Michael Healy, 1873-1941

An Túr Gloine’s stained glass pioneer

David Caron

This book tells the story of the reclusive stained glass artist, raised in a Dublin tenement, who ahead of Harry Clarke, Wilhelmina Geddes and Evie Hone, established the bar for artistic and technical excellence in this exacting craft, and who worked at the world-renowned An Túr Gloine (Tower of Glass) studio for almost four decades. Lavishly illustrated, it charts Healy’s career and features images of all his principal windows in Ireland and on three continents – windows that convey everything from austere majesty to tender humanity, often revelling in beguiling narrative detail. In his spare time Healy surreptitiously recorded Dubliners going about their daily business, producing many, many hundreds of charming, rapidly executed pencil and watercolour images which collectively form a homage to the citizens of the city he loved.

David Caron’s PhD research at Trinity College Dublin focused on Michael Healy and the stained glass artists of An Túr Gloine. He was one of the three original compilers of the Gazetteer of Irish stained glass in 1988, and was editor and principal author of the revised and expanded edition in 2021. David regularly contributes articles on stained glass to the Irish Arts Review.