The History of Irish Architecture

Prehistoric 8000BC – 500AD – the early settlers

Ireland’s first settlers arrived around 8000BC. The introduction of farming in 4000BC saw a move to a more settled lifestyle and the building of farmsteads, with both circular and rectangular house styles being used. The first rectangular house and the largest concentration of Neolithic structures were found in Lough Gur dating back to 3500BC.
Although none of these houses remain, the lasting legacy from this period on the Irish landscape is the megalithic tomb: the Dolmen or Portal tomb with its huge capstone or lintel, balanced on smaller stones and the Passage tombs, with their dry stone passages leading to corbelled ceilings (circular layers of flattish stones closed with a single stone at the top).

Lough Gur, Co. Limerick www.shannonheritage.com

Early Medieval: 500AD – 1150

The most common form of house style during this period was the ringfort –a circular area of earth surrounded by a bank and ditch. In some cases stone was used in the defensive enclosure and these are known as cashels. Over 45,000 examples still remain today. Also dating from this period were crannogs (from the Irish crann – tree) - an artificial island built in the shallow areas of lakes with the houses surrounded by a timber palisade or fence. These can be spotted in the landscape as small tree covered islands close to the lake shore – both the ringforts and crannogs most commonly contained circular houses. A reconstruction of a crannog dwelling can be found at Craggaunowen, Co. Clare

This was also a time when Christianity was introduced to Ireland and whereas the early churches of the 6th and 7th centuries were of timber, evidence of stone churches appear from the late 8th century . These were simple rectangular buildings of about 5m long with a high steep pitched roof. The only doorway had a flat topped lintelled opening. The early Irish monasteries of the 9th and 10th centuries, such as Clonmacnoise, had larger churches and monastic buildings also included the drystone beehive hut or clochan, as can be seen at Skellig Michael, and also the Round Tower, built between the 10th and 12th century, which consisted of a narrow tower up to 30m high tapering at the top with a conical roof.

Craggaunowen, Co. Clare www.shannonheritage.com

Medieval 1150 – 1400

Churches and Abbeys

The arrival of the Western European monastic orders, such as the Cistercians, along with skilled stone masons, resulted in the building of larger stone churches and abbeys in the Romanesque style (known as Norman in England and Hiberno-Romanesque in Ireland). This used forms from ancient Rome with massive stone walls, solid cylindrical columns, rounded arches and doorways and small windows.

This was followed by the 13th century Gothic: a French style introduced by the Normans in 1169. Whereas the solid walls of the Romanesque were load bearing, the Gothic builders transferred the weight using high stone vaults and flying buttresses. The use of pointed arches and larger windows, which often contained stained or coloured glass, resulted in a lighter appearance. Towers and spires were also added. There were also Transitional churches where both Gothic and Romanesque styles were used, for example at Boyle Abbey.

The building of abbeys came to an end with the dissolution of the monasteries of 1536.

Castles

During the Iron Age from 600BC, prehistoric man used the natural defences such as cliff edges as the site for their stone forts. These were known as promontory forts such as Dun Aengus at Inishmore, and were followed by hillforts with stone ramparts and an earthen bank.

Medieval castles between the late 12th and 13th century were of timber and built on artificial mounds of earth, known as a motte with a timber palisade – sometimes with an attached enclosure - bailey. These were gradually replaced by the stone fortresses of the Anglo Normans.

These castles were built in strategic positions and consisted of a large square or rectangular tower, known as a keep, surrounded by a large curtain wall. Other defensive measures were a moat, portcullis and drawbridge and battlements. The keep was normally entered by a door on the 1st floor into the Great Hall. There were also castles with no central tower where the living quarters were incorporated in the gatehouse and towers along the walls.

1185 Malahide Castle www.malahidecastle.com
1200 King John’s Castle www.shannonheritage.com

Late Medieval 1400 - 1550

Between the 15th and 17th century, the most common form of castle was the Tower House- a fortified private residence used by both the Anglo Normans and Gaelic families. Their large number was partly due to a grant of £10 issued by Henry VI in 1429 to encourage the building of a castle or tower. The houses were 3 – 5 storeys high, one room on top of another, square or rectangular, with an entrance on the ground floor. Defensive features included battlements, machicolations, (a stone projecting parapet with openings in floor through which missiles could be dropped on attackers) gun loops and a narrow stone staircase. It was often surrounded by a bawn – a defended walled courtyard.

