Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Engineer, of Dublin. Alfred Dover Delap , the third son of Canon Alexander Delap, of Valentia, Co. Kerry, was born on 17 June 1871(1) in Donegal. He attended Trinity College, Dublin, graduating BA with a respondency in 1893 and BAI with honours in engineering in 1895. On leaving university he was an assistant to SAMUEL GORDON FRASER  SAMUEL GORDON FRASER for two years.(2) He then worked for several years on various mining and civil engineering projects in the United States before returning to Ireland to take up railway work. He was appointed engineer-in-charge of the construction of Rosslare Harbour for the Fishguard and Rosslare Railways and Harbours Co., after the completion of which, in 1913, he set up as an independent consultant in partnership with JAMES HARDRESS DE WARRENNE WALLER JAMES HARDRESS DE WARRENNE WALLER . From 1912-15 he was responsible for the construction of Helvick harbour in Co. Waterford; later in the war he was engaged in ship salvage for the Admiralty.(3) During 1923-25, he was associated with JOHN PURSER GRIFFITH  JOHN PURSER GRIFFITH in the latter's plans for harnessing the Liffey and proposed a number of labour employment schemes for the improvement of Dublin Bay, including the reclamation of land between Williamstown and the Pigeon House to serve, among other things, as a landing place for aeroplanes and seaplanes. Turf development was among his interests, and at the end of his life he was working on proposals for the devlopment of tidal power in Mulroy Bay and the Shannon Estuary.

Delap died on 3 October 1943. A friend, 'E.A.', described his character in a tribute in the Irish Builder: 'To the writer of this note, his abiding memory will be that of a man of rare intellectual honesty, high moral courage and exceptionally broad sympathies. Essentially a scientist, he was untiring in his pursuit of precise facts and information. Slow to reach conclusions, and tolerant in the last degree of those who failed to agree with him, he was inflexible where he conceived that questions of professional or moral principal were involved. Almost distressingly modest and retiring, he had a horror of anything in the nature of personal or professional popularity. Reluctant to cultivate new frindships, he was among the staunchest and most unchangeable of friends.' In 1905 Delap married Jane Ethel Jefferies, of Newbay, Co. Wexford (d. 1928). He was the father of HUGH ALEXANDER DELAP.  HUGH ALEXANDER DELAP.

ICE:(4) elected associate member, 7 December 1897; raised to member, 12 March 1907.
ICEI: elected member, 5 March 1913;(5) council member, 1917-19, 1922-23, 1924-25, 1929-1943; vice-president, 1926-27; president, 1927-29;(6) winner of Mullins Silver Medal for his paper, 'The Salvage of the Dredger "Silurus"', 1921.(7)

See WORKS, BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY ; see also DELAP & WALLER. DELAP & WALLER.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from the obituary of Delap in TICEI 70 (1943-44), 261-2, and from the obituary and tribute in IB 85, 9 Oct 1943, 380.

(1) ICEI membership applications, IV, 152.
(2) See note 1, above.
(3) IB 59, 12 May 1917, 221.
(4) Min Proc ICE 131 (1897-8), Pt 1, 271.
(5) TICEI 39 (1912-1913), 105.
(6) TICEI lists of officers.
(7) TICEI 47 (1920-21), 79.


3 work entries listed in chronological order for DELAP, ALFRED DOVER


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Building: CO. WATERFORD, HELVICK HARBOUR
Date: 1913a
Nature: ADD engineer-in-charge, for Fishguard & Rosslare Railways & Harbours Co.
Refs: TICEI 70 (1943-44), 261

Building: CO. WEXFORD, NEW ROSS, MOUNTGARRET BRIDGE
Date: 1927
Nature: Designed by AWD.  Construction work to begin, Oct 1927. To cost about £22,000. Contractor: John Hearn, Waterford.
Refs: Irish Times,  28 Sep 1927;  TICEI 70 (1943-44), 261.

Building: CO. WEXFORD, THE DEEPS, BRIDGE
Date: ?
Nature: -
Refs: TICEI 70 (1943-44), 261

Author Title Date Details
Delap, Alfred Dover 'The salvage of the dredger 'Silurus'' 1921 TICEI 47 (1920-21), 47-62
Delap, Alfred Dover [Presidential address to Institution of Civil Engineers, 7 Nov 1927] 1927 TICEI 44 (1927-28), 1-36.
Delap, Alfred Dover 'Reinforced Concrete' 1928 IB 70, 26 May 1928, 445-447. (Paper read to AAI, 31 Jan 1928.)
Delap, Alfred Dover 'Reinforced Concrete: extracts from a paper read before the Architectural Association of Ireland' 1933 IB 75, 11 Feb 1933, 98. (Extracts from paper read to AAI,24 Jan 1933.)