Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Builder and architect, of Bray, Co. Wicklow, active from the1840s or earlier until the1860s. There was much confusion about O'Kelly's name, which appeared in the Irish Builder and The Builder variously as 'Edmund William O'Reilly', 'E.W. O'Reilly', 'E. O'Kelly', 'Edward O'Kelly' and 'E.W. O'Kelly'.   It was as Edmund William O'Kelly that he signed contract drawings for Bray court house in 1841(1) but as Edmund William Kelly that he signed his designs for improvements at Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, circa 1856.(2)    'E.W. O'Kelly, builder', is listed among the tradesmen of Bray in the 1853 and 1857 editions of the Post Office Directory and in Thom's Directory for 1863, which also lists Edmond O'Kelly, of Erin Cottage, Main Street, in its list of 'Nobility, Gentry, Clergy, &c.' and Edmond William O'Kelly, Esq., at Nos.1 and 2 Prince of Wales Terrace, Quinsborough Road, in the street directory section.  In the 1869 edition, however, however, O'Kelly has disappeared from the ranks of the gentry, appearing simply as 'E.W. O'Kelly, builder, Kilbride Road'. He has vanished  from the directories by 1874.

The directories suggest that during the late 1850s and early 1860s O'Kelly's standing was enhanced by the opportunites provided by  Bray's building boom but that he suffered a reversal in his fortunes in the later 1860s.  Besides designing buildings in Bray itself, most notably the International Hotel, opened in 1862, and the Turkish Baths, O'Kelly was the architect of the Catholic churches in Avoca, Co. Wicklow, dedicated in 1862, and Newtownmountkennedy, Co. Wicklow, opened in 1863. He prepared plans for the Catholic church in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, in 1866.

Addresses:   Erin Cottage, Main Street, and 1 & 2 Prince of Wales Terrace, Quinsborough Road,  Bray; 1863;  Kilbride Road, 1869.

Addresses:

See WORKS.



References



(1) National Archives, Office of Public Works drawings collection, OPW5HC/4/396  
(2) IAA, Powerscourt albums, Acc. 89/62.1/77/1 & 1/78/1.


8 work entries listed in chronological order for O'KELLY, EDMUND (OR EDMOND) WILLIAM


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Building: CO. WICKLOW, BRAY, SEAPOINT ROAD, COURT HOUSE
Date: 1841
Nature: E.W.O'K contractor for same. (Architect: William Deane Butler.)
Refs: Contract drawings (3), dated 1841, in National Archives, OPW drawings collection, OPW5HC/4/396.

Building: CO. WICKLOW, BRAY, GASWORKS
Date: 1858
Nature: FS of new gasworks laid by Countess of Meath. Architect 'Edmund William O'Reilly'. Engineer: William Morley Stars, London.
Refs: B 16, 16 Oct 1858, 699

Building: CO. WICKLOW, AVOCA, CHURCH OF SS MARY & PATRICK (RC)
Date: 1859-1862
Nature: New church, for Rev. P. Kearney, PP. Decorated Gothic, with tower. Dedicated 17 Aug 1862. 'The design attests to the skill of Mr Kelly of Bray'.
Refs: Freeman's Journal, 15 Aug 1862, 3; DB 4, 15 Aug 1862, 214

Building: CO. WICKLOW, BRAY, HOUSES (029)
Date: 1860
Nature: To be built 'simultaneously'. Architect: 'Mr O'Kelly'.
Refs: DB 2, 1 Jun 1860, 266

Building: CO. WICKLOW, BRAY, QUINSBOROUGH ROAD, INTERNATIONAL HOTEL
Date: 1861-62
Nature: 'Monster' hotel 'on the most extensive plan of American hotel accommodation', for John Brennan. Near station. 130 (or 180?) bedrooms. Cost £24,000. Begun early 1861. Opened May 1862. (Destroyed by fire, 1974, and demolished.)
Refs: Freeman's Journal, 23 Jan 1861; DB 3, 1 Feb,1 Mar,15 Jun 1861, 412,448,547; 4, 1 Jun 1862, 138; B 19, 23 Feb 1861, 129;  letter from John Brennan, Irish Times, 27 Sep 1862;  Picturesque Guide to Dublin & Wicklow (Ward & Lock, 1879), 153.

Building: CO. WICKLOW, NEWTOWNMOUNTKENNEDY, CHURCH OF ST JOSEPH (RC)
Date: 1861-63
Nature: 'Norman Gothic' with nave, choir and transepts, affording accommodation for nearly 1000.. FS laid Mar? 1861. Dedicated summer, 1863.
Refs: Clonliffe College Archive, ms P1/2; DB 3, 1 Apr 1861, 472; 5, 15 Aug 1863, 141

Building: CO. WICKLOW, BRAY, QUINSBOROUGH ROAD, TURKISH BATHS
Date: 1862a
Nature: 'The design [of St Patrick's Church, Avoca] attests the skill of Mr Kelly of Bray, whose abilites are already known to our local community, through the much admired Turkish Bath Buildings in Bray'.
Refs: Freeman's Journal, 15 Aug 1862, 3

Building: CO. WICKLOW, GREYSTONES, CHURCH OF ST KILLIAN (RC)
Date: 1866
Nature: New church to be built. (Enlarged in 1886.)
Refs: DB 8, 15 Aug 1866, 209;  Wicklow Newsletter, 14 Apr 1903.