Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

English architect, for whom see Directory of British Architects 1834-1914 (RIBA 2001), II, 418-420, which gives an extensive bibliography. See also Paul Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), in particular the essay by Roderick O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland', 137-159.

After his conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1835, Pugin looked towards Ireland with its overwhelmingly Catholic population for commissions to design Catholic churches and religious institutions. An entrée was provided by John Hyacinth Talbot , MP, of Castle Talbot and Talbot Hall, Co. Wexford, uncle of Maria Theresa, Countess of Shrewsbury, the wife of Pugin's patron the sixteenth Earl of Shrewsbury, a connection which explains why Pugin's earliest - and most numerous - Irish commissions were in Co. Wexford. From the late 1830s until his early death in 1852, Pugin designed a large number of Irish churches and convents as well as the great seminary at Maynooth, although he visited the country only about ten times in all and never for longer than twelve days. With his essentially romantic and idealized perception of Catholicism, his introduction to the down-to-earth and highly politicized church in Ireland was disconcerting. The realities of church building in Ireland were also challenging; circumstances obliged him to abandon close personal supervision of the building process, and many projects could not be completed during his lifetime because of lack of funds and the intervention of the Famine. Nevertheless, in the view of Stanton,(1) 'Pugin's Irish buildings are among the best constructed and the largest he ever produced'; in his Co. Wexford churches at Gorey, Tagoat and Barntown, the 'emphasis on materials, the excellence of the workmanship, the lack of ornament, the dignified and heavy proportions are more than their characteristics - they are their graces'.

After Pugin's death in 1852, work on his unfinished Irish commissions was carried on by his son EDWARD WELBY PUGIN EDWARD WELBY PUGIN , by JOHN JOSEPH MCCARTHY  JOHN JOSEPH MCCARTHY and, for the two years before his own death, by RICHARD PIERCE RICHARD PIERCE . Pugin was the chief designer for the Birmingham church decorators JOHN HARDMAN & JOHN HARDMAN & amp; COMPANY. COMPANY. (2) His involvement in Irish church building and decoration gave rise to the establishment of a Dublin branch of the firm in 1853, under the direction of THOMAS EARLEY  THOMAS EARLEY and HENRY POWELL.  HENRY POWELL.

A sketchbook into which sketches by Pugin of details from churches in Nürnberg, visited in 1838, have been pasted and into which various other loose drawings have been inserted (none relating to Irish buildings) is in the Irish Architectural Archive (Acc. 2001/98).

See WORKS, for Irish works only.



References



(1) Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 70.
(2) John Hardman's nephew, John Hardman Powell, married Pugin's daughter Anne.


24 work entries listed in chronological order for PUGIN, AUGUSTUS WELBY NORTHMORE #


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Building: CO. CARLOW, TULLOW, CHURCH (RC)
Date: 1830s
Nature: 'very fine tower and spire', descr. by Lewis as 'lately added', attr. to Pugin by Kennedy.
Refs: (S. Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837), II, 655); Thomas P. Kennedy, 'Church Building', History of Irish Catholicism, Vol. 5 (1970), 35

Building: CO. WEXFORD, WEXFORD, SUMMERHILL ROAD, ST PETER'S COLLEGE
Date: 1838-1841
Nature: Chapel. FS laid by AWNP 18 Jun 1838. Dedicated 15 Jun 1840.
Refs: Catholic Directory (1839), 336; (1840), 292; (1841), p. ?; (1842), 379; B 9, 22 Mar 1851, 190; Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 27.38(illus.),66,67(illus.),197; R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 140(illus.)143;  Churches of the Diocese of Ferns (Booklink, 2004), 140(illus.). 

