Our News

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2010-02-05T17:47:00.001Z

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Glance at Glass: Abbeydorney

2010-02-02T22:58:00.003Z

Recently I was taken to St Bernard's Church
Abbeydorney by a good friend.
She was keen on showing me the
stained glass window that in more than one way
brightens up this grand space.

This futuristic building of 1968 must have made
heads turn in those days. The design, well ahead
of its time, can still very much intrigue today.

The stained glass is well matched to the building.
In the interest of displaying the stained glass
here properly we have taken the liberty to digitally
remove some obstructing church artifacts which
unfortunately are placed permanently right in front
of this lovely window.

During research for this Glance at Glass article I came
across a story about the electrification of Abbeydorney
called: 'WHEN ABBEYDORNEY SAW THE LIGHT'.
This humorous collection of anecdotes, which gives an
idea of Ireland in the 40ties and 50ties, is well
worth a read and can be found by clicking here.

Glance at Glass: Ballyheigue.

2009-12-26T18:16:00.001Z

St Mary's Church in Ballyheigue
is well tucked away from the village.

The absolutely stunning glass in
this church might not be expected
arriving, at first glance, but is
more than worth a visit.

The image shown here are the
two centre panels of the four
front windows above the altar.

Fun with stained glass.

2009-12-06T22:12:00.002Z

A recent job for 16 small windows
for the corners of four doors led
to this stained glass photo
opportunity.

Rearanging the little panels like
this is a bit like arranging
flowers I guess.
The beauty is allready there.
All that is needed is a small
adjustment to fit the mood one
is in.

Wedding crest/coat of arms.

2009-10-16T20:58:00.002+01:00

A kind gentleman from Donegal contacted us
with a lovely request: the combined crests
of bride and groom as wedding present.

A great idea and the
result is shown here.

Congratulation to the happy couple
from Little Oak Glass.

Glance at Glass: Glenflesk.

2009-09-21T22:33:00.002+01:00

If one would sneeze at the wrong time, driving from Killarney to Cork, the village
of Glenflesk could be easily missed.
It nearly happened to myself and this was while specifically looking for the place !
Only because I was in desperate need of a Snicker and came walking out of the petrol
station after buying one, I noticed the church across the road, the very
one I was looking for all along.

The significance of the glorious stuff in this church can hardly be over stated.
Apart from the mosaics around the altar which very much reminded me of the ones in the Franciscan Friary in Killarney, it is really the six grand windows of the Harry Clarke studios that immediately attract the eye.

Now, how did a village like Glenflesk gain possession of something like this I wonder.
Wait till I tell you..., without boring you with a whole pile of history, here's the short version:
Collis-Sandes House in Tralee, formerly known as Oak Park House was build in about 1857/1860.
In 1923 the Presentation Order of Nuns bought the place and gave it a bit of a face lift I'd imagine.
In the process acquiring some hip stained glass from Dublin, which looked kind of all right in the brochure, so to say.
When the Nuns left Collis Sandes house in the early seventies one of the more prominent nuns had very close
links with guess what...., Glenflesk. So that's how it went!

On a more serious note, have a very close look at the stained glass and the way things are done.
The figures are their usual high and tall. Colours are just something else. One piece of glass can have four different colours because of the superb combination between choice of glass, shading, etching and silver staining, as shown in the example given here. Also take note of the six toed feet. Two feet with six toes each
is not completely unusual when it comes to depiction of figures in ecclesiastical art work.
But the question of why this is, can better be posed to the lovely Fr. Bill Radley of Glenflesk.
He most certainly is better able to explain than I would.

Thanks go to:
Fr. Bill Radley of Glenflesk.
Writer and historian Turtle Bunbury.
Author Bernadette Walsh, book: A history of Collis-Sandes House.
And the anonymous nun who brought the glass to Glenflesk.

Logo Dangles

2009-09-14T23:05:00.003+01:00

Still hot, just out of the kiln.

These Logo Dangles are an extremely powerful
way to attract some attention to your business.

At about 17cm in diameter, hanging in the window
on a suction cup for example, they are guaranteed to
make heads turn.

Although Little Oak glass brings them to you as
Logo Dangles, clearly they can contain any information.

For website promotion, a thank you gift or baby name and
date of birth, house number or just to say Welcome at
entering a door, any image and text can be painted on glass.

Just ask us, and we will be happy to give you a quote.

Glance at Glass: Churchill.

2009-07-22T22:18:00.003+01:00

The German company Mayer & Co. was founded in Germany in 1847.
By 1865 a London branch was opened and it would be a fair
assumption that from then on more of the Mayer stained glass
was coming to Ireland.

Commonly known as 'Mayer of Munich stained glass', it is the
painting on the glass which makes it so distinctive.
Very soft shading on rich colours. But most importantly the
light is used in a nearly Rembrandtesque way, so to say.
Noticeable is also the very inventive ways in which
silver stain (yellow) is used.

Churchill church, County Kerry has some lovely examples of it.

The detail shown here is facing North and is throwing some
mighty colour onto the surrounding plastering when the July
evening sun is on it under an angle.

