Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Stained-glass artist, of Dublin, Bristol and London. Michael O'Connor, a Dubliner, began his career as a heraldic painter in Dublin but in 1823 wnt to London, where he became apprenticed to THOMAS WILLEMENT THOMAS WILLEMENT . He had set up his own business in Dublin by 1835, when he exhibited a design for the east window of Tuam Catholic cathedral at the Royal Hibernian Academy; between 1835 and 1841 he exhibited a total of ten stained-glass pieces and designs at the Academy. The Post Office Annual Directory for 1839 describes him as 'professor of heraldry, stained glass enameller, and ornamental painter, print & bookseller, and fancy stationer'. In 1842 he moved to England, living first in Bristol and then, from 1845 onwards, in London. He had a successful career in England, working with some of the leading architects of the day, including AUGUSTUS WELBY PUGIN  AUGUSTUS WELBY PUGIN and WILLIAM BUTTERFIELD WILLIAM BUTTERFIELD . He exhibited stained glass designs at the Royal Academy from an address at 4 Berners Street in 1846 and 1849 and at the Great Exhibition in 1851. At about this time his son Arthur O'Connor (d.1873) became his partner. In 1852 'M. & A. O'Connor' of London exhibited nine stained glass designs or items at the National Exhibition of the Arts, Manufactures & Products in Cork.

Michael O'Connor may have retired in the 1850s, for from 1859 until 1871 Arthur alone continued to exhibit designs for various windows in English churches from the same address at 4 Berners Street. A second son, WILLIAM HENRY O'CONNOR WILLIAM HENRY O'CONNOR , joined the family business in the 1860s.(1)   Michael O'Connor died in 1867.    In 1873 WILLIAM GEORGE TAYLOR  WILLIAM GEORGE TAYLOR became a partner in the firm, which he took over in 1877, operating under the name of O'CONNOR & CONNOR & amp; TAYLOR. TAYLOR. (2)

Addresses: 80 Dame Street, Dublin, 1835; 22 Parliament Street, Dublin, <=1837->=1841; 4 Berners Street, London, <=1846 ->=1871.

See WORKS for Irish works only.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from Brigena Doherty, Buildings of Ireland Project, 1 Jun 2001. Another account of O'Connor's career is in Patricia Butler, Nun's Cross Church, Co. Wicklow, and its treasures (2016), 135-140


(1) He exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1859 and 1865 as a painter rather than as a stained-glass painter.
(2) Stained Glass in Wales, http://stainedglass.llgc.org.uk/person/613 (last visited, Jun 201); on this site the partnership is called Taylor & O'Connor.


17 work entries listed in chronological order for O'CONNOR, MICHAEL *


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Building: CO. GALWAY, TUAM, CATHEDRAL OF THE ASSUMPTION (RC)
Date: 1835-37
Nature: East window (and other glass?) by M. O'C.
Refs: RHA 1835, no. 260; 'Report on the Roman Catholic Cathedral at Tuam', 31 Dec 1837 (RIA Ordnance Survey MS, Box 28)

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, NORTH STRAND ROAD, CHURCH (CI)
Date: 1838
Nature: Design for window for 'Newcomen Church' exh. RHA 1838 by M. O'Connor.
Refs: RHA 1838, no. 191

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, CIRCULAR ROAD SOUTH (KILMAINHAM), ROYAL HOSPITAL
Date: 1852
Nature: Heraldic glass window in E wall, presented by Queen Victoria to mark her visit of 1849.
Refs: Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 678.

Building: CO. KILKENNY, FRESHFORD, CHURCH OF ST LACHTAN (CI, AGHOUR PARISH)
Date: 1858;1864
Nature: E window (Angels with Scrolls), 1858, and window in S wall of nave (Transfiguration; Ascension).
Refs: Gloine, http://www.gloine.ie/gloine/diocese/building/2992/ (last visited, Dec 2016).

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, JAMES'S STREET, CHURCH OF ST JAMES (RC)
Date: 1860
Nature: 5-light chancel window, representing Christ in majesty, Resurrection, Virgin & Child, saints.
Refs: Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 630.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, DOMINICK STREET LOWER, CHURCH OF ST SAVIOUR (RC, DOMINICAN)
Date: 1861a
Nature: Stained glass by 'O'Connor & Son': Resurrection, Presentation and Christ in Majesty, all in apse.
Refs: N. Donnelly, Short Histories of Dublin Parishes, III, 132?;  Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005),134.

