Featured Media

The Bank of Ireland, Monaghan

A large 2 storey stone building with original arched windows. Built in 1875, this building is an example of a rounded corner in Monaghan town. It also demonstrates the use of stone as a local building material. Originally built to house Hibernian Bank it now houses Bank Of Ireland.

Photograph kindly provided by Monaghan County Museum

Belamont Forest, Cootehill, Co. Cavan

Belamont Forest, Cootehill, Co. Cavan. An early Classical house designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce on the principles of Palladian architecture

Image is present on following page(s): Domestic Buildings

A view of Upper Mount Street in Dublin

A photograph of Upper Mount Street, Dublin. A noted street of late Georgian domestic architecture built about 1810.

Image is present on following page(s): Domestic Buildings

Fanlights in the Rathmines area of Dublin

By kind permission of the Rathmines, Ranelagh and Rathgar Historical Society

Image is present on following page(s): Vernacular

King George IV

This is an illustration of King George IV's visit to Dublin in 1821. He was the only King ever to visit Ireland.

Image is present on following page(s): The Georgian Age

Battle of the Boyne

This illustration commemorates the defeat of King James II by his son in law, William of Orange, at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. King James' plan to give power to the Catholics of Ireland came to an abrupt end when he was beaten by William of Orange, who was a protestant. William went on to rule England and Ireland with his wife Queen Mary until he died in 1702.

Image is present on following page(s): The Later Stuart Period

Belfast Opera House

Belfast Opera House

Gate Lodge

Here is an early photograph of a picturesque gate lodge at Castletown in Co. Kildare. In the second half of the eighteenth century people began to equate beauty in the countryside with what they encountered in art and so it came about that, for minor structures such as gate lodges, garden buildings, farmhouses, or cottages on an estate, a type of informal architecture was developed resembling the buildings which appeared in the pictures of landscape painters. This architecture was described as ‘Picturesque’. It was less formal and less expensive than the Classical style and became particularly popular in Ireland where the romantic and rocky landscape of parts of the country was thought to marry well with the irregularity of plan and outline which were essential features of the style.

Irish Architectural Archives

Image is present on following page(s): Picturesque

Irish Canals

This is taken from a map of the canals of Ireland in the year 1902. On it can clearly be seen the Grand canal stretching from Dublin to Ballinasloe (the lower of the two lines from Dublin). Work on the Grand Canal began in 1755 by the Commissioners of Inland Navigation. Their aim was to link Dublin with the rivers the Shannon and the Barrow. In 1765 Dublin Corporation took over the project to complete the section linking Dublin with the river Morrell in an effort to supply water to the city basin. In 1772, the project was taken over again by the Company of the Undertakers of the Grand Canal and the canal was opened to cargo boat traffic to Sallins in 1779. By 1791 the canal had reached Ringsend where the Grand Canal Docks were constructed and opened in 1796. In 1804, with the canal now complete to the river Shannon, the first trade boat passed along the canal to Dublin from the river Shannon. By 1835 all work on the main canal-way and its branches was complete.

Image is present on following page(s): Transport

Doorway and window of Kanturk Castle, Co. Cork

Kanturk Castle, Co. Cork. Details of the ‘Renaissance’ doorway of the principal entrance and a mullioned ‘Elizabethan’ window on the main floor

Image is present on following page(s): The English Plantations

Central Bank of Ireland, Dublin

This is an illustration of The Bank of Ireland in Dublin by the artist James Malton. The National Bank of Ireland HQ on College Green, was formerly a Parliament house, one of the first purpose built parliament houses in the world. Three architects have contributed to the building of this structure. Edward Pearce, James Gandon & Francis Johnston. Pearse began the contruction in 1729, then in 1785 and 1797 Gandon constructed the east and west porticos. Later in 1803 when the building was being converted into a bank Johnston built the rounding walls. The building has been built in classical style with its porticos and pillars on the side walls.

