Dr David Lawrence, news of whose sudden death has brought sadness to many across the Church of Ireland, was a man of many talents.
He was scholar, an aesthete, a skilled photographer who for over a quarter of a century from 1991 was a visitor literally to every Church of Ireland church on this island where stained glass was to be found.
He came among us already possessed of a mine of information concerning stained glass artists and manufacturers, along with a deep knowledge of their styles of work and iconographic aims.
This website contains factual information and photographs of every stained-glass window throughout the Church of Ireland. The research, which was carried out by Dr David Lawrence, began in 1991 and concluded in 2017. The work was funded by the Representative Church Body of the Church of Ireland; the Heritage Council; Northern Ireland Built Heritage; the Irish Georgian Society and the All Churches Trust.
The survey has revealed previously unrecorded examples of nineteenth century ecclesiastical art of exceptional quality from Irish, English and German artists and studios as well as recording better known work by twentieth century Irish artists.
This website allows users to search for windows by numerous categories, including the name or location of a church; the name of a stained-glass studio or artist; the iconography (i.e. religious subject-matter) of the window; the date of a window.
The Church of Ireland is unique within the Anglican Church in having commissioned a comprehensive record of its stained glass windows.
Explanation of Abbreviations
Used for artists & studios
doc
Documented
Primary source to support the attribution.
lit
Literature
Secondary source to support the attribution.
sgn
Signed
The window is signed with name, initials or mark.
attrib
Attributed
A likely attribution.
def
Definitely
The attribution is made with confidence.
Used for dates
doc
Documented
Primary source to support the given date.
lit
Literature
Secondary source to support the given date.
sgn
Signed
Date appearing on the glass along with the signature or mark.
insc
Inscribed
A date formally painted as part of the inscription.
plaq
Plaque
Date appearing on a plaque nearby.
circa
Circa
A likely date.
mem
Memorial
A date of death appearing either on the glass or on a plaque nearby; note that the date of installation of a window could vary greatly from the memorial date.
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