Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Architect and timber merchant, of Dublin. John Pentland can almost certainly be identified with the John Pentland who was baptised at St John's church, Dublin, on 22 June 1756, the eldest child of HENRY PENTLAND  HENRY PENTLAND and his wife Elizabeth, née Dunbar.(1)  He was a pupil of the portrait painter and drawing master George Gaven in 1771, when he exhibited two chalk drawings at the Society of Artists in Ireland,(2) and two years later a satirical description of Henry Pentland in the Public Monitor for 13-16 February 1773 noted that Pentland's son, 'little Jack'..is a great genius and has the advantage of a genteel education'.(3) He was active as an architect in the last two decades of the eighteenth century. In Faulkner's Dublin Journal for 25-27 March 1784 'Mssrs. Pentland' advertised their timber yard at 10 Hendrick Street, noting that they also built houses and that all commands should be sent to Mr John Pentland, architect, at the same address.

Pentland disappears from Wilson's Dublin Directory for the years 1790 to 1793. He may possibly have been living in Tullamore, Co. Offaly,(4) where he laid out Pound Street in 1790.(5) He had already started a connection with Charles William Bury of Charleville Castle, Tullamore, which was to last for over a decade: signed drawings for gates, dated 1785, for an urn, dated 1786, for a folly, dated 1790, and a project for the house itself, dated 1797, were formerly in the Charleville Castle drawings collection.(6) He reappears in the Dublin directory in 1794 to disappear finally in 1805. He died in 1808; the will, dated 1 May 1808, of 'John Pentland, of the City of Dublin, gentleman', was proved in the Prerogative Court the following October.(7)    His sister Catherine was the wife of  BENJAMIN HALLAM [1]. BENJAMIN HALLAM [1].

Pentland was a subscriber to John Soane's Plans, Elevations and Sections of Buildings erected in the Counties of Norfolk, Suffolk &c. (1788) and to George Richardsons's New Designs in Architecture (1792).

Addresses:(8) Hendrick Street, 1771;(9) 10 Hendrick Street, 1783-89; 1794-1801; 52 Townsend Street, 1802-1805.

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References



(1) Irish Genealogy, http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/details/1305ed0135007 (last visited, Jun 2015).  According to this source, he had a sister named Catherine (see note 6, below).
(2) G. Breeze, Society of Artists in Ireland: Index of Exhibits 1765-80 (1985), 36.
(3) Quoted in Maurice Craig, Maurice Craig, The Architecture of Ireland from the earliest times to 1880 (London & Dublin, 1982), 191-2.
(4) 'lease in Tullamore estate office' (IAA, Edward McParland files, Acc. 2008/44).
(5) MS of history of Tullamore by Michael Byrne, source Registry of Deeds mem. 554-115-366408 (IAA, Edward McParland files, Acc. 2008/44).
(6) Sold at Christie's Important Old Master Drawings, architectural and Decorative Drawings, 11-13 Dec 1985, Lots 7,9,10,11,12; Lot 9 is also attributed to Pentland. Photographs of these drawings are in IAA; see also Charleville Forest Drawings list in IAA.
(7) Abstract of will of John Pentland, 1 May 1808, in NLI, MS.424, p.270; will published in Journal of the Irish Memorials Association 12 (No. 6, 1931), 576-7.
(8) From Wilson's Dublin Directory unless otherwise stated.
(9) See note 1, above.


2 work entries listed in chronological order for PENTLAND, JOHN


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Building: CO. OFFALY, CHARLEVILLE FOREST
Date: 1785;1786;1790;
Nature: Designs for gates, 1785, urn on base, 1786, folly tower, 1790, proposal for house, 1797.
Refs: Signed, dated drawings formerly in Charleville Castle collection sold at Christie's Important Old Master Drawings, architectural and Decorative Drawings, 11-13 Dec 1985, Lots 7,9,10,11,12; Lot 9 is also attributed to Pentland. Photographs in IAA; see also Charleville Forest Drawings list in IAA.

Building: CO. OFFALY, TULLAMORE, POUND STREET
Date: 1790
Nature: Laid out by JP.
Refs: MS of history of Tullamore by Michael Byrne, source Registry of Deeds mem. 554-115-366408 (IAA, Edward McParland files, Acc.2008/44)