Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Builder, of Dublin. William Hughes, a son of JOHN HUGHES [1]  JOHN HUGHES [1] and elder brother of JAMES JOSEPH HUGHES JAMES JOSEPH HUGHES , was baptised on 2 May 1813 at St Mary's Catholic church, Marlborough Street, Dublin, his sponsors being John and Mary Myler.(1) In the early 1840s he established business premises at 94 Talbot Street, while living with his parents at 101 Great Britain Street, but in Pettigrew & Oulton's Dublin Almanac for 1847 his sole address is given as 80 Talbot Street. He continued in business in Talbot Street until 1891.

On retiring from the building trade Hughes moved first to 28 Adelaide Street, Kingstown, and then to Glenard, Meath Road, Bray. He made the move to Bray fter the death of his wife, Frances Teresa (d. 1892), daughter of Dr Thomas Willis of Rathmines, a well-known doctor, philanthropist, book collector and historian.(2)  Hughes died at Glenard on 11 October 1900 and was buried in Glasnevin cemetery.

From 1871 until 1895 Hughes was a regular contributor to the Irish Builder.(3)   He was the author of Geological notes of Ireland: being an account of the formation and localities of its marbles, stone, &c. as useful for constructible works; also coal and the mining districts, published by McGlashan & Gill, Dublin, in 1876.

Addresses: 94 Talbot Street, 1841->=1844; 80 Talbot Street, <=1847->=1863; 90 Talbot Street, <=1874->=1887.
Home: 101 Great Britain Street, 1841; 28 Adelaide Street, Dun Laoghaire, 1891; Glenard, Meath Road, Bray, 1892 until death.





References

All information in this entry is from Paul Byrne, Mount Merrion, Co. Dublin, great-great-great grandson of John Hughes, in letters to A.M. Rowan of 10 Mar and 28 Oct 2002, and from Wilson's, Thom's, Post Office and Pettigrew & Oulton's directories.

(1) John Myler was presumably the carver and gilder of this name.
(2) See IB 19, 1 Aug 1877, 218.
(3) For Hughes's contributions to the Irish Builder, see Gearoid Crookes, 'The Genesis of an Archive: forty years of The Irish Builder, 1859-1899, unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University College, Dublin, 1994, 122-3,151 (copy in IAA).


Author Title Date Details
Hughes, William 'The proposed lowering of Essex Bridge' 1870 IB 12, 15 Dec 1870, 291-3.
Hughes, William 'The antiquity of the Irish round tower' 1870 IB 12, 15 Dec 1870, 296-301.