Nuns make historic gift to city

Date Published: {J}

By Bernie Ní Fhlatharta

Tapestries and priestly vestments that were made in the city almost 300 years ago have been donated to the Galway City Museum where they will be displayed.

The pieces had been in the property of the Dominican Nuns in Taylors Hill and were looked after for the past 30 years by convent archivist, Sr Rose.

Last week the beautifully preserved tapestries and chasuble (the outermost liturgical vestment worn by a priest saying Mass) were handed over to the Museum where eventually they will be put on public display.

James Reynolds, the Museum’s conservationist, explains that it will take some time to catalogue them and prepare them for exhibition.

The convent has already loaned the Museum some silver reliquary but the tapestries and chasuble are being permanently donated.

Sr Rose, who lovingly ensured that the materials weren’t damaged as they lay in storage in the convent, said it was now time to hand them over for posterity.

The biggest brocade was made by Sr Elizabeth Browne in Kirwan’s Lane in 1730 and is quite detailed.

“It is beautifully embroidered and even the lining is important for the condition it is in and the way it was made.

“When Galway was taken by the Cromwellians in 1661 the fourteen Dominican nuns in Galway took refuge in Spain. In 1668 two of them returned and brought Mass vestments and few other items with them.

“What survived was preserved in the old convent and added to over the years. One of the pieces is very important because it is a good example of the block printing that Spain was renowned for. It is extraordinary that they were so well preserved. The brocade is perfect and they have kept their colours.

“We felt, after the old convent was demolished and replaced with a new building that the time was right to hand them over the Museum where they would be properly looked after because they are perishible.

“In fact, there is nothing like them in Europe, I’m told. Another important aspect is that they are all women’s work,” said Sr Rose.

It will take some weeks, if not months, before these items are ready to be displayed publicly in the Museum. Meanwhile, both Mr Reynolds and Helen Bermingham, the Documentations’ Officer, will be working on preparing the items properly so that they can be displayed in a way that they won’t be damaged and to ensure they are properly catalogued.