Cullinane stained glass windows finally home

Cullinane College’s head girl Faith Solomona and head boy Nathaniel Daley with the 
two stained glass windows

Two stained glass windows are now permanently home in the library at Cullinane College in Whanganui, having been removed twice since being donated for the first St Augustine’s College chapel 67 years ago. 

“The library is at the heart of the college.  It is a well-used space and provides opportunities for the students to see them,” said principal Justin Harper.  

These stunning glassworks were gifted in 1955 when modifications were made to include a chapel in St Augustine’s College, which was then situated on the corner of Cameron Terrace and Campbell Street. The window depicting St Peter Chanel was donated by the then Old Boys of the school, and the St Augustine window by the Misses Burke, sisters of a parish priest of St Mary’s, Whanganui, Fr Michael Joseph Burke, SM. 

When this wooden building was demolished, the windows were carefully stored, until being reinstalled in the new St Augustine’s College chapel which opened in 1967 in Peat Street.  

They were again put in storage because the building redevelopment schedule required this chapel be pulled down, when St Augustine’s College and Sacred Heart College were combined to form the new co-educational Cullinane College in 2003. 

“The windows are a link to the legacy of Cullinane College.  An acknowledgement of the past journey of our college,” said Mr Harper. 

The cabinet was specially designed by old boy John Fearn, and funding came from the Palmerston North Diocesan Catholic Charities Allocation Committee. 

These taonga will be officially blessed at a later date.  

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Sue Seconi

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