Several major projects have been carried out over the last few years. The most recent is the donation of a window to the St Mary's Church, in the year of office of Fr W Boyd as President of the Burns Club.

Click here for the full story of its symbolism and of the artist.

Other projects mentioned below: the 1996 Parish Church window, the 1996 Burns Statue landscaping, the 1996 Wellwood audio-visual enhancement, and the 2001 Club anniversary window.

In Bicentenary year 1996, the Club engaged stained glass artist Sue Bradbury to design and create a superb new window for the Parish Church, the building in which Burns worshipped while in Irvine. It portrays a sparkling stream on a Scottish hillside, with a Tree of Life bearing twelve fruits - a reference to the Book of Revelation, a book in which we know that Burns found comfort during the dark days of December 1781 in Irvine.

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click to go to the detailed description of the window

The Club also initiated the re-landscaping of the statue of Burns on Irvine Moor, pictured on our front page. This statue was sculpted by J Pittendrigh Macgillivray, RSA, and unveiled in front of huge crowds in July 1896. Details of the 1896 event will appear on this site in due course.

Also in 1996-97, the Club installed new lighting and a state-of-the-art audio commentary in its own Burns Room, a welcome addition to visitor provision at our Museum.

In 2001, for the Club's 175th anniversary, we commissioned the superb stained glass window, pictured here.

click to enlarge >