Image is present on following page(s): Commercial Buildings

Staigue Fort

This is one of the best examples of a cashel even though there are many larger ones to be found around the country. It is called the Staigue Fort and it is situated in Co. Kerry. This structure is almost round and is about 114 feet in diameter. The walls of the fort reach 18 feet high in some places. What is most notable about this cashel is the design in which the ring has been constructed. There is a double series of zig-zag steps up along the inside walls of the fort. These dwellings were used to defend the inhabitants from oncoming attack.

Image is present on following page(s): Patrician and Early Christian Architecture

Glendalough Village

This photo shows the remains of the early Irish religious community in Glendalough in Co. Wicklow. This monastic site includes a round tower in the centre of the photograph and chapel to the left of the graveyard which was founded by St. Kevin in the sixth century. The round tower was a defensive monument in that it served as a look out for the danger of the Norsemen and a safe keep for valuable religious artefacts. At the same time it was a monument of pacifism and retreat. Glendalough monastery was founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century. As this time the valley would have been a place of complete retreat and isolation from the outside world.

Image is present on following page(s): Patrician and Early Christian Architecture

Mellifont Abbey, Co Louth

Mellifont Abbey was the first Cistercian Abbey in Ireland, and is situated on the bank of the River Mattock, a tributary of the Boyne, in Co. Louth. It was founded by St Malachy in 1142 with a group of Irish and French monks who trained in Clairvaux in France. The building passed through many different owners after its dissolution in 1539, and was eventually abandoned in the 18th century and left to decay. The surviving ruins at Mellifont are the Lavabo, a chapter-house and a late medieval gatehouse. Excavations have revealed the foundations of other church buildings and a vast amount of tiles. From examination of the tiles, several clear patterns have emerged. Some of these involve animal patterns and others show floral and foliage motifs.

Image is present on following page(s): Abbeys and Friaries, Abbeys and Friaries, Specialist Craftsmen, Abbeys and Friaries, Early Tudor Ireland

Oliver Cromwell

Cromwell only spent 9 months in Ireland from August 1649 to May 1650, but his impact was to be everlasting on the island. With fierce brutality Cromwell succeed in completing the English conquest of Ireland where others had failed. Cromwell first set a course to Drogheda. 3,500 men women and children were killed over the two day battle, with the city suffering heavy bombardment. Nearby towns surrendered or evacuated. Less than a month later, Cromwell arrived at Wexford town. Here over 1500 people were slaughtered in the massacre that ensued. Cromwell rested in Youghal until the spring of 1650 and then turned his attention towards Kilkenny and the Tipperary towns of Fethard, Clonmel and Cashel. By May 1650 Ireland had been placed under British rule and Cromwell returned home. Sieges on both Limerick and Galway, the last city under Irish control to fall, ended in October and November 1650 respectively. English rule in Ireland was complete.

Image is present on following page(s): Fortified Buildings, The Civil War and Cromwell

Parsonstown Workhouse

Parsonstown Workhouse was built in 1842 to accommodate 700 inmates. Like all of the workhouses built after the passage of the 1838 Poor Law it was built to a standard Neo-Gothic Design. Male and Female quarters were separate . The workhouse was built to deal with the growing problem of poverty in 19th century Ireland. The Workhouse was managed by a Board of Guardians made up typically of prominent local landlords and businessmen. They met weekly to discuss the day to day management of the workhouse. Minutes of these meetings show that they were concerned with such matters as ordering of provisions

Muckross Abbey, Co. Kerry

Muckross Abbey, Co. Kerry Tower and chancel of the fifteenth-century Gothic church built for the Franciscan Order

