Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Builder, of Dublin. William Hand was born in 1807. The name Hand is not uncommon in Dublin, but, according to family tradition, his father had come to Dublin from Wexford after the 1798 Rebellion. He had at least one brother and one sister. In 1842 he married Mary Keating, by whom he had five children. He died on 19 December 1879.

Hand is said to have prospered by subcontracting when the Irish railway system was being built. He built houses in Grand Canal Street and Great Clarence Street (now Macken Street). His name does not appear in the Dublin directories however. Three persons named Hand were admitted to the Dublin Society's School of Drawing in Architecture at different times: Ferrel Hand on 14 December 1769, W. Hand on 22 February 1780 and John Hand on 1 November 1838. There are references in William Hand's notebook to a Jack Hand. He may have been William Hand's brother, whose Christian name is unknown, and could also possibly the John Hand who was a student at the Dublin Society's School. One of the children of this brother was also called William Hand and is said to have become an architect.

William Hand's account book for the years 1873 to 1874 is in the IAA (Acc. 86/144).



References

All information in this entry is from notes compiled by Professor Geoffrey J. Hand, 99 Westfield Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 3JE, a great-grandson of William Hand, to whom the account book now in the IAA formerly belonged. These notes are kept with the account book in the IAA.