Catherine Amelia "Kitty" O'Brien (19 June 1881 – 18 July 1963) was an Irish

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

artist, and a member and director of

An Túr Gloine An Túr Gloine (; Irish for "The Glass Tower") was a cooperative studio for stained glass and ''opus sectile'' artists from 1903 until 1944, based in Dublin, Ireland. History An Túr Gloine was conceived of in late 1901 and established January 19 ...

Early life and education

Catherine Amelia O'Brien was born in Durra House,

Spancill Hill, County Clare Spancill Hill or Spancilhill (Ordnance Survey of Ireland, Ordnance Survey spelling Spancel Hill for the hill and settlement, Spancelhill for the electoral division (Ireland), electoral division; ga, Cnoc Uarchoille) is a hill and adjacent dispe ...

on 19 June 1881. She was one of five children of Pierce O'Brien, a gentleman landowner, and Sophia Angel St John O'Brien. Her first cousin was woodcarver Sophia St John Whitty. O'Brien attended the Mercy Convent in Ennis, going on to win a scholarship to the

Dublin Metropolitan School of Art The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) is Ireland's oldest art institution, offering the largest range of art and design degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate level in the country. Originating as a drawing school in 1746, many of th ...

. Whilst there she studied under William Orpen, and

Alfred E. Child Alfred Ernest Child (1875–1939) was an English stained glass artist, a lecturer in the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art and was associated with An Túr Gloine. Life and education Alfred Ernest Child was born in London in 1875. As a young ...

who taught her the art of stained glass.

Artistic work

Amongst her first commissions was the St Ita window for St Brendan's cathedral in Loughrea in 1904, which was designed by

Sarah Purser Sarah Henrietta Purser RHA (22 March 1848 – 7 August 1943) was an Irish artist mainly noted for her work with stained glass. Biography Purser was born in Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire) in County Dublin, and raised in Dungarvan, County Wate ...

. O'Brien joined

in 1906, beginning her career there by designing ''Angel of the Annunciation'' window in the Enniskillen convent chapel. For a window in the Wilson private chapel Coolcarrigan, Naas,

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

in 1912, O'Brien incorporated Celtic design, some drawing on the

Book of Durrow The Book of Durrow is an illuminated manuscript dated to c. 700 that consists of text from the four Gospels gospel books, written in an Irish adaption of Vulgate Latin, and illustrated in the Insular script style.Moss (2014), p. 229 Its origin a ...

. In 1914, she toured the cathedrals of Paris,

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

, and

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

with Purser and

Wilhelmina Geddes Wilhelmina Geddes ''HRUA'' (25 May 1887 – 10 August 1955) was an Irish stained glass artist who was an important figure within the Irish Arts and Crafts movement and also the twentieth century British stained glass revival. Notable works includ ...

. O'Brien designed three windows depicting St John, St Flannan, and St Munchin, for the Honan Chapel in University College Cork in 1916. Her 1923 design of the centenary memorial window in St Andrew's church,

Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in Hispania Baetica. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial ...

, represented the parable of the Good Shepherd. When in 1925 An Túr Gloine became a cooperative society, O'Brien became a shareholder along with

Ethel Rhind Ethel Rhind (1 December 1877 – 6 March 1952) was an Irish stained-glass and mosaic artist, who was associated with An Túr Gloine. Life and education Rhind was born 1 December 1877 in Arrah, Bihar, India. Her father was Robert Hunter Rhind, a ...

Evie Hone Eva Sydney Hone RHA (22 April 1894 – 13 March 1955), usually known as Evie, was an Irish painter and stained glass artist.Nicola Gordon Bowe (May 2009)Hone, Eva Sydney (1894–1955) ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online editi ...

, and Michael Healy. Her 1926 lunette ''The spirit of night'' represented night, twilight, and dawn, and was for the private home of Keng Chee ''Roselands'' in Singapore, the building was later demolished. The window of St Catherine of Siena for the Sacred Heart convent chapel, Newton, Massachusetts dates from 1927. O'Brien's 1931 St Patrick window, for the De La Salle school, East Coast Rd, Singapore, commissioned by architect Denis Santry, and is the only extant stained-glass work by an Irish artist in that country. Much like Rhind, O'Brien also employed '' opus sectile'', such as in her 1936 ''Mass in penal days'' in the Franciscan friary,

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

. O'Brien contributed two windows, ''Pelican and lamb'' and ''Host and chalice: wheat and grapes'', to the ten windows An Túr Gloine produced for

Brophy College Chapel Brophy College Chapel is a chapel at Brophy College Preparatory, a Jesuit high school in Phoenix, Arizona. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. History and architecture The building was constructed in 1928 along wit ...

, Phoenix, Arizona in 1937. From 1937 until 1947, O'Brien worked on 22 opus sectile panels for the Protestant Church in Ennis. Purser retired from An Túr Gloine in 1940, and O'Brien succeeded her as director, going on to purchase it and the contents in 1944. O'Brien rented a section of the premises to fellow stained-glass artist

Patrick Pollen Patrick Pollen (12 January 1928 – 30 November 2010) was a British stained-glass artist who spent most of his life working in Ireland. Early life and education Patrick La Primaudaye Pollen was born in London on 12 January 1928, the second son ...

from 1954 onwards. O'Brien exhibited at the 1953 Irish Exhibition of Living Art, and the 1958 exhibition of the Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland. When the An Túr Gloine studios were fire damaged in 1958, she rebuilt then and reopened by 1959. O'Brien was an active member of the

Soroptimists Soroptimist International (SI) is a global volunteer service club, service organization for women with nearly 72,000 members in 121 countries worldwide. According to Soroptimist.org, their mission statement says that, "Soroptimist is a global volun ...

and the Guild of Irish Art Workers. The last work she completed was a three-light window for the Church of St Multose, Kinsale in 1962. A commission for two windows for the private chapel of Áras an Uachtaráin for President Éamon de Valera was left unfinished at her death.

Death and legacy

Dublin Christ Church Cathedral Chapel of Laurence O'Toole Window Virgin and Child with Saint Luke by Patrick Pollen Detail 2012 09 26

O'Brien died in Dublin on 18 July 1963, and is buried in Whitechurch Parish Graveyard, County Dublin. She is commemorated in a window designed by Pollen in St Laurence O'Toole chapel, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, where for forty years she made floral arrangements. Over 150 of her An Túr Gloine drawings from notebooks are now in the

National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland ( ga, Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on ...

Selected works

* St Patrick window, St Edan's cathedral, Ferns, County Wexford (1931). * Scenes from John Bunyan's The pilgrim's progress, St Bartholomew's church,

Ballineen The twin villages of Ballineen () and Enniskeane () in County Cork in Ireland are southwest of Cork City, on the R586 road. Ballineen and Enniskean lie on the River Bandon between Bandon and Dunmanway and the fertile Bandon valley. History Ba ...

, County Cork (1936). * Transfiguration of Christ window, St Naithi's church, Dundrum, County Dublin. * Window in memory of Bishop Harry Vere White, St Bartholomew's church, Clyde Rd, Dublin (1942). * St Francis of Assisi window, Church South Kinacop, Nairobi County, Kenya (1953). * ''The sower'', Killoughter Protestant church,

Redhills, County Cavan Redhills () is a village located in northern County Cavan, Ireland. It is near the N54 road (Ireland), N54 road and is home to Redhills GFC, Redhills GAA club, which has produced four Cavan GAA, Cavan Inter-County players. The Finn River (County ...

(1953). * 16 roundels, St Helen's church, Vero Beach, Florida (1958).

Early life and education

Artistic work

Death and legacy

Selected works

References

Further reading