A new need to provide coastal defences appeared in the 19th century during the Napoleonic wars. During 1804 -1815 circular gun towers known as Martello towers were built by the British to protect against a sea invasion by the French. The entrance was at the 1st floor and reached by an external staircase or ladder. Of those that survive, the most well known is at Sandymount which today houses the James Joyce museum.

1399 Knockabbey Castle and Garden www.knockabbeycastle.com
1425 Bunratty Castle www.shannonheritage.com
1446 Blarney Castle www.blarneycastle.ie
1467 Knappogue Castle www.shannonheritage.com
1520 Dunguaire Castle www.shannonheritage.com
1804 James Joyce Museum http://www.visitdublin.com

1550 – 1700 Post Medieval

By the end of the 16th century and early 17th century, the castle had become more domesticated, while still retaining some defensive features. This was known as The Fortified House; a symmetrical building, no more than 3 storeys high, with large mullioned (upright element) and transomed (horizontal) windows, high gables and decorated chimney stacks. Wider wooden stairs replaced the narrow stone stairs of the Tower House and rooms became divided. Built by many of the major landowners, they replaced or were built on to existing tower houses. Defensive elements included corner bartizans (projecting round turrets), machicolations over the doorway and gun loops.

1594 Rothe House, Kilkenny www.rothehouse.com

Jacobean Style – reign of James I 1603-25

This was the beginning of the use of classical style in England, influenced by the Italian Renaissance, and established in the early 17th c by Inigo Jones (1573 – 1652) who had visited Italy. In Ireland, these classical features can be seen at Beaulieu House Co. Louth. Built in 1660, it is one of the earliest remaining examples of an unfortified house in Ireland. It has a hipped roof (roofed on all 4 side) and classical motifs include a red brick string course (a decorative horizontal detail), and frieze (a carved band) Brick was first used in Ireland in 1636 in the building of Jigginstown in Co. Meath. Never finished, it had a frontage of 380 feet.

1660 Beaulieu House, Co. Louth www.beaulieuhouse.ie
1680 Springhill House www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Baroque late 17th & early 18th century

More commonly found in churches in Austria and Germany, it is typified by exuberant and extravagant decoration and spectacularly painted ceilings. In England it was more restrained where it coincided with the Restoration Period of Charles II in 1660 and Puritanism. Its main exponents were John Vanbrugh (Blenheim Palace & Castle Howard) and Christopher Wren (St Pauls Cathedral).

The 18th Century
Queen Anne Style 1702-14

This period was characterised by clean, simple lines and was most often applied to silverware and furniture.

Georgian Style 1714 – 1830

So called as it covered the reigns of George I – IV from 1714 – 1830. During this time, the predominant architectural style was classical. Its chief attributes were order, proportion, restraint, purity and elegance.

It took two forms – the earliest was influenced by the Renaissance architect Palladio and his interpretation of ancient Greek and Roman architecture and the second form referred back to the ancient architecture itself. Greek architecture from 16th – 2nd century BC, included post and lintel construction of temples featuring the orders of column capitals: Doric – simple, Ionic – scrolled and the acanthus leaf of the Corinthian. Whereas the Greeks architecture used straight forms, using the beam as a means of construction, the Romans added circular shapes in the form of the vault, arch and dome.


During the Italian Renaissance, Andrea Palladio (1508 – 80) designed his buildings based on the writings of 1st century architect Vitruvius. He used the principles of symmetry and harmonious proportion based on his analysis of ancient Roman architecture and added elements of temple architecture such as the pediment and rusticated stonework. It spread to Ireland in the early years of the 18th C.

The first fully classical building in Ireland was the Royal Hospital Kilmainham built by Sir William Robinson in 1680, who also designed the Royal Barracks (now Collins Barracks) in 1704. This established the grand classical style of building familiar in many of Dublin’s public buildings.

The first Irish architects to put Palladianism into practice were Edward Lovett Pearce (1699-1733) and his assistant Richard Castle – also known as Cassells (1690-1751), who after Pearce’s death at the early age of 33 became one of Ireland’s most celebrated architects.

