St. Brigid of Kildare Catholic Church
Dublin, OH
2/12 Holtkamp
Opus 1691 - 1956/1991

organ

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.

loft
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 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 web page at http://www.stbrigidofkildare.org/tour/choirloft.htm



Parish and Church History
church inside
The current church was built in 1991 to support the rapid population explosion toward the northwest from Columbus. Much has been built in the affluent village of Dublin in the past 15 years, 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 recently completed an expansion of the parish offices, school gymnasium and classrooms. It is currently expanding the church in order to accommodate the growing parish. No word yet on whether the organ will also be expanded.

Credits and Links

I'd like to thank Mary Fran Cassidy and David Brattain of St. Brigid for their assistance with the web page, and Michael Lauffer of Peebles-Herzog with providing historical information about the organ. 

Stop List Photos of the Great Division Photos of the Swell Division Photos of the Console St. Brigid of Kildare Catholic Church - Dublin, OH Peebles-Herzog Pipe Organ Company Holtkamp Organ Company


Back to pipe organ profile list Back to pipe organs homepage Back to N8RRB home Send comments to the webmaster