FAHY (OR FAY), OWEN

Architectural draftsman, of Dublin. Owen Fahy (or Fay) worked for RICHARD MORRISON  RICHARD MORRISON during the first fifteen years or so of the nineteenth century, and a large quantity of Morrison's surviving designs are in his hand. His name first appears in Wilson's Dublin Directory in 1817 at Great Ship Street; subsequent directories record him at this address until 1821, at 23 Stephen Street from 1822-23 and at 36 Mabbot Street from 1824-32. At some stage he seems to have been connected with the contracting firm of HENRY, MULLINS & MULLINS & amp; MCMAHON MCMAHON , for a great many of his drawings come from the collection of papers - now dispersed - from the office of that firm. While many of these drawings are of buildings known to have been designed by Morrison, at least one of them, Dundalk court house, which was designed by EDWARD PARKE EDWARD PARKE , is not.(1) None of Fahy's drawings from this source bears Morrison's name, but it is clear that a name has been deleted from some of them and in one instance - a set of drawings for for Bearforest, Co. Cork - David Henry's name has been substituted for Morrison's. The style of Fahy's presentation drawings is easy to recognize from the rather coarse quality of the thickly-coloured gouache elevations, the distinctive script and the bold black border with which the drawings are generally frame.

There are ten  plans or elevations drawn by Fahy in the Guinness Collection in the Irish Architectural Archive:   three for Richard Morrison's proposed alterations to Castle Howard, Co. Wicklow (Guinness Collection, Acc. 96/068.5/2/1-3), four for a castle-style mansion, possibly designed by Richard Morrison (Acc. 96/068.5/6/1-4), two different designs for a gateway and lodge (Acc. 96/068.5/16,17),(2) and an elevation of a Gothick gateway for Lismore Cathedral..  These drawings originally formed part of the Henry, Mullins & McMahon collection mentioned above.

All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from A.M. Rowan, ed., The Architecture of Richard Morrison and William Vitruvius Morrison (Irish Architectural Archive, 1989), 187; examples of Fahy's draftsmanship and script may be seen on pp.30,60,65,66,118.

(1) A perspective view of Smirke's Wellington Monument in the Phoenix Park (as originally with designed with an attached plinth bearing an equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington) signed by Fahy was sold at auction by Hamilton, Osborne, King on 27 Nov 1998 (lot 363). See IAA photo envelope no. 4124; this is possibly one of the dispersed Henry, Mullins & McMahon collection of drawings.
(2) One of these is inscribed with David Henry's name but appears to be in Fahy's hand.

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