Dingle

The chapel in which the Harry Clarke stained glass windows are displayed is in the former convent building of the Presentation Sisters ... located on the grounds of St Mary’s Church in Dingle.

Before we got to the windows, however, we had to pass through what used to be the dining room for the nuns. It was here that we found an oversized fresco of the Last Supper.

A couple of things made this fresco — which took 8 months to complete — interesting.

First, the artist. Turns out that Eleanor Yates hails from our new home state of Colorado.

Second, Yates used the faces of Dingle locals for the apostles. The face of a French tourist was the model for Jesus. She painted Judas as a crow with two coins in its beak ... his hasty retreat from the table represented by an overturned stool.

Third, other local items also made their way into the fresco — tableware based on the craft of local artisans ... local bread and fish ... one of the Blasket Islands.

I like seeing local elements weaved into traditional images ... this one did not disappoint.Read more