Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Builder, of Dublin. Thomas Millard, who was originally a cabinet-maker in Cheltenham, came to Ireland in 1838 and was employed by the Board of National Education. By 1844 he had set up his own cabinet-making and upholstery business at 20½ Mary Street, but by 1847 he had moved to 43 Mary Street, and described himself as 'carpenter and builder'. By 1853 the word 'carpenter' had been dropped from the description. In the words of his obituarist in the Irish Times, 'by steady application to his avocation, by industriously making trifles the sum and aggregate of human things and education in science a constant pursuit, [he] became noted for aptitude in all matters pertaining to building and architecture'. He carried out work for the Board of Public Works, and was 'particularly successful in the erection of residential mansions for the nobility and gentry' including St Anne's, Clontarf. He was also was involved in the construction of the Dublin tramway.

Millard took a pioneering interest in the development of photography in Ireland and established a photographic studio in Lower Sackville Street. He died on 6 February 1882 at his house in Harcourt Street and was buried in Mount Jerome cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Caroline (d. 1894) a daughter of the wood engraver Benjamin Clayton and herself a wood engraver, whom he had married in 1841. One of their children, William Millard, became a sculptor. A plan by Millard of Ashfield Lodge, Cootehill, Co. Cavan, is in the National Library of Ireland.(1)

Addresses: 20½ Mary Street, 1844; 43 Mary Street, 1847-57; 43½ Mary Street, 1858; 58 Harcourt Street, <=1861 until death.

See WORKS.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from the obituaries of Millard in Irish Times, 7 Feb 1882, and IB 24, 15 Feb 1882, 54 (with additional notes by John S. Sloane) and from the entry on Caroline Millard in W.G. Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists (1913), II, 108, and from Post Office, Pettigrew & Oulton's and Thom's directories .

(1) nli, AD 1712.


1 work entries listed in chronological order for MILLARD, THOMAS *


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Building: CO. CAVAN, ASHFIELD LODGE (COOTEHILL)
Date: ?
Nature: Plan by TM in NLI.
Refs: NLI, AD 1712.