Image is present on following page(s): Muckross, Historical Periods

Professor Alistair Rowan, Author of the Architecture Feature

Alistair Rowan was born in Belfast in 1938. He studied architecture at Edinburgh College of Art, took a Ph.D in architectural history in the University of Cambridge and undertook post-doctoral research, on late Baroque architecture in the Veneto, at the University of Padua, Italy, in 1965 and 1966. He later worked as a journalist in London with Country Life magazine and was appointed Lecturer in the Department of Fine Art in the University of Edinburgh in 1967. In 1977 he became the first professor in the History of Art in University College Dublin, a post that he held until 1990 when he became Principal of Edinburgh College of Art. He is a founder member of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, was Chairman of the Irish Architectural Archive from 1982 to 1986, and was elected Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Oxford for 1987/88. In 1987 he made a series of programmes with RTE on the history of Irish church buildings – ‘God’s Houses’. He has served on the Historic Buildings Council for Scotland from 1986 to 1994 and has been President of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain and of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland. In December 2000 he retired from Edinburgh College of Art and accepted an invitation from University College Cork to become its Professor of the History of Art and to set up an undergraduate courses in the College. He retired from UCC in September 2003. He is an authority of the architecture of Robert Adam and is an author and editor of the Yale University Press Buildings of Ireland series.

Image is present on following page(s): Architecture, Architecture Feature

Modern Architecture at University College Dublin

Photograph of a typical building at University College Dublin. The modern architecture revolves around geometric shapes, horrizontal metal windows and flat roofs.

Irish Architectural Archives

Image is present on following page(s): Modern

Oratory of Gallarus

A photograph of the Oratory of Gallarus located on Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry

Image is present on following page(s): Patrician and Early Christian Architecture

Phoenix Park

The Phoenix Park consists of 1760 acres of land and is one of the largest parks within city boundaries in Europe. Part of the Phoenix Park was used by the hospitaller knights who occupied Kilmainham until they surrendered this land to the English crown in 1541. The residence was used by the governor general but after numerous attacks from Fenian clans, the land was leased out to Sir Edward Fisher who built a residence on the land and named it Phoenix. There are two beliefs as to where the name came from. Some people believe that the house name derived from the irish words Fionn-Uisage, which describes a spring of clear water which is supposed to have been found in the park, while others take the view that the builder of the house called it phoenix to assert a classical quality to it. A number of years later the land was taken back by the crown and used for residence of the crown’s representatives in Ireland, who included the Earls of Essex and Strafford, and Henry Cromwell, brother of Oliver. Upon the arrival of James Duke of Ormond as Lord Deputy of Ireland, a sum of money was provided for to make a deer park by adjoining some of the local farms together and buying deer, partridges and hawks. Following this the park was enclosed in walls so that the deer would not escape from their confines. The park was used for many a hunting party for the royal aristocrats who came to Ireland. About 1738, the Fionn-Uisage house was destroyed by fire and a new building for military guard was erected called the Power Magazine. There is a further nine acres which was organised to play polo on, however this is now used by citizens as a place of relaxation.

Image is present on following page(s): Parks and Gardens

Royal Hospital Kilmainham

This is a photo of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham from its side. This hospital, known as the 'old man's hospital' was built in 1680 under Charles II by order of the Earl of Ormonde, the Deputy Governor. The hospital was so called because it was used mainly for old and maimed soldiers at the time. The grounds consisted of a few acres of the phoenix park where the hospitaller knights worked from their headquarters. These were an order of men consisting of physicians, warriors, philosophers and lawyers.

Image is present on following page(s): Public Buildings, The Later Stuart Period

St. Kevin's church, Glendalough

St.Kevin's church and, in the background, the Round Tower at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow

Image is present on following page(s): Patrician and Early Christian Architecture

Romanesque Arch

Round arches, built with carefully dressed blocks of stone, such as are found in Roman ampitheatres, theatres and aqueducts, are Romanesque architecture's most essential feature. Arches may be used at the entrance to a building, often with one archway set inside another to give emphasis to a doorway. They may be set above columns or square piers to provide an arcade dividing the space of a church into a central nave with aisles on either side; a monumental arch will usually mark the division between the nave and the sanctuary, or chancel, of a church and the windows of a Romanesque building are normally round-headed. Romanesque designers employed a range of features to enrich the interior of a building. Often the most important arches had groups of columns attached to their sides and the arch itself was divided into several arches, one set inside the other and decorated with lozenge, zig-zag and other abstract patters of sculpture. Blind arcading – a system of arches and columns applied to a wall – is a popular form of enrichment in a Romanesque interior and the architectural elements, such as the bases and capitals of the columns are usually carved. This decorative work was set off against walls built with regular blocks of squared stone or plastered interiors.

