Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Architectural sculptor of Dublin. Charles William Harrison was born at Cottingham, Yorkshire, on 4 October 1834,(1) the son of an artist named John Harrison and a kinsman of John Harrison (1693-1776), the horologist. He was living in Leeds at the time of his marriage in April 1857 to Sophia Lloyd of Cottingham.(2)   It is not known what brought him to Ireland; he may have come over circa 1859 to work on the carving on DEANE & DEANE & amp; WOODWARD' WOODWARD' s Kildare Street Club. In the early 1860s he set up in business in Dublin with CHARLES ABBEY CHARLES ABBEY . The firm of Abbey & Harrison appears in Thom's Directory for 1863 with an address at 27 Great Brunswick Street. Abbey appears to have returned to England within a few years; he was living in England by 1871, and there is no mention of him in an article on architectural sculpture in Dublin in the Irish Builder of 1 April 1867,(3) which is effectively a list of various buildings ornamented by the 'graceful and facile chisel' of Harrison, 'whose various works are scattered in thick profusion over the city'. In this article Harrison's address is given as 126 Great Brunswick Street; by 1871 he had moved to 178 Great Brunswick Street, and in the Post Office Directory for 1874 his address is given as 177 and 178 Great Brunswick Street. The business was to operate from this address for the next hundred years. HARRY HEMS  HARRY HEMS worked for Harrison for a time after Abbey's departure(4) as did JAMES PEARSE JAMES PEARSE . Four of Harrison's sons - CHARLES LLOYD HARRISON CHARLES LLOYD HARRISON , LOUIS FREDERICK HAMILTON LOUIS FREDERICK HAMILTON , Arthur Thomas Harrison and GILBERT DUDLEY. HARRISON -  GILBERT DUDLEY. HARRISON - were sculptors, and by 1889 Harrison had taken some or all of them into partnership, the business becoming known as C.W. HARRISON & HARRISON & amp; SONS.(5)

Harrison suffered a heart attack on 16 May 1903 as he was coming out of the Royal Dublin Society's reading room in Kildare Street and died soon afterwards at his house at 8 Herbert Road, Sandymount.(6) He was buried in Mount Jerome cemetery. He was survived by his widow, Sophia, who died in 1919 at the age of eighty-six,(7) and 'a large family of children and grandchildren'.(8) He was a member of the Royal Dublin Society, the RSAI and the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. He is described as a genial man and a very active member of the congregation of St Mark's Church of Ireland church in Mark Street, acting as churchwarden for fourteen years before his death. The business which he founded continued until the 1970s.

The Irish Architectural Archive has photocopies and copy photographs of a collection of notes on the family history and family photographs assembled by C.W. Harrison's granddaughter, Violette Sparrow, c. 1976 (Acc 2002/147).  A carte de visite photograph of Harrison with his wife and brother Frederic dating from the mid-1850s  was donated to the archive by Ms Sheila Holloway in September 2015 (Acc. 2015/89).

GLFI: became a member of Lodge 153 (Dublin) on 15 April 1872.(9)

Address: Home:  8 Herbert Road, Sandymount, at time of death.

See WORKS; see also C.W. HARRISON & HARRISON & amp; SONS and CHARLES LLOYD HARRISON. CHARLES LLOYD HARRISON.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from Frederick O'Dwyer, The Architecture of Deane and Woodward (1997), 336-7, the obituaries of Harrison in Building News 84, 20 May 1903, 747, and IB 45, 18 Jun 1903, 1811 (the latter accompanied by a portrait photgraph) and from Thom's and Post Office directories.


(1) Inscription on gravestone in Mount Jerome Cemetery (information from Brendan and Bernie O'Donoghue).
(2)   According to her 1911 census return, she was born in Kent.
(3) p.90.
(4) IB 45, 21 May 1903, 1764.
(5) IB 34, 1 Mar 1892, 55. After his death the business descended to Charles Lloyd Harrison, while Mrs Harrison and Gilbert set up a separate business in Amiens Street.
(6) IB 45, 21 May 1903, 1755; here the date of Harrison's death is given as 17 May, but the date on his gravestone is 16 May.
(7) Mount Jerome Cemetery records.
(8) Obituary of Charles LLoyd Harrison in IB 55, 21 Jun 1913, 411.
(9) GLFI archives.


41 work entries listed in chronological order for HARRISON, CHARLES WILLIAM *


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Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, KILDARE STREET, NO. 001 (KILDARE STREET CLUB)
Date: 1859-61
Nature: CWH possibly worked on carving. Caffrey states that he did carvings of snakes, snails and butterfiles on staircase.
Refs: Frederick O'Dwyer, The Architecture of Deane and Woodward (1997), 336-7; see also letter from Walter Mahon-Smith, 'Angels and Monkeys', Irish Times, 10 May 1967;  P. Harbison, 'The Kildare Street Club Monkeys', Irish Times, 22 Jul 1976, and F. O'Dwyer's response in Irish Times, 28 Jul 1976;  Paul Caffrey, Kildare Street & University Club: Catalogue of the the collection (2003), 76;  Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 489.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, COLLEGE GREEN, TRINITY COLLEGE, LIBRARY (OLD)
Date: 1860
Nature: Carving of capitals to library columns.
Refs: Frederick O'Dwyer, The Architecture of Deane and Woodward (1997), 355

Building: CO. KILKENNY, KILKENNY, PARADE, KILKENNY CASTLE
Date: 1862
Nature: Unspecified carving (but not Picture Gallery chimneypiece).
Refs: Frederick O'Dwyer, The Architecture of Deane and Woodward (1997), 588,n.162

