Perfect timingfor a saintlygrand design

Art pupils at St Maurice’s High School have made an invaluable contribution to a historic local church - in perfect time for its namesake’s special day.
St Maurice High School pupils created a stunning mosaic depicting Saint Patrick.St Maurice High School pupils created a stunning mosaic depicting Saint Patrick.
St Maurice High School pupils created a stunning mosaic depicting Saint Patrick.

The school’s principle art teacher, Bobby Donnelly, was delighted to report that the school’s St Patrick mosaic project was signed, sealed and delivered in time for St Patrick’s Day - to be installed in Kilsyth’s St Patrick’s Church.

The project was a labour of love for the young artists, who spent weeks assembling mosaic pieces - some of which are also light-reflective mirrors - to a classic design depicting the famous patron saint of Ireland - who, it is often argued, was a Strathclyde Briton living in or around Dumbarton.

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The image of him holding aloft the iconic shamrock of the Emerald Isle was specially created in anticipation of the church’s landmark 150th anniversary next year.

Mr Donnelly said: “It is a very special building and everyone involved with the project is delighted the school has made a permanent contribution at such a special time in its history”.

“It is now in a reclaimed chapel area within the church, where everyone who visits can see it, and enjoy the full effect when it catches the light - it has been a fine project.”

So far only a small proportion of the Parish have seen the icon, but church officials say it has aleady met with universal approval.

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The mosaic will be a new and special iconic addition to a church which is already unique in architectural terms.

It was designed by Gillespie Kidd and Coia, an important Glasgow architectural firm who were influenced for this building by the works of Le Corbusier for the French Catholic church, which established the modernist architectural movement as a global force, and secondly by the design of windows at the famous Glasgow School of Art by Charles Rennie McIntosh.