SNIPPET: Stained glass is an old and honorable craft, and in a small Co. Cork seaside town, one family business has continued this ancient tradition for several generations. James WATSON first came to Youghal in 1888, but the family connection with the craft goes back far further. It is a proudly-maintained tenet of WATSON history that their ancestors have been making stained glass since the Middle Ages and indeed worked on the splendid windows of York Minster. Peter, gggson of the original founder, and son of Paul WATSON now runs the business. He started as an apprentice when he left school, learning the trade from father and uncles, as they had themselves doen before him. "It's very satisfying. You're creating something beautiful that will last well beyond your own time." Peter is hoping his two small sons, who are allowed to watch their father at work, will want to continue the tradition. James WATSON handed the business on to his son, Clement, who in turn handed it on to no less than six of his own sons: Adrian, Cecil, James, John, Paul and Peter. James, however, was invited to do some work in Belfast. As so often happens, he met a local girl up there, married, and set up his own glass business in the North. Meanwhile, the five brothers back in Youghal worked together, carrying on their skills, knowledge and carefully-guarded secrets of this ancient art which had been handed down from one generation to another. Back in the early days, there was a lot more heavy work, as the leading had to be made by a hand-cranked machine, and kilns took days, not hours to fire up. They work from their large detailed artistic drawings called "cartoons." The brilliantly-colored glass used by the WATSONs is imported from Europe: traditionally, the best blue, orange and yellow come from France, green from Germany, and red from England. Painting is done with a translucent stain which is applied in different layers to create the effect of light and shade. A complex piece of work demands several firings, and for final tiny details a needle is used. Even small scraps of precious glass are kept to be used for another project. An example of their lovely work can be seen in the the St. Patrick window at Christchurch, Innishannon. The deconsecrated church of Glengarriff is a lovely building which is enjoying a new lease of life as a popular coffee shop, where light floods in through deep-set windows. Signature on a window reads James WATSON & Co, Youghal and London. Apparently their Cork studio was originally on Catherine Street, on the quayside, where "Moby Dick" was filmed. Cecil WATSON, though now 78 and officially retired, retains the skills perfected throughout his working life. He lives in the old family home which clings to a steep hillside overlooking Youghal Bay. The studio, where he practices his art from time to time, is like an eagle's nest, even further up the cliff, and Cecil nimbly skips up the 40 steps leading to it with its lovely view over town and sea. -- Excerpts, "Ireland of the Welcomes," magazine (Dublin) Mar-Apr 2002