A national heritage group has appealed for Irish investors to purchase a collection of stained glass church windows created at the studio of Dublin artist Harry Clarke.
Damian Cassidy, chairman of the National Conservation and Heritage Group, said the windows should be considered a national treasure and all efforts must be taken to keep them in Ireland.
“We would regard these beautiful pieces of artwork as national treasures and we are appealing for any Irish investor who may be interested to bid for them,” he said.
Mr Cassidy said it was imperative the windows are kept in Ireland as they were an integral part of the State’s history and heritage.
The collection - estimated to be worth up to €25,000 - was created at the Harry Clarke studio. The illustrator and stained glass artist died in 1931.
He created 160 windows during his career including The Eve of St Agnes - which is now in the Hugh Lane Gallery - and six windows for Bewley’s café on Grafton Street.
The windows being auctioned were made for churches in Ireland, Wales and New Zealand but were never installed. They were inherited by the artist’s family and are to be broken up and sold individually.
Among the collection are two windows depicting St Francis Xavier which were commissioned for an unknown church in Co Kilkenny but were never collected.
A three-panelled piece measuring about 8ft by 2ft has a pre-auction estimate of €7,000-€9,000 while an image entitled Saint Francis Xavier preaching in the Orient has an estimate of €2,500-€3,000.
One piece from the collection, depicting St Francis Loyola, has already been sold to Carlow College, where it is installed in its library.
The windows will go on public view at Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers’ saleroom in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, from Sunday, July 19th.