Building: CO. TYRONE, OMAGH, CHURCH STREET, CHURCH OF ST COLUMBA (CI, DRUMRAGH PARISH)
Date: 1862
Nature: Stained glass E window (reinstated after rebuilding of church, 1869-70)
Refs: Alistair Rowan, The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster (1979), 445

Building: CO. KERRY, TRALEE, CHURCH OF ST JOHN (RC)
Date: 1862
Nature: E windows just completed by Mssrs. O'Connor.
Refs: DB 4, 15 Oct 1862, 269

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, DAWSON STREET, ST ANN'S CHURCH (CI)
Date: 1862
Nature: Windows: Cusack memorial, 1861, in apse; Tickell memorial, 1863, in N gallery; SS Peter & Paul,1863, Faith, Hope & Charity, 1865ca, Parables of Good shepherd, Lost Coin and Prodigal son, 1865ca and Moses and Judgment of Solomon,1865ca, all in S gallery.  By Mssrs O'Connor.
Refs: DB 4, 15 Oct 1862, 268;  Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 470;  Gloine, http://www.gloine.ie/gloine/diocese/building/2957/ (last visited, Jun 2013).
 

Building: CO. WICKLOW, NUN'S CROSS (ARKLOW), CHURCH (CI, KILLISKEY PARISH)
Date: 1863
Nature: 3-light window in S transept in memory of Isabella Catherine Tottenham and 3-light window in N transept in memory of Frances Emily Truell.
Refs: Gloine, http://www.gloine.ie/gloine/diocese/building/2937/ and http://www.gloine.ie/gloine/diocese/building/2937/  (last visited, Sep 2017);   Patricia Butler, Nun's Cross Church, Co. Wicklow, and its treasures (2016), 128-130(illus.),135-140(illus.).

Building: CO. LAOIS, ABBEYLEIX, CHURCH OF ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS (CI)
Date: 1864ca
Nature: Stained glass in triple lancet window in south transept (Good Samaritan, Christ blessing children, Pharisee & Publican) in memory of William John Vesey (1806-1863)..
Refs: DB 7, 15 May 1865, 131;  Gloine, http://www.gloine.ie/gloine/location/building/2990/ (last visited Jun 2009).

Building: CO. LAOIS, ABBEYLEIX, CHURCH OF ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS (CI)
Date: 1865
Nature: 3-light stained glass window in S wall of S transept (Good Samaritan;  Christ blessing Children; Pharisee and Publican).
Refs: Gloine, http://www.gloine.ie/gloine/diocese/window/14293/ (last visited, Dec 2016).

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, SIMMONSCOURT ROAD, CHURCH OF ST MARY (CI, DONNYBROOK PARISH)
Date: 1869
Nature: Triple-light E window (Tranfiguration, Annunciation, Basptism of Christ).
Refs: Gloine, http://www.gloine.ie/gloine/diocese/building/2948/ (last visited, Jul 2016). (Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette 18, no. 208, 23 Aug 1876, 252, wrongly states that this window is by Heaton, Butler & Bayne.)

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, CLYDE ROAD, CHURCH OF ST BARTHOLOMEW (CI)
Date: 1869
Nature: 3 eastern windows of chancel.: Sermon on the Mount, Crucifixion, Resurrection; thank offering from friends of incumbent for providential escape of clergy and choir when pinnacle was blown down in the gale of December 27 and fell into the chancel during service
Refs: IB 11, 1 May 1869, 111;  Irish Churchman, 2, no. 4, 15 May 1869, 56. 

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, HENRIETTA STREET, KING'S INNS
Date: ?
Nature: Stained glass in round-headed window on library stair.
Refs: Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 161.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, MONKSTOWN, CARRICKBRENNAN ROAD, CHURCH OF ST PATRICK (RC)
Date: ?
Nature: 3 windows above high altar by Mssrs. O'Connor.
Refs: Clonliffe College Archive, MS p23/9;   Irish Times, 24 Mar 1883.

Building: CO. MONAGHAN, MONAGHAN, ST MACARTAN'S SEMINARY
Date: ?
Nature: Stained glass E window in chapel by M. & A. O'Connor.
Refs: Kevin V. Mulligan, The Buildings of Ireland: South Ulster (2013), 482.