Building: CO. WEXFORD, RAMSGRANGE, CHURCH OF ST JAMES (RC)
Date: 1838-1843
Nature: New church.   For Rev. George Murphy. Copied from chapel at St Peter's College, Wexford? J.H. McCarthy said to have asserted in 1856, thsa he had been told that Pugin was 'very angry when he was informed that his design for St Peter's College Chapel in Wexford was copied as a parish church in Ramsgrange' (Churches of the Diocese of Ferns).  Tower added in 1870.
Refs: Catholic Directory (1839), 335; (1841), 324; Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 37; R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 141-3;  Churches of the Diocese of Ferns (Booklink, 2004), 117.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, RATHFARNHAM, GRANGE ROAD, LORETO ABBEY
Date: 1839
Nature: Chapel. Drawings completed 28 May 1839. Building simplified in execution.
Refs: Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 57,58(illus.),199; R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 143.

Building: CO. WEXFORD, GOREY, CHURCH OF ST MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL (RC)
Date: 1839-1842
Nature: New Romanesque church. For Canon Patrick Synott and Sir Thomas Esmonde. FS laid 12 Aug 1839.  Dedicated by Bishop James Keating, 1 May 1843. Builder: Richard Pierce.
Refs: Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 40(illus.),199; R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 141(illus.),145;  Churches of the Diocese of Ferns (Booklink, 2004), 78-79(illus.).

Building: CO. WEXFORD, BREE, CHURCH OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (RC)
Date: 1839ca
Nature: Plan 'procured from' AWNP by J. Hyacinth Talbot, MP.
Refs: Catholic Directory (1839), 236; Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 37,38(illus.); R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 139(illus.),141-2;  Churches of the Diocese of Ferns (Booklink, 2004), 41(illus.)

Building: CO. WATERFORD, WATERFORD, SLIEVEKEALE ROAD, PRESENTATION CONVENT
Date: 1841-1848
Nature: Drawings prepared 1841, FS laid Jun 1842, further designs 1845. Opened 14 Sep 1848.  Quadrangle with internal cloister. Completed by E.W. Pugin.
Refs: M. Girouard, 'Three centuries of commerce - City of Waterford…III', Country Life 141, 22 Dec 1966, 1696-7(illus.); Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 202;  Douglas Scott Richardson, Gothic Revival Architecture in Ireland (1983), 287-8,295;  R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 147,149(illus.)

Building: CO. KERRY, KILLARNEY, CATHEDRAL PLACE, CATHEDRAL OF ST MARY (RC)
Date: 1842
Nature: Cruciform.. Early English. Richard Pierce appointed superintendent, 1840. Commenced 2 Oct 1842. Building abandoned between 1847 and 1853 because of Famine. Restarted 1853; consecrated 22 Aug 1855; opened 1856.
Refs: Catholic Directory (1844), 310; B 10, 18 Sep 1852, 589; Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 40(illus.),116-120(illus.),200; St Mary's Cathedral, Killarney (pamphlet, 1973); Douglas Scott Richardson, Gothic Revival Architecture in Ireland (1983),280-281; R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 144(illus.),145,146(illus.),147(illus.); Frederick O'Dwyer, The Architecture of Deane and Woodward (Cork University Press, 1997), 103-4

Building: CO. CORK, COBH, HOUSES (002)
Date: 1842
Nature: 2 villas for 5th Viscount Midleton.
Refs: Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 209

Building: CO. WEXFORD, GOREY, ST MICHAEL'S ROAD, LORETO CONVENT
Date: 1842-44
Nature: Land and funds for building given by Sir Thomas and Lady Esmonde.
Refs: Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), ; R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 145

Building: CO. WATERFORD, WATERFORD, SLIEVEKEALE ROAD, MANOR OF ST JOHN
Date: 1842ca?
Nature: Refacing, for (Sir) Thomas Wyse, MP; 'probably contemporary' with work on nearby Presentation Convent.
Refs: Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 202;  Mark Bence-Jones, Burke’s Guide to Country Houses. Volume I, Ireland. (London, 1978), 200;  Douglas Scott Richardson, Gothic Revival Architecture in Ireland (1983), 287.

