Churches cut imposing figures in the architectural landscape of Ireland; walls of stone and arching roofs presenting a traditional image of piety and religion. From the high roof peaks down to the chilled crypts – these churches vary in style from Gothic to Baroque to Georgian. Yet, on a sunny day, their dramatic interiors are lit by streaks of color from stained glass windows, illuminating religious figures and the church itself. And while the imposing church architecture is impressive, the stained glass windows are a piece of Irish history that are respected and beloved. Stained glass in Ireland has a long history, with early painted glass windows having potentially been in churches or buildings during the 1000s. Additionally, in the 1800s and 1900s with the stained glass revival, artists like Harry Clarke, James Scanlon, and Johnny Murphy created illustrious pieces focused on religious themes, or as memorials for young men who died in wars. These pieces were often done in a more traditional style; however, when considering modern stained glass in Ireland, the work of Evie Hone should be where one directs their attention.
Evie Sydney Hone
Often considered to be a primary influence in the introduction of modern art to Ireland, Cubist painter and stained glass artist Evie Hone was an artistic powerhouse in the early 1900s. Born in 1894 in Clonskeagh, Co. Dublin, to Joseph Hone and Eva Hone (née Robinson), Hone was the youngest of four daughters. However, her journey wasn’t an easy one. In 1906, at the age of 12 , Evie fell sick with poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis), better known as polio, and remained partially disabled for the rest of her life. During this time, Hone was educated by a governess, before briefly attending school in Switzerland. In 1913, Hone turned her sights to art, and moved to London to study at the Byam Shaw School of Art and the Central School of Arts and Crafts under Bernard Meninsky. After some time studying under Meninsky, Hone began attending the Westminster School of Art, studying under Walter Sickert.
Hone’s education and dedication to art continued throughout her life. When Hone switched mediums to focus on stained glass, she began studying in London with Wilhelmina Geddes and Roland Holst while working at An Túr Gloine until 1944. Later in life, despite ill health, she continued to produce a huge number of small stained-glass panels as well as oils, watercolors, and gouache landscapes. Hone died in March 1955 while entering her parish church at Rathfarnham.
Evie Hone’s Art and Themes
Hone initially set out to be a cubist painter, studying in France under the cubist painter Albert Gleize after her time in London. Much of Hone’s education and art developed in parallel to that of her close friend and fellow student Mainie Jellett. Hone’s work was modern all the way through – primarily cubist and abstract in style. Hone exhibited her paintings in London, Paris, and Dublin while studying under Gleize – Her cubist-derived abstraction was seen in gouaches such as ‘Seated woman’ (1928) or ‘Seated Figure’ (1929).
Hone’s work was often disrupted by her strong religious convictions; in 1925 she joined a community of anglican nuns at Truro, Cornwall, staying there for nearly a year before returning to Dublin and the world of art. However, this would not be her only foray in spirituality. In fact, when her interest in painting began waning in the 1930s, she turned towards stained glass – one of her first pieces was ‘The Annunciation’, in Taney church, Dundrum, Co. Dublin. It was at this time she began working under A. E. Child of An Túr Gloine – An Túr Gloine (‘Tower of Glass’) was a cooperative studio for stained glass artists in Dublin from 1903 to 1944.
Hone’s stained glass work was often religious in theme; she was commissioned to create pieces for many religious institutions, including St Mary’s church, Kingscourt, Co. Cavan – 1947–8, Eton College chapel, Windsor – 1952, and St Michael’s church in Highgate, London, among others. Some art historians argue that it was her Eton College chapel window that propelled her to international renown.
University Hall
Hone’s stained glass projects throughout the city of Dublin are many and varied. However, the pieces this blog is focusing on are the windows created for a chapel in University Hall, Hatch Street Dublin (sometimes called “Hatch Hall” colloquially). University Hall was a residence hall for Jesuit students designed by C. B. Powell in 1913. It was in the 1940s (c. 1947-1948) when Hone designed the set of stained glass windows in the chapel.
Figure 1: Item IE IJA CM/LEES/302/8 depicts four of the five stained glass windows in the chapel, curving around the sanctuary.
Figure 2: Item IE IJA CM/LEES/302/4 depicts the full five windows ringing the sanctuary. These windows portray the Lamb, the Fish, the Pelican, the Dove and the Alpha and Omega; all of which are religious biblical symbols. Hone endeavored to represent religious themes with intensity and simplicity, so that they might be understood by all who saw them.
Figure 3: Item IE IJA CM/LEES/302/6 is a long photograph of the nave of the chapel, highlighting the interior architecture and the windows from the center aisle.
The Irish Jesuit Archive contains related documents that narrate the evolution of these windows in University Hall. Document IE IJA CM/LEES/60 is file of letters from Evie Hone to Fr Aubrey Gwynn, SJ detailing the design and the cost of the stained glass windows in the chapel. In one of the letters, Hone remarks “I do hope I shall do windows which will please you, I agree with you that the symbols should be clear and intelligible to the students…” (25 March 1948).
Conclusion
Evie Hone was instrumental in ushering the modern art aesthetic in Ireland, especially using the stained glass medium. Some could argue she was seemingly destined for art, being related to the eighteenth-century portrait-painter Nathaniel Hone. Hone was well known outside of Ireland as well; author Nicola Bowe notes that “Of the Irish artists…it is Clarke, Hone and Geddes (all three represented in the Stained Glass Museum in the triforium of Ely Cathedral) who are best represented by their stained glass in the UK.” Hone’s work has been described as deeply sincere, and One of Hone’s most well known pieces is My Four Green Fields, a nationalistic piece commissioned for the New York Trade Fair. The windows from University Hall were relocated recently to the Ignatian Room, St. Francis Xavier Church, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin 1. Hone’s dedication and persistence to a life of art is second only to her mastery of black outlines in her work and her ability to succinctly and reverently convey religions themes and matters.
Exhibition
Evie Hone, along with fellow pioneering Irish modernist Mainie Jellett, is currently subject of the major spring-summer exhibition in the National Gallery of Ireland. The exhibition of 90 works explores their friendship, early training in Paris, and evolving styles as they returned to Ireland. Showcasing paintings, stained glass, and drawings, the exhibition highlights their innovation while remaining rooted in themes like religion and landscape.
The exhibition closes 10th August 2025. More information can be found at the link below.
Bibliography
- Bowe, Nicola Gordon. “The Tower of Glass: An Túr Gloine and the Early 20th Century Stained Glass Revival in Ireland.” Building Conservation. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/towerofglass/towerofglass.htm.
- “Evie Hone Stained Glass Relocated.” Jesuits Ireland, June 5, 2012. https://jesuit.ie/press-releases/2006/evie-hone-stained-glass-relocated/.
- Fusio. “Hatch Hall, Hatch Street Lower, Hatch Lane/Hatch Place, Dublin 2, Dublin.” Buildings of Ireland. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/50110515/hatch-hall-hatch-street-lower-hatch-lane-hatch-place-dublin-2-dublin.
- “Hone, Eva Sydney (‘Evie’).” Hone, Eva Sydney (‘Evie’) | Dictionary of Irish Biography. Accessed October 2, 2023. https://www.dib.ie/biography/hone-eva-sydney-evie-a4081.
- Pollen, Patrick. “Thoughts on the Art and Life of Evie Hone.” University Review 1, no. 8 (1956): 38–42. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25504377.
Ella Padden, Archivist
With thanks to the Irish Jesuit Archives for use of photos from the St Ignatius House of Writers, Lower Leeson Street, Dublin Collection.