On Nov. 7, 2021, at Remembrance Sunday, St. Bartholomew’s Church in New Edinburgh continued its tradition of recognizing the contribution of Canada’s veterans who served their country in a time of conflict. Many distinguished guests and military representatives joined the parish for this annual service of remembrance. Following the service, the Rev. Canon David Clunie thanked those who participated in making the service a special act of commemoration, including representatives from the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and the Governor General’s Foot Guards, as well as General John de Chastelain and His Excellency the Ambassador of Ireland, Dr. Eamonn McKee, and their respective spousess.
It was also the service at which the St. Bart’s 2021 Capital Campaign Co-chairs, Bonnie Robinson and David Esdaile, announced the launch of a three–year campaign to raise funds for the restoration of the Wilhelmina Geddes “Ottawa” Window and for improvements to the church facilities to make St. Bart’s an even more welcoming place for community events and concerts.
The Honorary Colonel of the Governor General’s Foot Guards, Bryan Brulotte, announced a very generous personal gift to the Regiment on the occasion of its 150th anniversary in May 2022, and to St. Bart’s for its capital campaign. St. Bart’s is known as the “Guard’s Chapel” and their regimental colours have been laid up in the church since 1972.
Dr. McKee gave a short address to the congregation in which he spoke of his gratitude for receiving an invitation to learn about the “Irish” window at St. Bart’s and his subsequent visit to see the window in all its glory. He called his first impression of the window: “stunning, such a dramatic narrative, impossible to capture its beauty in reproductions.”
He added that “this extraordinary masterpiece by an Irish woman artist, Wilhelmina Geddes, is a product of a confluence of influences and connections in Ireland at the opening of the twentieth century,” he said. Dr. McKee, an economic historian, went on to describe the period in Ireland’s history between 1916 and 1919 when Geddes was working on her commission for the Duke of Connaught as a memorial for the men on his staff in Canada who fell in the Great War.
Dr. McKee drew a parallel between the Irish Catholic community in Canada who flocked to the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1914 and whose sacrifices contributed to the evolution of a modern Canadian identity and the Irish soldiers who returned from that war to a new Ireland. Alas, their heroism and sacrifices had “no place in the new narrative,” according to Dr. McKee.
More recently, according to Dr. McKee, Ireland has been recovering the diversity of Irish identity, including those from the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy, such as Geddes and others. Indeed, like Canada, he sees Ireland embracing “diversity and inclusiveness….signposts to a better future.” He is seeking to identify the contributions to Canada that Ireland has made in the past as well as highlighting the contributions Canadians have made more recently to Ireland.
Dr. McKee concluded by paying tribute to General de Chastelain who played such an important role in the Northern Ireland peace process. He then pointed us all to the significance of this “Irish“ window at St. Bart’s and the inspiration that Canada’s story provides Ireland to be “finally at peace with itself and its neighbour.”
At the conclusion of the service, there was a chance for parishioners to meet their guests and to thank them for their participation in the annual service of remembrance. Little did the parish know that about a week later Dr. McKee would ask to return to discuss the window with Canon Clunie. At that meeting the Ambassador presented St. Bart’s with a handsome cheque for $40,000 from the Government of Ireland as a contribution to the campaign for the restoration of the Geddes “Ottawa” window!
In late February 2022, more good news followed, as the Honorable Mona Fortier, MP for Ottawa-Vanier, called with an exciting announcement. Veterans Affairs Canada had approved St. Bart’s application to the Commemorative Partnership Program for a contribution of up to $25,000 to support the costs of restoring the window. Veterans Affairs also congratulated the parish on its efforts to safeguard a Canadian war memorial from the First World War.
With this support from the governments of Canada and Ireland, together with the generous contribution from Bryan Brulotte, the St. Bart’s Capital Campaign is well and truly launched. Work on the window is planned for the summer of 2022. Support from friends of St. Bart’s is still welcome and will help ensure the successful completion of the project.
To make your contribution, please drop your cheque at the parish office, 125 MacKay St., make an etransfer to [email protected] or donate through Canadahelps.org
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