0039 Chapel of Dunleary

The Oratory Chapel is dedicated to the memory of boys from the local Christian Brothers School.  In 1914 and 1915, they joined the army and fought in the First World War, in the trenches and mud of the western front.  The regiment they joined fought mostly in Belgium, where many of these young Irishmen died.

After the war, Belgium people from the local town were touched by the sacrifice.  As a memorial to the young Irishmen, the townspeople donated and dedicated this sacred heart figure of Christ that you can see just above.

The chapel was then built especially to accommodate the sacred heart figure of Christ.  But it was just a bare building, with plain white walls.    But then, over a 19-year period following the War, the walls were all painted by a remarkable woman.  She was a nun, called Sister Concepta Lynch, and she took this job on using all her spare time from duties at the convent.

It’s not hard to see why the chapel has been described as walking into a three-dimensional Book of Kells.