DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE WAS VERY SPECIAL 164 YEAR OLD STAINED GLASS WINDOW IN CAMDEN STREET [NOW OWNED BY JD WETHERSPOONS PUB CHAIN].

I have to be honest and admit that I was unaware of the window in question even though in 1999 I worked a few door down the street.

I have never understood why so many buildings in Camden Street are in a serious state of disrepair.

More than a year ago pub-chain JD Wetherspoons bought numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Camden Street Upper, as well as numbers 49, 50 and 51 Camden Street Lower. The company are planning their first hotel in Ireland.

The previous owners obtained planning permission to refurbish the protected buildings, and the council supported an application for a 165-bedroom hotel, restaurant, bar and retail space. But Wetherspoons said it will submit a new application to Dublin City Council in the new year.

As part of a €4 million investment, the Camden Street structures will also be refurbished as will a little known circular stained-glass window which is so important that it is protected in its own right. The window, dating from the 1850s, was designed by Thomas and John Earley.

Earley and Company (1861–1975) were ecclesiastical furnishings and stained glass manufacturers and retailers based in Camden street. In the 19th century they also had an outlet at 51 Lower Clanbrassil Street. The firm was one of the largest and most prestigious ecclesiastical decorators both in Ireland and the U.K. They provided a high standard of ecclesiastical art during the Gothic revival of the 1800s and the building of Catholic Churches which flourished in the first half of the 20th century.

The firm was founded by John Earley and his brother, sculptor Thomas Earley, who were born in Bermingham of Irish parents (probably from Drumshambo, Country Leitrim). Thomas Earley was an apprentice at Hardman & Co. under Pugin. In 1851 Thomas Earley was responsible for setting up Hardman's exhibit of stained glass and metalwork at the Great Exhibition. He set up a similar exhibit at the International Dublin Exhibition of 1853. By November of 1853, a shop was being prepared at 48 Grafton Street in Dublin for Hardman's ecclesiastic products.

In 1864, Thomas Earley and Edward Powell formed their own business at No. 1, Camden Street, calling it "Earley and Powell". Thomas's younger brother, John, began his apprenticeship in stained glass and also moved from Birmingham to Dublin. When John died young at 42, his son, also called John, became a renowned stained glass artist.

In November 1903 the grissille stained glass, the largest of its kind in Ireland, was installed in St Kevin's church, Harrington St by Earley and Co.

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