose Window- Donegall Street Congregational Church/ Redeemer Central
The grand gothic façade of the old Congregational Church is easily overlooked on Donegall Street, sandwiched between the new build of Charles House on one side, and the looming structure of the new Ulster University on the other. The church, as has been discussed frequently on the cluster website and our walking tours, has a long and tumultuous history, with the current building being the 3rd iteration of the congregational church building on this site. Having rebuilt following a fire in the 1930’s the church was badly damaged when a German bomb exploded immediately beside the church in the Belfast Blitz. The roof of the church was destroyed, and all the windows were blown out. Miraculously, the front façade survived, with the lower hall largely unaffected.
The congregation rebuilt but made one notable change. They replaced the high gothic windows at the front of the building with a large, colourful rose window. This change was a deliberate and thoughtful one, as the structure of the façade had remained largely undamaged. Instead, it was a symbolic message from the church to the wider community of Belfast, that as the church rebuilt (again), so to could the city of Belfast: A colourful reminder of hope in the darkest of times, and a long standing symbol of the cyclical nature of things; a physical depiction of the inescapable cycle of fortune and misfortune, good and bad, and victory and loss. A fitting symbol of a church and a city that has had its fair share of fortune and misfortune over the past 2 centuries.
Throne Hospital & 1st Presbyterian (Rosemary street)
Whilst the Rose Window at Redeemer Central is more of an abstract memorial, there are many more obvious memorials present in churches throughout Belfast, with the name of the individuals or families incorporated into the design. One such window is present in the First Presbyterian on Rosemary Street, dedicated to the memory of Samuel Martin of Shrigley, Killyleagh. The Martin Family earned their wealth from their flax mill and established the town of Shrigley as a satellite industrial town. Samuel purchased an area of land known as the “Throne Lands” with the intention of constructing a family home overlooking the city of Belfast, but his intention changed following the death of his nephew, John Haliday in 1869 of Tuberculosis Spondylitis, and his wife Martha in 1870. He resolved to build a hospital on the Throne Lands, who would treat children like his nephew. The hospital became known as the Throne Hospital, as Samuel would not live to see his hospital built. He died in 1872:
“…the Convalescent Home of Belfast, in connection with the General Hospital, will be a lasting memorial of Mr. Martin and his wife. It is little more than two years since her death, and he has now followed her- perhaps not unwillingly, certainly contentedly.”
The Thone hospital was a substantial legacy for Samuel and Martha. With no-one to steer the new hospital, ownership was transferred to the Belfast Royal Hospital in 1875. It was expanded in 1877, with a convalescent home added, before money donated by Forster Green in 1885 allowed for a purpose-built tuberculosis ward to be constructed on the site. So, whilst the hospital itself was an effective legacy, it housed two stained glass windows, erected by Samuel’s father John shortly after his death, in memory of his deceased son. The inscription read:
“In Memory of Samuel Martin of Shrigley, Killyleagh. Founder and Endower of this Sick Children’s Hospital 1875.”
The hospital closed in 1992, after 117 years of care. The building fell into disrepair and the stained-glass windows were removed and taken to the nearby Whitehouse Presbyterian Church, where they were destroyed in an arson attack in 2002. The only record of these windows I could find were taken by a doctor who used to work there, and who wrote an article about the history of the Throne Hospital in 1998. You can read more about the Throne Hospital on our website, but since completing that piece of research, a visit to the first Presbyterian on Rosemary street revealed that the two windows from the Throne had a ‘sibling’- A third windows by the same stained glass studios, which remains in situ, in one of Belfast’s most historic and storied churches. Overlooking the pews in which famous faces such as George Benn and Thomas McCabe once worshiped, the inscription reads:
“In memory of Samuel Martin of Shrigley Count Down. Founder of the Sick Children’s Hospital Belfast. Born 6th June 1827. Died 15th October 1872”
This window survived the Blitz and outlasted the hospital and remains in the church in which the Martin family worshipped.
Harry Clarke and St Malachy’s
Some memorials are more subtle-so subtle in fact, that their existence is disputed! One such example is amongst the glorious stained glass in the St Malachy’s College Chapel. These stained-glass windows were created by Harry Clarke Studios between 1935-1937. They are primarily the work of Richard King during his tenure with the studio, with a window of Blessed Oliver Plunkett created by William Dowling. Harry Clarke is remembered as one of Ireland’s greatest stained-glass artist, but his life was a tragically short one! The studio which bore his name was created less than a year before his death in January 1931, with both William Dowling and Richard King working under Clarke in the years before his death.
Clarke had suffered from ill health throughout his life, but in 1929 he was diagnosed with Tuberculosis, and went to a sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland for treatment. He returned for further treatment in October 1930, but died when returning home on the 6th January 1931. His death was mourned by the art community in Ireland, with many pointing to his imagination and ability that set him apart from his peers:
“His imagination was magical, fertile, bizarre…There can be no doubt that Harry Clarke has a genius which manifests itself at its highest in Stained Glass (Nicola Gordon Bowe in Gazetteer of Irish Stained Glass p.256)”
“A Ferociously hard worker, animated by a demonic energy, he took infinite pains over every project. Tall and graceful, exquisitely attired and beautifully mannered, with large, dark eyes and a saturnine complexion, he was a man of quiet charm…” (Dictionary of Irish Biographies)
So, what does Harry Clarke have to do with an obscure memorial hidden in the Stained Glass Windows of St Malachy’s College? During an event hosted in collaboration with St Malachy’s, National Churches Trust and the North Belfast Heritage Cluster, Dr Sheehy highlighted that one of the figures in the Pentecost window could be a potential portrait of Harry Clarke- A healthier and more robust Clarke- a nod by Richard King to his mentor in his earlier years.
Academics of renown have been unable to say for certain if this is indeed a representation of Clarke, but from an observer’s point of view, there is something distinct about the individual clad in green to the left side of the window. What strikes me most as I stand in front of the window is the focus of the various figures depicted. Many of the figures are depicted engaging with/looking at the depiction of the Virgin, with a couple of the partially obscured figures seemingly gazing at something unseen. The green-robed figure, by contrast, appears to be looking directly at you, the observer, watching as you take in the abstract designs and bold colours. And while it isn’t possible to verify beyond doubt if King depicted his late mentor here, it is perhaps a fitting, almost comforting notion-A visage of Harry Clarke, freed from his ill-health, watching on as admirers take in the work of his protégé, and the beauty that shines through every pane of glass in the chapel.
About the archivist:
James Cromey is the Archive Coordinator for the North Belfast Heritage Cluster. He has a background in Victorian, Industrial and Medical History and has received degrees from the University of Glasgow and Queens University Belfast. All research has been conducted to a high academic standard and has been fully referenced. If you would like to know more about a story or piece of research, or if you wish to tell us about your own story, email us at: archiveproject@nbheritagecluster.org
