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Joshua Clarke (1858–1921) moved to Ireland from Leeds in 1877, at the age of eighteen to work with a firm of ecclesiastical suppliers, He was hardworking and ambitious, and in 1886 he set up his own church decoration business at 33 North Frederick Street, Dublin, where the family also resided. As an entrepreneur he could see that the production of stained glass would ideally complement his church-decorating firm and in 1892, Joshua opened a stained glass studio in rooms at the family home, Joshua Clarke & Sons.
He had converted to Catholicism and married Sligo woman Bridget MacGonigal. They had two sons, Walter (1888-1930) and Henry Patrick (Harry). Mrs. Clarke was consumptive, and Harry and Walter, both inherited a tendency to a weakness in the chest. The fact that Harry was a chain smoker and worked with acids in his stained-glass work compounded this weakness. Their daughters, Kathleen (the eldest of the four children) and Dolly (Florence) were stronger. Harry and Walter married sisters, Margaret and Minnie Crilly. The two brothers died within a year of each other.
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St Mary’s Church, Ballinrobe
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