Building: CO. WEXFORD, TAGOAT, CHURCH OF ST MARY (RC)
Date: 1843-1848
Nature: New cruciform church, for Rev. Walter Rowe; 'in hand' by 1845; opened 1846 (Stanton); first mass celebrated 18 Jun 1848 (O'Donnell).
Refs: Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 205; R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 142(illus.),145;  Churches of the Diocese of Ferns (Booklink, 2004), 131(illus.).

Building: CO. WEXFORD, ENNISCORTHY, CATHEDRAL STREET, CATHEDRAL OF ST AIDAN (RC)
Date: 1843-1850
Nature: Cruciform. Early Decorated. FS laid 1843. lst mass celebrated in unfinished building 1846. Nave under construction 1848. Tower built 1850. Dedicated 20 May 1860.
Refs: DB 2, 1 Jun 1860, 282; Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 203; R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 1467,148(illus.);  Churches of the Diocese of Ferns (Booklink, 2004), 22-25(illus.)

Building: CO. WEXFORD, BARNTOWN, CHURCH OF ST ALPHONSUS (RC)
Date: 1844-1851
Nature: New church based on design of mediaeval church at Stanton, Cambridgeshire. E. window, made by Hardman & Co. to Pugin's design, presented by J. Hyacinth Talbot. FS laid 1844. FS laid Jul 1844. Mass celebrated for first time 8 Oct 1848. Dedicated 8 Sep 1851, but church not consecrated until 12 Sep 1899.  (Screen has been removed and some of original glass replaced.)
Refs: Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 202; R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 136(illus.),145;  Churches of the Diocese of Ferns (Booklink, 2004), 77(illus.).

Building: CO. CORK, MIDLETON, HOUSES
Date: 1845
Nature: Houses for 5th Viscount Midleton's Irish estates. (This may relate to item in B 3, 8 Mar 1845, 117, which notes that 'Lord Midleton purposes expending £15,000 upon improving the town…from which he derives his title.')
Refs: Correspondence re Pugin work at Midleton in Guildford Muniments Room, Midleton Papers, 1248; Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 205

Building: CO. KILDARE, MAYNOOTH, ST PATRICK'S COLLEGE
Date: 1845-1850
Nature: Designs, 1845, rejected as too expensive by Board of Works. AWNP appointed architect by Sir Robert Peel. resigned Jan 1846; reappointed July 1847 for reduced scheme. Contract dated 17 Jul 1847. Clerk of Works: Richard Pierce. Builder: W.H. Beardwood.  Chapel not proceeded with 'owing partly to want of funds and partly an objection made on sanitary grounds by the ten physician to the college, now Sir Dominic Corrigan, who did not approve of closing entirely the north side of the quadrangle.'
Refs: Drawings in Clonliffe College Archive, Maynooth documents, MS p125/1, &125/2; bird's eye view, 1845, preliminary notes re numbers of students, and photograph of undated interior perspective of chapel in Victoria & Albert Museum, RIBA Drawings Collection,  PB244/5, see A. Wedgwood, Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects: the Pugin Family (1977), 71, 105, and British Architectural Library Catalogue, http://riba.sirsidynix.net.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/2hQPByR8Ci/MAIN_CAT/8070038/13 (last visited Apr 2009); 14th Annual Report of Commissioners of Public Works (Ireland) (1846), 6;16th Annual Report (1848), 15(illus., repr. in F. O'Dwyer, 'Building empires: architecture, politics and the Board of Works 1760-1860', Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies 5 (2002), Pl.40); 17th Annual Report (1849), 25; 20th Annual Report (1852-3), 38; B 3, 6 Dec 1845, 585; 9, 31 May 1851, 346; 11, 22 Jan 1853, 60; Catholic Directory (1848), 225; DB 3, 15 Aug 1861, 603;  Irish Times, 11 Oct 1875;  Michael Trappes-Lomax, Pugin, a Mediaeval Victorian (1932), 334; Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 205; Douglas Scott Richardson, Gothic Revival Architecture in Ireland (1983), 317-8; R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 148-153(illus.); Frederick O'Dwyer, 'A.W.N. Pugin and St Patrick's College, Maynooth', Irish Arts Review Yearbook (1996), 102-109;  Frederick O'Dwyer, The Architecture of Deane and Woodward (Cork University Press, 1997), 64,96,99(illus).