Pearce had travelled in Italy and France and was influenced both by Palladio and by Vanbrugh’s design of Blenheim Palace. One of his earliest and finest villas was at Bellamont Forest, Co. Cavan which became a blueprint for other Palladian villas. The classical elements included a triangular pediment, which he used in the front of the house and also above windows, columns ,a string course, rustication ( a masonry technique which used large projecting blocks of rough faced or rustic stone applied to a lower storey )and the Venetian or tripartite window - 3 adjacent windows with a semi circular arch above the central window and 2 square headed windows either side. He is perhaps best known for his work on the Irish Parliament – now the Bank of Ireland, on College Green Dublin, which provided the model for the British Museum 100 years later.

Other common features of the early Georgian architecture were the use of stone vaulting - (arched roof or ceiling) as prevention against fire. Wings were also added to the Main House – either at the time of building or to earlier country houses. These would often end in pavilions and Richard Cassells used them to house the domestic buildings rather than hiding them away. As well as a large number of country houses he also designed Leinster House in 1745.

Later, Davis Ducart – the last Palladian architect - was responsible for the Custom House in Limerick (now the Hunt Museum) using a classical front of fluted pilasters (flattened columns) and wings made of straight arcades.

Rococo

At the same time as the outside of these grand houses gave off a restrained, classical simplicity, inside, the use of decorative style of plasterwork ( also known as stucco) harked back to the baroque in style using motifs of shells, flowers and trees and a host of cherubs. In Ireland it is mainly found in the plasterwork of the Lafranchini Brothers, whose designs included lifesize human figures; Robert West with a use of scrollwork, fruit, flowers and musical instruments and Michael Stapleton.

1690 – 1720 Castle Coote House http://www.castlecootehouse.com
1720 Bantry House http://www.bantryhouse.com
1730 King House http://www.kinghouse.ie
1730 enlarged Strokestown House (originally built 1696) Richard Castle, http://strokestownpark.ie/
1730s Riverstown House Lafranchini plasterwork (Original 1602)
1738 Ardgillan Castle (castellated embellishments)
1740 Newman House Richard Castle, Lafranchini plasterwork
1740 Newbridge House, designed James Gubbes, Robert West plasterwork http://www.fingalcoco.ie
1740 Belvedere House, Richard Castle http://www.belvedere-house.ie
1740 Deepwell
1740 Powerscourt House, Richard Castle, http://www.powerscourt.ie
1741 Russborough House Richard Castle, Lafranchini plasterwork
1765 Hunt Museum (originally Customs House) Davis Ducart http://www.huntmuseum.com
1770 Florence Court wings and pavilions added by Davis Ducart http://www.ntni.org.uk
1771 Powerscourt Town House Centre, Robert Mack http://www.powerscourtcentre.com

1760s – 1770s Adams Style

Another form of interior design was known as Adams Style after the brothers John, Robert and James Adam, who introduced the concept of total design with co-ordinated ceilings, walls, fireplaces and furniture.

Neo Classical 1758-68

The popularity of the classical style increased as the gentry’s Grand Tour included the study of ancient Rome and the discovery of the ruins of Pompeii in 1748 The design went back to a truer version of ancient Greek and Roman architecture using domes, pediments, colonnades, mathematically precise proportions of buildings and the correct use of Greek column orders . Pattern books were also used to ensure the correct proportions and measurements.

The Wide Street Commissioners of 1757 provided the basis for the Georgian streets and squares of Dublin and the main architect of this time was James Gandon (1743-1823) He was influenced by Christopher Wren’s St Paul’s Cathedral and also the Roman Triumphal Arch and the Pantheon Dome . These can be seen in his design for the Custom House and the Four Courts. Another architect from this period was James Wyatt whose work included Westport House and Castle Coole.

1777 Avondale House James Wyatt original plasterwork http://www.coillte.ie
1794 Marlay Demesne, http://www.dlrcoco.ie
Primrose Hill, James Gandon

Regency Style 1811-50

Named after the Prince Regent, (later George IV) the style was simple , light and graceful with bow windows and Greek classical elements. In this period John Nash (1752-1835) designed Regent Street and The Royal Pavilion in Brighton and also country houses in Ireland. He also incorporated modern materials in his designs with a cast iron dome in the Brighton Pavilion.

Greek Revival

This was a more severe and authentic use of the Greek forms. In Ireland it was mainly used for church architecture and public buildings.

