St Mullin's Church of Ireland, Timolin, Co. Kildare

An mid 19th Century chamber organ from Portreath Methodist Church, Cornwall became redundant when the church closed and was purchased and subsequently removed by us to Belfast. After a period of months serving as a temporary organ in All Souls' Church, Elmwood Avenue, Belfast, it was installed in St Mullin's Church of Ireland, Timolin, Co.Kildare. This mid 19th Century church never had an organ and the only suitable place was on the west gallery where there was only less than 10 feet height available. The organ from Portreath fitted perfectly and was restored and installed in late summer 2002.

The organ was probably originally built for a house due to the quality of the carving and decoration on the case. The sound is very sweet but the pipes were in poor condition when we got them. The Gamba is really a small Open Diapason with slots, it may be a later substitution but it works well as a solo stop and in full organ. The organ was at a sharp pitch originally (A=451Hz) and we felt that this was too high for the function it was going to serve. In the end we were able to achieve a pitch of A=445Hz without transposing any pipes. The Dulciana and Principal were cone tuned but this had damaged the pipes so slides were fitted. These stops were also loudened to balance in the new location and this greatly improved the speech without having to raise the cutups.

The Bourdon was a later addition and the lowest 3 pipes had to be mitred to fit on the gallery. The front pipes are very unusual as they are highly decorated in minute detail. They were in original condition and paint was flaking off in places so we had them professionally cleaned and restored.