Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Engineer and county surveyor for the West and East Ridings of Co. Cork, 1855-1861, for the southern division of Co. Mayo, 1861-1868 and for the southern division of Co. Tyrone, 1868-1869. William Treacy was the only son of John Treacy of Brigadie House, Ballymena, Co. Antrim. He was living in London in 1835, when he was elected an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, having been proposed by Sir JOHN MACNEILL. W JOHN MACNEILL. W hile he was still in his twenties, he set up in practice as an engineer in Cork; he is described as 'engineer and Cork Corporation Engineer' of 51 Grand Parade, Cork, in I. Slater's National Commercial Directory of Ireland (1846).(1)

In April 1846, following the resignation of EDMUND LEAHY EDMUND LEAHY , Treacy was appointed county engineer and county surveyor for the West Riding of Co. Cork, based in Bandon. He was transferred to the East Riding in March 1855 in succession to JOHN BENSON JOHN BENSON . At the end of 1861 he was transferred to the southern division of Co. Mayo, changing places with FREDERICK GEORGE DEVERELL. FREDERICK GEORGE DEVERELL. (2) In July 1868 he was transferred to the southern division of Co. Tyrone - this time changing places with WILLIAM HENRY DEANE -  WILLIAM HENRY DEANE - but was dismissed only a year later. As O'Donoghue shows, opinions of his competence seemed to very from county to county. The Grand Juries of the West Riding of Co. Cork, and Co. Mayo seem to have been perfectly satisfied with his work, while he came close to dismissal in the East Riding of Co. Cork, and actually was dismissed from the Co. Tyrone post. After his dismissal he continued to apply for further county surveyorships but without success.

Treacy died at the age of sixty-eight on 18 February 1886 at Ballymena.(3) He had married Agnes Johnston, second daughter of John J. Thompson, manager of the Provincial Bank of Ireland in Bandon, at Rathclarin, Co. Cork on 3 August 1852.(4) He was the owner of seventy-eight acres of land in Cork in 1876(5) and is recorded as leasing lands in Ballykennefick, Co. Cork, to John Busteed of Crosshaven, Co. Cork, on 17 November 1866.(6)

Inst.CE: elected associate member, 9 June 1835.

Addresses: Highgate, London, 1835; 51 Grand Parade, Cork, 1846; Kilbrogan Street, Bandon, circa 1851-1853;(7) Ballymena, Co. Antrim, at time of death.



References

The fullest account of Treacy's life and particularly of his career as a county surveyor is in Brendan O'Donoghue, The Irish County Surveyors 1834-1944 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007), 312-314, which is also the principal source for this entry. All references were supplied to the compiler of this database by Brendan O'Donoghue.

(1)
p.212.
(2)
Mayo Constitution, 19 Nov 1861.
(3)
Belfast Newsletter, 19 Feb 1886.
(4)
Cork Examiner, 6 August 1852.
(5)
http://traceyclann.com/index_files/..%5Cfiles%5Ccork.htm (2008) citing '1876 Landowners in Ireland (over 1 acre)'.
(6)
http://traceyclann.com/index_files/..%5Cfiles%5Ccork.htm citing Belfast Public Record Off T662 (302).
(7)
http://traceyclann.com/index_files/..%5Cfiles%5Ccork.htm citing 'Griffiths Valuation - West Cork 1851-1853'.


2 work entries listed in chronological order for TREACY, WILLIAM AUGUSTUS


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Building: CO. CORK, COLTHURST'S BRIDGE
Date: 1859
Nature: New bridge across river Blackwater, completed 1859.
Refs: Brendan O'Donoghue, The Irish County Surveyors 1834-1944 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007), 313

Building: CO. CORK, KINSALE, HEARD'S BRIDGE
Date: 1861
Nature: New wooden bridge completed and opened by Mar 1861. Named after local MP, John Isaac Heard. (Collapsed 1881)
Refs: Cork Constitution, 12 Mar 1861 (B.O'D.); Brendan O'Donoghue, The Irish County Surveyors 1834-1944 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007), 313