Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

English architect, of Manchester, for whom see Directory of British Architects 1834-1914 (RIBA 2001), I, 496-7. Alfred Darbyshire's first recorded Irish commission was a sugar refinery in Dublin for Mssrs. Bewley, Moss & Co. circa 1862. In his autobiography, An Architects's Experiences: Professional, Artistic and Theatrical (1897), he records how he consulted the eminent engineer Sir WILLIAM FAIRBAIRN  WILLIAM FAIRBAIRN on the structural engineering, and how Fairbairn suggested that wrought iron should be used in the construction rather than the customary cast iron. Darbyshire quotes Fairbairn's assessment of the Bewley's building as 'probably one of the most important yet constructed with arches in wrought iron beams'.(1) His five other Irish commissions came much later, in the 1880s and 1890s: four of them were from George and Andrew Jameson, the fifth from Abel Buckley, of Galtee Castle, Co. Tipperary. His experiences in Ireland in the 1880s and 1890s are recounted in Chapter 15 of his autobiography.(2)

See WORKS for Irish works only.



References



(1) W. Fairbairn, On the Application of Cast and Wrought Iron to Building Purposes (3rd edition, 1864), ?, quoted by Darbyshire, op. cit., 65-68.
(2) Darbyshire, op. cit., 145-173.


6 work entries listed in chronological order for DARBYSHIRE, ALFRED #


Sort by date | Sort alphabetically


Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, PEARSE STREET, NO. 111, SUGAR REFINERY (BEWLEY, MOSS & CO.)
Date: 1862-64
Nature: New 8-storey, 130ft high building.  Early rolled-steel joist structure. Engineering consultant: Sir William Fairbairn. Estimated cost of Bolton's tender, £9,000, but according to Irish Times, 7 Jun 1890, total cost was £67,000. (Premises enlarged and converted into distillery, 1890.)
Refs: IAA, PKS B02/09, A03 (Feb 1863, p.48v) (for valuation of property, 1889, see PKS B23/09); DB 5, 1 Jun 1863, 98; William Fairbairn, On the Application of Cast and Wrought Iron to Building Purposes (3rd edition, 1864), ?; Alfred Darbyshire, An Architect's Experiences: Professional, Artistic and Theatrical (1897), 65-68; Jeremy Williams, A Companion Guide to Architecture in Ireland 1837-1921, 144;  Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 461-2.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, FITZWILLIAM SQUARE, NO. 009
Date: 1883-85
Nature: Alterations & additions, for Andrew Jameson
Refs: Alfred Darbyshire, An Architect's Experiences: Professional, Artistic and Theatrical (1897), 145-6,152-3;  Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 572.

Building: CO. WICKLOW, GLENCORMAC (BRAY)
Date: 1885
Nature: AD consulted by George Jameson re alterations.
Refs: Alfred Darbyshire, An Architect's Experiences: Professional, Artistic and Theatrical (1897), 152.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, PARNELL SQUARE, NO. 018
Date: 1892-1895ca
Nature: Extensive alteration and decoration, for George Jameson.
Refs: Alfred Darbyshire, An Architect's Experiences: Professional, Artistic and Theatrical (1897),172;  Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 226.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, HOWTH, SHEILMARTIN ROAD, SUTTON HOUSE (LATER SUTTON HOUSE HOTEL & SUTTON CASTLE HOTEL)
Date: 1892-5ca
Nature: New house, for Andrew Jameson.
Refs: Alfred Darbyshire, An Architect's Experiences: Professional, Artistic and Theatrical (1897), 171;

Building: CO. TIPPERARY, GALTEE CASTLE
Date: 1892-95ca
Nature: Extension and completion, for Abel Buckley.
Refs: RA 1895, no. 1580; Architect 53, 3 (or 30?) May 1895, 282;Alfred Darbyshire, An Architect's Experiences: Professional, Artistic and Theatrical (1897), 169-171;  B 69, 14 Sep 1895, illus. following p. 186; F. O'Dwyer, '"A Noble Pile in the late Tudor Style": Mitchelstown Castle', Irish Arts Review 18 (2002), 39-40,41(illus.).

Author Title Date Details
Darbyshire Alfred An Architects's Experiences: Professional, Artistic and Theatrical 1897 Manchester: J.E. Cornish, 1897. (Chapter 15 describes Darbyshire's experiences in Ireland.)