1820 The Argory http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk
1821 Ballindoolin House & Garden http://www.ballindoolin.com
1833 Lissadell House Francis Goodwin http://www.lissadellhouse.com
1835 Mount Stewart House & Gardens, http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk

The 19th Century – Revival of styles

Also known as the Victorian era due to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), it was dominated at the beginning of the century by the Gothic Revival. This was led by Augustus Pugin in England (1812-1852) who reacted against the rules and formality of the classical style. His design for the Palace of Westminster, now known as the Houses of Parliament, demonstrates all the features of Gothic with towers and turrets, pinnacles and lavish decoration. In Country Houses it was also used in the creation of garden follies.

This period saw a complete mix of styles and many earlier houses were redesigned. Mock gothic and Scottish baronial castles were built inspired by medieval castles using towers, battlements and gatehouses. Italian Palazzos were recreated such as Connolly Station, designed by Charles Barry and Elizabethan style using bow and oriel windows (projecting upper storey window), mullioned windows and tall decorative chimneystacks.

Tullynally Castle originally fortified house remodelled http://www.tullynallycastle.com
1820 Killruddery House remodelled in Elizabethan style 1820 http://www.killruddery.com
1832 Lough Rynn http://www.loughrynn.ie
1840 Tullynally Castle, originally built 1650 as a plantation house, remodelled early 1800s by Francis Johnson. http://www.tullynallycastle.com
1863 Newtownbarry House, Sir Charles Lanyan http://www.newtownbarryhouse.com
1874 Blarney House http://www.blarneycastle.ie
Shankill Castle and Gardens – originally tower house

This was also the time of the building of many of Ireland’s Main Streets with their recognisable traditional shopfronts, and the Victorian terraced street of houses, although the banks and public buildings continued with the classical style as it gave an air of gravitas and prosperity.

Shaw birthplace http://www.visitdublin.com

Industrialisation

The Victorian era was also the period of Industrialisation, replacing the old manual trades and which created a revolution in the field of architecture enabling new ways of using steel and glass. The use of curved glass appeared in conservatories and Palm Houses. In Ireland Richard Turner designed the Botanic Gardens at Belfast 1839 and also Glasnevin, Dublin 1842. He also collaborated with Decimus Burton on the Palm House at Kew. On a larger scale Joseph Paxton designed Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition of 1851.

1839 Palm House Botanic Gardens, Belfast
16th century Skerries watermills and windmills www.skerriesmills.org

Late Victorian 1876 – 99 - Arts & Crafts

This period saw a number of different cultural movements such as the Arts & Crafts movement. In 1867 William Morris, inspired by natural forms, wanted to use genuine craftsmanship and traditional methods in design and architecture in reaction against the mass production of industrialisation. In Ireland this resulted in the Cultural revival of the 1880s, inspired by the art and architecture of ancient Ireland and including writings by WB Yeats and stained class by Harry Clarke.

Art Nouveau 1890-1914

Mainly a European movement, this took the natural themes and plant shapes of William Morris but used the new construction methods and materials .Typified by Antonio Gaudi’s architecture in Barcelona and Hector Guimard’s designs for the Paris Metro signs.

The 20th Century.
Edwardian period 1900 -1914

There was a revival of the Georgian style during this era with clean elegant lines and light panelling- an exuberant almost Baroque with Pitched roofs, fanciful gables, and verandas.

Art Deco – 1920’s & 30’s

In contrast to and as a reaction against the flowing shapes of Art Nouveau, this featured straight lines. Very stylised, it included bold shapes and smooth surfaces and is mainly found in the designs of cinemas and ballrooms.

Modernism onwards

From the 1930s, a succession of Modernist movements led by Frank Lloyd Wright in the USA and Le Corbusier in France and in the 1980s , Norman Foster and Richard Rogers, made use of the technological advances in the use of glass, steel and concrete . This can be seen in Dublin in the design of Dublin Airport in the 1930s by Desmond Fitzgerald and in 1953 with Michael Scott’s design for the Busarus.

From the late 19th century skyscrapers from the US have been growing ever taller while the use of iron, steel, concrete and glass increases. The 21st century design of Norman Foster’s now iconic “Gherkin”, shows that buildings do not have to be straight. In Dublin the Docklands area provides a showcase for Ireland’s new architecture and a permanent change to the city’s skyline.

Useful Links
www.dia.ie Dictionary of Irish Architects
www.buildingsofireland.ie Comprehensive survey of buildings by county

For more information on Irish Architecture contact Houses, Castle and Gardens of Ireland