Ideabubble website facelift.

2009-07-11T23:27:00.002+01:00

If you enjoy this Little Oak Glass website as much
as we do than that is mainly due to the design and
creativity of Limerick based website design and web
development business IdeaBubble!

The team at IdeaBubble have played a huge role in
making us at Little Oak Glass proud and standing out
from the crowd. Before and since the launch of our
website their advice and support has been pivotal
to our continued success.
A big thank you to the lads
at IdeaBubble!!

Have a look at IdeaBubble’s own new website.
It looks Fab Lads!!

Stained Glass Callsign update.

2009-06-27T14:53:00.002+01:00

Thank you to all who visited us at our
gallery exhibition last weekend.
We truly enjoyed having you all over.

As promised I have put up a finished products
similar to that which you all saw on our
light box while you were here.

Also it was asked how long postage takes in Ireland.
Generally it will take a few days.
In case of the US it takes about five days
for the parcel to reach your doorstep from Ireland.
England and Europe take a about 7days on average.

Glance at Glass: Ballybunion.

2009-06-25T21:33:00.002+01:00

Earley & Company started in Dublin in 1864.
They were not only concentrating on making stained glass.
As ecclesiastical decorators they produced sculptures, painted decoration and metal work as well.
However, their glass department must have had a good look at what Harry Clarke was making around the 1920s.

A lot of the stained glass in St.John's church in Ballybunion is of the same style made by Earley & Co. And it is sometimes a bit confusing to see a traditionally painted head or hand in an otherwise completely Clarke-ish reproduction.

I love this stuff though! Very much a pleasure to explore and research.
Designed with great creativity and endless detail.
Probably the most hidden feature in these panels is the choice of glass.
Many pieces are multi coloured and give the whole thing a richness which
otherwise could not be achieved.

A big WELL DONE for the unnamed artists at Earley & Co.

Celtic knots.

2009-06-19T11:08:00.002+01:00

Some knot work for a window in Tralee.

The fire painting on glass of Celtic knot work
is a delightful exercise.
If kept simple it is very manageable.
However, complicated designs are rather mind boggling.

Whatever way, it seems allways worth
including knot work in a window in the end.

Although not glass related, for great knot work
have a look here.

Glance at Glass: Cloghane

2009-06-13T21:38:00.002+01:00

Sometimes less is more!

And in this particular piece, bold brush strokes still work
to make for a lovely soft end result.
At such close range it's easy to see, someone must have had
fun creating this.

The Cloghane church which is towering over the main road
of this well-tucked away village on the Dingle peninsula
is a lovely example of village churches in Kerry.

T-shaped, it very much reminds you of the one in
Castlegregory, only...different.

The stained glass shown here is a detail of one of two
windows above the choir loft in the back of Cloghane church.

SGAA annual summer conference

2009-06-06T18:26:00.003+01:00

Little Oak Glass likes to
congratulate the SGAA with
their 100th Annual Summer Conference.

This will be held in
Oklahoma City June 17-20, 2009.

Glance at Glass: Tralee.

2009-06-02T23:16:00.002+01:00

With a population of approximately 25.000 Tralee has at least five
churches and a big number of people that attend mass daily.

From an architectural point of view it might be difficult to choose
a favourite church, but Glance at Glass is about stained glass.

St. Johns church in Castle Street is one of the three bigger ones.
The stained glass is of varying styles, a lot of it truly stunning.

The photo here is a detail of the centre piece of the main window.

Thanks for a well shot photo must go to: ThQ Vink.

Stained Glass info.

2009-06-01T00:34:00.002+01:00

Find a studio near you anywhere in the world.

Surfing the net we came across this great website.
For all things Stained Glass go to:
http://www.stainedglassnews.co.uk/

A hero in the picture.

2009-05-30T19:30:00.003+01:00

Apologies to all non-radio people for the jargon in the following...

In the June 2009 issue of the magazine Practical Wireless
a four page interview is published with the great George Dobbs, G3RJV.

Well known worldwide to QRP-ers and other radio amateurs and SWLs, George with his writing has made radio electronics accessible to all.
I am sure many many people, like myself have made homebrew equipment that actually works because of the clear writing, inventive ways of doing things and no-frills techniques of George.
A junk box, a soldering iron and the PW articles of George is all that is
needed for years of educational fun.

The stained glass callsign shown here was made for George last year as a little thank you for the enjoyment I got from making the many projects published in PW, written by G3RJV.
Hope his retirement from being a Vicar of St.Aidans church in Sudden, Rochdale
will give him more time to spend on sharing his QRP construction work with readers of 'Carrying on the Practical Way' and being the editor of SPRAT, the
quarterly magazine of the G Qrp club.

Thanks must go also to Rob Mannion, G3XFD/EI5IW editor of Practical Wireless who kindly delivered the stained glass callsign to George. Thanks Rob!

Glance at Glass: Waterville.

2009-05-26T09:06:00.002+01:00

In our series: Glance at Glass, the following in particular is very close to our hearts.

