St. Brigid of Kildare Catholic Church
Dublin, OH
2/12 Holtkamp
Opus 1691 - 1956/1991
Here we see the pipe organ inside St.
Brigid of Kildare Catholic Church in Dublin, Ohio. It was built by
the Holtkamp Organ Company of Cleveland, Ohio in 1956 and is their Opus
1691. The organ was originally installed in the Kent School in Kent,
Connecticut. Local organ builder Peebles-Herzog
removed, restored and installed the organ in the church in 1991. The
organ's sound
certainly lends itself more toward the baroque side with the highs
pitches
certainly being more prominent than the low sounds.
Originally, the organ was completely exposed and not under expression.
Compare the photo to the right to the photo above. As can be seen by
the photo at the right, all of the pipes are visible and there is no
case. In an effort to add more sound and give the organ more
dynamic expression, a case was built around the pipes in front, and
half the
case was given shutters to create a Swell Division. In addition, 12
pipes were added to the Pedal Principal rank (the six pipes on either
side of
the case seen above) to give the organ some additional support in the
Pedal Division. Despite the modifications, the organ is probably
still a bit
underpowered for the room, but serves its purpose well. Photo courtesy St. Brigid of Kildare
Parish and Church History
The current
church was built in
1991 to support the rapid population explosion toward the northwest
from Columbus, and was expanded in 2017. Much has been built in the
affluent village of Dublin, and controlled expansion likely will
continue
as farm fields are changed to houses or other commercial development.
Dublin is the home of the famous PGA event, The Memorial golf
tournament, held yearly in late May or early June.
According to the St. Brigid web page, the church is modeled after the
Church of Ireland Cathedral in Kildare, Ireland. The above photo is a
view of the church from the choir loft. The parish added a K-8 school
in 1996, and later completed an expansion of the parish offices,
school gymnasium and classrooms to support the growing area.
Sound Clip
Title
"O God Beyond All Praising"
- here is a clip of congregational singing with organ accompaniment
Credits and Links
I'd like to thank the staff of St.
Brigid for their assistance with the web page, and Michael Lauffer
of Peebles-Herzog with providing historical information about the
organ.