Henry Patrick (Harry) Clarke, Ireland’s most renowned stained-glass artist, was born in Dublin on March 17th, 1889. His father, Joshua, arrived in Dublin from Leeds in 1877 and established a decorating business. The business, Joshua Clarke & Sons, later expanded to include a stained glass division. The young Harry grew up with a studio at the back of his home at 33 North Frederick Street. In 1903 Clarke’s mother, Brigid, died at the age of forty-three, when Harry was fourteen years old. This event greatly affected Harry, as his mother had been his closest confidant. He left Belvedere College and became apprenticed to his father’s studio (Bowe: 1994).
By his late teens Harry was studying stained glass at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art. In 1911 he won a gold medal from the Board of Education National Competition at South Kensington, London, for his window the Consecration of St. Mel, Bishop of Longford, by St. Patrick (The Irish Times: August 19 1911). This was the first of three consecutive gold medals that Harry won at the National Competitions for his stained glass panels.
Harry set about getting commissions in stained glass. Laurence, know as ‘Larky’, Waldron, a Nationalist MP and Governor of Belvedere College, became an influential friend and patron of Harry’s from the summer of 1912. In 1913 Harry went to London to secure a publisher for his book illustrations. By Christmas of 1913 Harry had secured his first commission from Harrap & Co., to illustrate the Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen. It was published in 1916.
Although Harry did some work for his father at the Studios, he began to work on his own commissions for stained glass. Between 1915 and 1918 he created nine windows for the Honan Chapel. These magnificent windows were central to building a solid reputation for Harry’s skilled craftsmanship and originality. Other important commissions followed for windows in churches throughout Ireland and the United Kingdom. Harry also continued to illustrate books for the London publishers, Harrap, including Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1919) and The Year’s at the Spring (1920).
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