Irish Architectural Archives

Image is present on following page(s): Romanesque, Architectural Styles

Portumna Abbey, Co. Galway

Portumna Abbey, Co. Galway. Interior view from the chancel, through the buttresses of the crossing tower to the nave and west gable of the church

Clogrenan House, Clogrenan, County Carlow

Clogrenan House, Clogrenan, County Carlow. An engraving by G. Allen showing part of the demesne surrounding the home of Colonel Rochfort. The engraving was made for a book entitled "The medical mentor; a new guide to fashionable watering places" by F. F. Hayden. It was published in Carlow by Richard Price in 1822.

Slate roofs

This is a photograph of slate roof tops in Dublin City. Roofs in Ireland are most commonly constructed of slate. This is a natural material deriving from a geological transformation of the sedimentary rock, shale. The principal characteristic of slate is that it can be split into very thin sheets along the bed of the sedimentation and since it is a rock it provides a surface that is impenetrable to water. Slate is naturally a blue black colour. Its shade can vary greatly according to locality and it is widely found throughout Ireland. Slate of a very high quality is necessary to provide a good roofing material and from the early nineteenth century it was common for the best slates to be imported to Ireland either from Ballachulish in Scotland or from Bangor in North Wales. As with the manufacture of glass, the size of individual pieces of slate becomes larger as methods of extraction were more refined. An older building will usually have smaller slates which will vary considerably in size between those at the top or ridge of the roof (which are small) and those at the bottom (which are large). From the middle of the nineteenth century slates are usually uniformly large over the whole roof.

Irish Architectural Archives

Image is present on following page(s): Slate

St Patricks Cathedral

It is believed that St Patrick’s Cathedral dates back to the days when the Danes controlled the city of Dublin. This building was only a parochial church until the 13th century when it was upgraded to a Cathedral. The church has gone through a lot of damage through the years including it being almost destroyed by Oliver Cromwell. Legend has it that St Patrick baptised converts to the Christian religion at an old well near where the Cathedral was built. Today there is a river still flowing under the Cathedral.

Image is present on following page(s): The Norman Conquest

The Customs House (James Gandon)

This is an illustration of the Customs House in 1817 by James Malton. The original custom house in Dublin was built in 1707 by Thomas Burgh, and was situated further up the Liffey on Essex Quay. There was a significant need for the construction of a new custom house as the old custom house was seen as being unsafe only 70 years after its construction. The New Custom House (here pictured) was designed by James Gandon, a famous architect of the time. With the newly reclaimed land in the dockland area of the liffey a site was chosen further downstream of the liffey for the new building. This new site was not concrete and there were fears that the building would sink eventually, however Gandon’s new construction plans involved using planks of wood to form a base over the marsh on which the building would stand. The building was completed in 1871. It suffered heavily in the Irish Civil War of 1921 in which it was burned down. However, after some renovations to repair the house, it still stands tall along the Liffey.

Image is present on following page(s): Public Buildings

The Four Courts, Dublin

The Four Courts, Dublin. Irish Neo-classical architecture at its most magnificent; designed by James Gandon from 1786 to 1802

Steel frame of the Savoy cinema in Dublin

This is a photograph taken during the construction of the Savoy Cinema in Dublin, showing how the steel is used as the construction frame for the building.

Irish Architectural Archives

Image is present on following page(s): Iron, Lead and Steel

The keep of Trim Castle, Co. Meath

The keep of Trim Castle, Co. Meath. The seat of Norman power in Ireland in the thirteenth century