Updated Proposal
The original vision for Phase 3 included both the restoration of the Great division and the overhaul of the console, including the manual keyboards and the pedalboard and fitting new electric stop and piston action.
In January 2024 it was decided, in the light of further deterioration of the Great soundboard and display pipes, to subdivide the original Phase 3 into two separate phases, the new Phase 3 to address the restoration of the Great division, and Phase 4 the overhaul of the console.
Grant Application
An application was made to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council for a grant towards (the new) Phase Three of the organ restoration from the Built Heritage Investment Scheme. In March we learned that our application had been successful and a grant of €5,500 had been awarded, contingent on the work being completed by October 2024.
Towards the end of May, Julie Craig, the Senior Executive Architectural Conservation Officer of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, met with Clive Christie and Trevor Crowe in the church. She climbed into the organ to view and photograph the interior, including the areas restored and the Great division about to be worked on. She was impressed with the work that had already been done since the restoration began.
Progress Reports
All the pipework of the Great division was removed, some of it stored temporarily in trays in the church.
We were required to submit regular reports to DLRCC on the progress of Phase Three. At the beginning of June the Great soundboard was dismantled and removed for a thorough inspection prior to its restoration. At this stage the first progress report was made, in late June.
The second progress report was made at the beginning of September; the soundboard had been dismantled and had been found to have suffered extensive woodworm damage. This meant extra work which could not have been anticipated, but by the beginning of September the final assembly of the soundboard was under way. The soundboard was being constructed by David Maybury, who had provided some photographs of the work (below) for the purpose of the progress report. David is a gifted craftsman who lives locally. He is highly regarded in his field and has worked extensively with Trevor for many years.
In the October edition of the Obelisk, the parish newsletter, Clive provided a survey of the restoration to date. Of Phase Three he said:
“This phase of the overhaul is highly complex. The Great soundboard is complemented by 380 pipes of wood and metal. One hundred and twelve of these pipes are damaged beyond economic repair and will be replaced with equivalent period pipes. Following restoration and renewals, all parts and pipes in this area of organ will be reassembled and reinstalled.”
The installation of the sound board in the organ began in the first week of October.
Grant
In the middle of October a second inspection was made by Architectural Conservation Officer Sinéad O’Hara. Trevor, Adam, David Maybury and Clive were all there to meet her. She went up a ladder to look inside the organ, and was very pleased and interested in what she saw – so much so that she said she would see if the grant could be increased.
It was! In the December edition of the Obelisk, Clive wrote that this Phase of the restoration was virtually complete:
“The really good news was that DLRCoCo increased its grant under the Built Heritage Investment Scheme from €5,500 to €11,000. The Heritage Division has taken a great interest in the project and is appreciative of the meticulous restoration being done.”
It may be that we will have to pause Phase 4 until 2026, partly owing to the fact that we were not made aware that the application process for 2025 Built Heritage grants had been changed and we missed the cut-off date.
Installation
In November the installation of the Great pipework was well under way.
You can see from the image above that the shorter, higher-pitched pipes are in the middle of the soundboard, and the longer, lower-pitched pipes are situated at either end. Of course, on the keyboard the low notes are at the left and the high notes are on the right. This image shows the rollerboard situated just above and behind the console; this is how the action of the keys is redistributed to the soundboard, by the trackers (vertical) and the rollers (horizontal) which transmit the motion transversely.
By January 2025 these ranks had been installed:
Lieblich Gedeckt 8′
Fugara 8′ (apart from the lowest octave)
Open Diapason 8′
And by April two more ranks had been installed:
Principal 4′
Hohl Flute 4′
The front display pipes belong to the Fugara.
The pipes in the middle section of the side of the organ are non-speaking.
Four ranks on the Great remain to be installed during the next and final Phase 4. They are the Twelfth, the Fifteenth, the Tierce, and the Mixture. See here for the complete stoplist.
To be continued . . .
Holy Trinity Parish Killiney 