Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

County surveyor for Co. Donegal. William Harte, who was born circa 1825, was temporary acting county surveyor for Co. Monaghan in 1849.(1) In September 1851 he was appointed surveyor for the southern district of Co. Donegal, based in Donegal town, and in 1864 he was transferred to the northern district, based in Buncrana. He held the latter post until 1892, when he was succeeded by JAMES R.A. FERGUSON. JAMES R.A. FERGUSON. (2) He was also architect and surveyor to the Irish Society during the 1880s.(3) He died at the age of seventy on 15 March 1895(4) and was buried in the cemetery at Derry. His pupils and assitants included JOHN GERVAIS SKIPTON.  JOHN GERVAIS SKIPTON.

Harte, described in his obituary in the Irish Builder as 'a man whose tastes and gifts ran ofttimes outside the dry routine of duty into geological and kindred research', was a fellow of the Royal Geological Society of Ireland.(5) He was an exponent of the merits and commercial possibilities of Donegal granite and exhibited specimens at a conversazione at the RIAI on 16 December 1870(6) and at the Exhibition Palace in Dublin in 1872.(7) He was responsible for opening a quarry at Seskinroan, near Dungloe, which he worked for a time in difficult conditions. 'The tide of time and circumstance was against him, yet Mr Harte was the Columbus of this western wealth, and, Columbus-like, he may be said to have broken heart and fortune over his discovery.' The granite block which was placed on his grave was made of stone from the Seskinroan quarry. He is probably the 'W.H.' who contributed a series of articles on 'The Building Stones of Ireland' to the Irish Builder in 1874.(8)

In 1870 Harte collaborated with WILLIAM STIRLING  WILLIAM STIRLING on the design and erection of the new Convent of Mercy orphanage at Strabane, Co. Tyrone.(9) A William Harte exhibited three views of the Donegal countryside at the Irish Exhibition of Arts & Manufactures in Dublin in 1882, from the Dublin address of 2 Belgrave Park, Charleston Road, Rathmines.(10)

Addresses:(11) Bishop Street, Derry, 1880-89; Foyle Street, Derry, 1891-5.

See WORKS and BIBLIOGRAPHY. BIBLIOGRAPHY.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from the obituary of Harte in IB 37, 15 Mar 1895, 263.

(1) Jones transcript from Thom's Directory for 1849.
(2) O'Donoghue; the Derry Almanac styles him county surveyor for Donegal until the time of his death.
(3) The Derry Almanac for the years 1880-1889 styles him thus.
(4)   IB 37, 15 Mar 1895, 81;  Irish Times, 16 Mar 1895..
(5) IB 12, 1 Jan 1870, 3,4.
(6) See note 5, above.
(7) IB 14, 1 Aug 1872, 212.
(8) IB 16, 1,15 Jan,1,15 Feb 1874, 4-5,19-20,34-35,58-59.
(9) IB 12, 1 Nov 1870, 256(illus.).
(10) IALE I, 307.
(11) From the Derry Almanac 1880-89,1891-95; Harte's address is given as 11 Bishop St in IB 28, 15 Aug 1886, 238.


10 work entries listed in chronological order for HARTE, WILLIAM


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Building: CO. DONEGAL, BUNCRANA, LOUGH SWILLY HOTEL
Date: 1865
Nature: FS of new hotel laid. To cost about £3,000.
Refs: Derry Journal, 26 August 1865 (information from Raymond Blair, Vice President County Donegal History Society, Oct 2016);  B 23, 9 Sep 1865, 649; Alistair Rowan, The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster (1979), 155.

Building: CO. DONEGAL, LIFFORD, GAOL
Date: 1868
Nature: Alts. & adds. effected. Debtors' cell turned into board room, old board room becomes part of governor's residence. Contractor: Hutchison & Colhoun (Derry)..
Refs: IB 10, 15 Feb 1868, 40

Building: CO. DONEGAL, LIFFORD, COUNTY HOUSE
Date: 1868
Nature: Alts. & adds. effected. Kitchen turned into meeting room; new kitchen, stables &c. added. Contractor: Hutchison & Colhoun (Derry).
Refs: IB 10, 15 Feb 1868, 40

Building: CO. DONEGAL, LIFFORD, COURT HOUSE
Date: 1868
Nature: Alts. & adds. effected. 5 new offices for clerk, secretary, sheriff, county surveyor.
Refs: IB 10, 15 Feb 1868, 40

Building: CO. DONEGAL, CONVOY, CONCERT HALL
Date: 1868
Nature: New concert hall erected. Hall 60 x 24ft. To seat 300. Builder: Hutchison & Colhoun, Derry.
Refs: IB 10, 15 Jan 1868, 24

Building: CO. TYRONE, STRABANE, MOUNT ST JOSEPH, CONVENT OF MERCY
Date: 1870-71
Nature: New wing for female orphans to be built. Designed by Harte with William Stirling. To cost £1,800. Builder: M.McClelland, Derry.
Refs: IB 12, 1 Nov 1870, 256(illus.); IB 13, 1 Apr 1871, 85; Alistair Rowan, The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster (1979), 494

Building: CO. DONEGAL, GLENVEAGH CASTLE
Date: 1872
Nature: WH responsible for restoration of castle after destruction of almost-completed building by fire during first half of 1872 and for erection of new wing. Tenders sought, Jul 1872.
Refs: Advertisement for tenders in Belfast News Letter, 22 Jul 1872 ((information from Raymond Blair, Vice President County Donegal History Society, Oct 2016).

Building: CO. DONEGAL, CARNDONAGH, COURT HOUSE
Date: 1873
Nature: New 5-bay, 2-storey court house. Contractor: Robert Colhoun. Railing and wall erected, 1878.
Refs: Co. donegal Grand Jury Presentments? (b. OF i.); Alistair Rowan, The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster (1979), 165; C.E.B. Brett, Court Houses and Market Houses of the Province of Ulster (UAHS, 1973), 58-9;

Building: CO. DERRY, COLERAINE, WATERWORKS
Date: 1877
Nature: ?Designed by WH. Edw. McNeillage's tender of £5,480.7s.4d. accepted.
Refs: IB 19, 15 Nov 1877, 337

Building: CO. DERRY, DERRY, SHIPQUAY PLACE, GUILDHALL
Date: 1886
Nature: Competition entrant?
Refs: IB 38, 15 Aug 1886, 238

Author Title Date Details
Harte, William Article on Donegal granite 1872 Mining Magazine and Review (July 1872).?.
Harte, William 'The Derry Corporation and the designs for the new town hall' 1886 IB 28, 15 Aug 1886, 238. (Letter to editor.)
Harte, William (?) 'The building stones of Ireland' 1874 Series of 4 articles by 'W.H.' in IB 16, 1,15 Jan,1,15 Feb 1874, 4-5,19-20,34-35,58-59