With daring "fireworks" around the head and body and the intense blue, red and purples in these windows it makes for a very warm display.

Having been involved with extracting, releading and finally placing the three windows in to the then new church of Waterville, Co.Kerry in 1990, I grew very fond of the left angle in the bottom part of the main centre window.

In 1994, our own panel called Waterville Angle was heavily influenced by the above mentioned. With her out stretched arm I felt it was a perfect place to perch a Peregrine.

The lovely old Waterville church from which the windows were taken was tucked away under the fuchsia bushes. Well, that is how I remember it anyway.
It was a bit up the mountain slightly closer to the village than the new church. I wonder if it is still there?

The two side panels of St.Patrick and St.Joseph, flanking the centre piece are not shown here.
When in Waterville, these windows are worth a visit.

All season flowers

2009-05-25T20:08:00.002+01:00

These randomly arranged, roughly fire painted flowers feature in the dome of a garden arch.
The curly whirls in between them give the whole thing a distinct garden feel.
It is the same design as in one of our bigger lampshades.
In the arch however the daylight has full reign.

Colours have been kept deliberately earthy and subdued
to allow the natural colours in the garden to dominate.

Any image on glass.

2009-05-24T22:02:00.002+01:00

Do you have a photo of your favourite pet?

Or maybe you are in to motorbikes or boats.
Your family home or your own home.
Your preferred place on the beach or even your workplace.

A great present to give as well.

Little Oak Glass is able to put any image on glass!

Make contact with us and we can give you a quote.

Sneak preview.

2009-05-22T09:59:00.002+01:00

Tralee GAA logo.

We don't want to give away about
this too much yet but...

This is a fire painted detail of a
window which is been made at the moment
for a pub in Tralee.

The window is going to be right behind
the new bar of this old, recently
refurbished lovely place.

Little Oak Glass studio has made numerous
pieces for this pub in the past.
Although a lot of painstaking work, we
are delighted with this very special
commission.

Watch this space !

Warhammer 40K excitement !

2009-05-21T11:11:00.002+01:00

Some time ago a friend asked us if we do windows for 40K dioramas.
We had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

After a lengthy explanation we understood the intention but were still
in no man’s land as to what all this fuss was all about.

Having been send a few images we got intrigued with the sheer creativity
that is involved with the Warhammer game art and the out of this world creatures in it.

Not particularly in to gaming ourselves, we could still see why people get hooked on model making and become fascinated with the ins and outs of an apparently very sophisticated game.

Anyway, making stained glass windows of this small a scale was new to us.
But after getting used to using the magnifying glass it turned out
to be a very pleasing exercise.

The circular pieces shown here are 15.5cm in diameter.
The sword piece is approx. 16.5cm wide and 19.5cm in height.

Invitation to a weekly feast for the eyes.

2009-05-20T20:52:00.003+01:00

It seems like a good idea to present to you some
"hidden" Kerry stained glass treasures.

In a series of bite size snippets we intent to feature some of the
most remarkable pieces of stained glass dotted all over our
beautiful County of Kerry.

As such I just have to start in Dingle.

Harry Clarke's unique style stained glass windows in de convent chapel of Díseart Institute of Education and Celtic Culture are well-known.

The photo above is a detail of one of the windows in Dingle.

Please turn off your mobile phone when going there.

2009-05-20T13:35:00.002+01:00

Residential stained glass.

One of the great things in this business is meeting clients for the first time. There might be a bit of uncertainty as to what the stained glass product should look like in the end.

On the one hand that's great, because it means clients are open to all
kinds of suggestions and there might be great space for new ideas.
On the other hand it can sometimes be difficult for people to make
up their mind as to what a finished product should look like.

We in Little Oak Stained Glass understand how difficult this can be.
After all, stained glass is made to last and if all is well it should
provide years and years of value for the customer.
That's why we have developed a way of gently assisting people in making
the right decision. No worries, no hassle.

Of course the gallery on our website is a great way for orientation.
But sometimes more is needed to discover people’s preferences.

A substantial checklist of likes and dislikes is drawn up together with
the client with on the spot sketches and designs at hand.
A further magnificent exploratory tool is the PC.
Designs are still made the old fashion way, with paper and pencil.
Then photos of the actual situation can be manipulated.
We introduce glass designs into the photos which gives a fairly accurate image
and in turn this gives the client a good feel of the overall
finished product.
It goes without saying that this process equally works via email if travelling is not practical.

To get things right from start to finish is as important to us as it is for our customers.

2009-05-13T16:11:00.002+01:00

Thank you QST magazine !

Following a mention of our products in the American radio amateur magazine QST we were delighted to have had numerous enquiries about stained glass callsign plaques. A big THANK YOU goes out to QST and the ARRL for their kindness.

Cost for stained glass callsigns:
PA3BFJ is approx (14x34cm) 182 USD plus 26 USD for post and packaging.
EI7EU is approx (18x32cm) 234 USD plus 26 USD for post and packaging.
Prices quoted outside of the Euro zone, will depend on current exchange rate value.

See picture of work in progress on one of the stained glass callsigns.