The Celtic Art of Sister Concepta Lynch, Dún Laoghaire, Ireland 1978

A small oratory in Dun Laoghaire was transformed over sixteen years by the artistic endeavours of Sister Concepta Lynch.
The Oratory of the Sacred Heart was built on the grounds of the Dominican Convent in Dun Laoghaire to commemorate those from the area who died during the First World War.
Sister Mary Concepta Lynch took on the job of embellishing the chapel in Celtic design.
She was to spend every spare moment for sixteen years decorating an oratory.
Her fantastic birds and beasts belonged to no identifiable saga yet the chapel as an imaginative unit, one woman’s private dream.
Celtic exuberance in the surface of Catholic devotion.
Sister Concepta worked in the oratory for sixteen years until her death in 1939.
86 year old Sister de Ricci, who has been at the Dun Laoghaire convent for sixty six years, recalls Sr Concepta’s devotion to her work and the local community, as well as her beautiful voice.
She was unique in her anxiety to give little surprises to the community.
Time is now taking its toll on the building with cracks beginning to show in the chapel structure and work is required to preserve the oratory as a work of art of national importance.
One of Sister Concepta’s students remembers helping her in the oratory, at the time not realising the importance of the place. She recalls a poem that Sr Concepta taught her.
"In Celtic art, the monks of old,
did script with pens in ink and gold,
bright colours too with skill and care..."
The stained glass windows of the chapel were designed by Harry Clarke which sits in harmony with the Celtic art of Sister Concepta.
This episode of ‘Folio’ was broadcast on 17 January 1978. The reporter is Patrick Gallagher.

[@anthonyhind1308]

I got to visit the oratory in August 2022.It's amazing.

[@jamesbradshaw3389]

What a very special name to have. this is proof that Sister Concepta Lynch highly talented artist. her artwork reminds me of the very gerat Jim Fitzpatrick. I hope that her works have been preserved and will be shown to millions of people way into the future.

[@movinon1242]

Nuns often take a name during the process of making their cows. Concepta was almost certainly not her given name, but the name she chose for her final, consecrated years of life.

[@jamesbradshaw3389]

@@movinon1242 Thank you for this information, I only ever met one woman with the name Concepta and she is my wife, and I am the lucky one

[@alancawfield6549]

I hope that this oratory and the paintings have been preserved.

[@anthonyhind1308]

It has been.It's only open for guided visits on a few occasions.I was lucky to visit it in Aug. 2022.

[@edwinm-m5008]

This oratory looks like pages of the Book of Kells. I hope that it’s forever cherished

[@billyo54]

This is a truly splendid piece of work that I knew nothing about. Such a marvellous set of images executed with precision. The word grotesque mentioned by Patrick Galagher is in fact an accurate description of elements within Celtic artwork and refers to the juxtaposition of exotic animals and humans which can be seen in the books if Kells, Lindisfarne and others. It is not meant as a slur but a faithful depiction of Celtic aesthetics.

[@movinon1242]

In 1996, £150,000 IRL was allocated to restore the oratory, and build a larger building around the oratory itself to protect it from the elements.
It is flourishing, though who knows what "modern Ireland" will decide to do with it.
Given its distinctly "ethnically Irish" and Catholic nature, and shameful lack of emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and explicit perversion, it is long overdue for a culturally enriching overhaul.

[@IanBailey666]

Where pray tell is the grotesque ?That is a slander and affront to this dear nun

[@jamesbradshaw3389]

Try to explain yourself

[@arryaxx263]

They're talking about the monsters, not that the painting is bad.

[@movinon1242]

Grotesque, when used in the context of this ecclesiastical illustrations fiund in things like holy texts, refers to a specific type of artwork. We might use the term "fantastical", "other-wordly" or some such to describe invented, unnatural creatures, half-man half-animal fugures, etc. But the monks eventually came to call them "grotesque" , though that mean morphed over time to mean "ugly". This reporter was just being clinically accurate in his descriptions.