Off with His Head


A stained glass window in the chancel of St John the Baptist, Duhill, County Tipperary. It is one of two designed and made by Harry Clarke for this little parish church. That to the left of the altar depicts a rather insipid Bernadette receiving a vision of the Virgin at Lourdes. In contrast that on the right-hand side is altogether more earthy (and more gorgeously coloured) and, inspired by the saint to whom the building is dedicated, shows the moment after his death when Salome beholds the newly-executed John’s head on a salver, observed by Herod and Herodias. Dating from 1925, the window commemorates local woman Margaret Byrne and her two brothers, both of whom had been priests..

5 comments on “Off with His Head

  1. Vincent Delany says:

    Even today Harry Clarke is seriously underestimated as an artist on a par with James Joyce, Sam Beckett etc. why do we underestimate the visual arts?
    Vincent Delany

  2. Finola says:

    There were ructions, apparently, when the PP saw the second window. Not what he was expecting. The contrast between the demure piety of the Lourdes window and this one is so startling that I imagine Harry still looking down and chuckling.

  3. Diana says:

    Where else in Tipp is Duhill near? Not seeing on google maps

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