Building: CO. LIMERICK, ADARE MANOR
Date: 1846
Nature: Designs for hall ceiling, great staircase, gallery at end of hall, fireplace, doors. For 2nd Earl of Dunraven.
Refs: Letters and drawings at Adare Manor; John Cornforth, 'Adare Manor, Co. Limerick - II', Country Life 145, 22 May 1969, 1304-5; Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 206; Mark Girouard, The Victorian Country House (1979), 426; Douglas Scott Richardson, Gothic Revival Architecture in Ireland (1983), 295; R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 148

Building: CO. OFFALY, BIRR, WILMER ROAD, ST JOHN'S CONVENT OF MERCY
Date: 1846-1856
Nature: FS laid 1846 but first portions not built until 1847. Completed by E.W. Pugin.
Refs: Catholic Directory (1848), 320(illlus.); Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 206; R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 147

Building: CO. KERRY, KILLARNEY, PORT ROAD, PRESENTATION MONASTERY
Date: 1846-1862
Nature: 'beautiful monastery to be erected immediately...being designed by Mr Pugin'.
Refs: Catholic Directory (1846), 210; B 10, 23 Oct 1852, 677; R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 147

Building: CO. WATERFORD, LISMORE CASTLE
Date: 1849-1850
Nature: AWNP suppied designs for Crace's decorations for 6th Duke of Devonshire.
Refs: Designs in V & A and Pugin-Crace letters in RIBA (IAA, Edward McParland files, Acc.2008/44); Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 208

Building: CO. LAOIS, CLOUGH, FITZPATRICK MORTUARY CHAPEL
Date: 1852
Nature: New mortuary chapel or chantry erected to house tomb of Richard Wilson Fitzpatrick by [John Wilson?] Fitzpatrick. Work supervised and completed after AWNP's death by J.J. McCarthy. Builder: Beardwood. (Demolished.)
Refs: R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P. Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 141,154,159n87.

Building: CO. LIMERICK, ADARE, CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS (CI; FORMER AUGUSTINIAN ABBEY)
Date: ?
Nature: Stanton says AWNP 'added a new roof and stained glass windowsto the village church, which he probably also totally restored' but O'Donnell says this work was for RC church (former Trinitarian Abbey).
Refs: Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 206; R. O'Donnell, 'The Pugins in Ireland' in P.Atterbury, ed., A.W.N. Pugin, Master of Gothic Revival (Yale, 1995), 147-8

Building: CO. WEXFORD, EDERMINE
Date: ?
Nature: Chapel has been attr. to Pugin on basis of similarity of window to drawings in early notebooks. (NB. James Power was the son-in-law and brother-in-law of John Hyacinth Talbot.)
Refs: Phoebe Stanton, Pugin (1971), 209;  but see also Douglas Scott Richardson, Gothic Revival Architecture in Ireland (1983), 486, who argues in favour of E.W. Pugin.

Building: CO. ARMAGH, BALLYMOYER, CHURCH OF ST LUKE (CI)
Date: ?
Nature: Floor tiles in baptistery 'to a Pugin design' (Mulligan).
Refs: Kevin V. Mulligan, The Buildings of Ireland: South Ulster (2013), 174.

Author Title Date Details
O'donnell, Roderick 'The Pugins in Ireland'
Paul Atterbury, ed., A W N Pugin : Master of the Gothic Revival  (The Bard Graduate Centre for Studies in the Decorative Arts and Yale University Press, New Haven and London,1995), 136-159.