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, BRUNSWICK STREET NORTH, NO. 004 (CARMICHAEL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, OLD)
Date: 1863-64
Nature: Carving on capitals and imposts.
Refs: Frederick O'Dwyer, The Architecture of Deane and Woodward (1997), 397

Building: CO. MONAGHAN, MONAGHAN, CHURCH SQUARE, CHURCH OF ST PATRICK (CI)
Date: 1865
Nature: Pulpit and reading desk in memory of late Mrs Jeremiah Nunn. Caen stone and Irish marbles, 'equal to any hitherto executed in Ireland'. Archt: J.E. Rogers.
Refs: DB 7, 15 Dec 1865, 299;  illus. in St Patrick's Church, Monaghan (illustrated booklet published by St Patrick's Church post 2002), 8-9;  Kevin V. Mulligan, The Buildings of Ireland: South Ulster (2013), 466.

Building: CO. LIMERICK, COOLCAPPA, CHURCH (RC)
Date: 1866
Nature: 'very elaborate' monument to late Rev. Michael Conway to be erected.
Refs: IB 28, 15 Jan 1866, 18

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, COLLEGE GREEN, NO. 028 (NORTH BRITISH & MERCANTILE INSURANCE CO.)
Date: 1866-68
Nature: Stone carving by CWH.
Refs: IB 9, 1 Apr 1867, 90

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, WESTMORELAND STREET, CALEDONIAN & SCOTTISH NATIONAL INSURANCE OFFICES
Date: 1867a
Nature: External sculpture by CWH.
Refs: IB 9, 1 Apr 1867, 90

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, ST ANDREW'S STREET, ST ANDREW'S CHURCH (CI, 3RD)
Date: 1867a
Nature: CWH responsible for 'several beautiful pieces of sculpture adorning its walls'
Refs: IB 9, 1 Apr 1867, 90

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, COLLEGE GREEN, NO. 022-27 (HIBERNIAN BANK)
Date: 1867a
Nature: External and internal carving and sculpture.
Refs: IB 9, 1 Apr 1867, 90; 13, 15 May 1871, 134;  Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 413..

Building: CO. CAVAN, BALLYMACHUGH, CHURCHOF ST PAUL (CI)
Date: 1869p;1897p
Nature: Monuments to William Tatlow (d.1869) and Barry Somerset Maxwell (d.1897).
Refs: Kevin V. Mulligan, The Buildings of Ireland: South Ulster (2013), 173.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, DAME STREET, NO. 007- 9 (MUNSTER & LEINSTER BANK)
Date: 1870-74
Nature: 'fine carvings by Harrison'.
Refs: Frederick O'Dwyer, The Architecture of Deane and Woodward (1997), 382

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, BISHOP STREET, CATHEDRAL OF ST FINN BARRE (CI)
Date: 1871
Nature: Great west window and font designed by Wm. Burges executed by CWH.
Refs: IB 13, 1 Jan 1871, 2(illus. on separate plate)

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, LEESON PARK, CHRIST CHURCH (CI)
Date: 1871
Nature: Pulpit. Architect: E.H. Carson.
Refs: IB 13, 15 Apr 1871, 103

Building: CO. ANTRIM, CUSHENDALL, CHURCH OF ST MARY (RC)
Date: 1874
Nature: Memorial cross in graveyard in memory of Rev. John Fitzsimons, PP, designed by T. Hevey and executed by CWH in Portland stone and Wicklow granite.
Refs: IB 16, 1 Jul 1874, 183,185(illus.)

Building: CO. CAVAN, TEMPLEPORT, CHURCH OF ST PETER (CI)
Date: 1874p
Nature: Monument to Emma Anne Betty.
Refs: Kevin V. Mulligan, The Buildings of Ireland: South Ulster (2013), 551.

Building: CO. CAVAN, DRUMKILLY, CHURCH OF ST JOSEPH (RC)
Date: 1877p
Nature: Monument on exterior of S wall in memory of Rev. Patrick Galligan (d.1877).
Refs: Kevin V. Mulligan, The Buildings of Ireland: South Ulster (2013), 400.

Building: CO. CORK, CHARLEVILLE, CHURCH (CI)
Date: 1878
Nature: New pulpit and lectern recently completed. Pulpit of Caen stone with Irish marble, elaborately carved.
Refs: IB 20, 15 Sep 1878, 273;  Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette 20, no. 237, 1 Dec 1878, 361 

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, O'CONNELL STREET LOWER, NO. 012-13 (HIBERNIAN BANK)
Date: 1878
Nature: Elaborately carved entrance doorway.
Refs: IB 20, 1 Jul 1878, 188

Building: CO. GALWAY, TUAM, CATHEDRAL OF ST MARY (CI)
Date: 1878a
Nature: Carved hammer beams and pulpit.
Refs: Frederick O'Dwyer, The Architecture of Deane and Woodward (1997), 380

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, CARLISLE BRIDGE (NEW)
Date: 1879a
Nature: Carved keystones for new bridge using Edward Smyth's keystones for original bridge as models.
Refs: IB 21, 15 Mar 1879, 95; 22, 15 Aug 1880, 238; H.G. Leask, 'Some less known works of Edward Smyth, sculptor', JRSAI 80 (1950), 76;  Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 694.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, GARDINER STREET LOWER, NO. 050, TRINITY CHURCH (CI)
Date: 1882
Nature: 'handsome monumental slab' to Rev. John Gregg, DD., Bishop of Cork.
Refs: IB 24, 1 Sep 1882, 261

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, PATRICK STREET, ST PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL (CI)
Date: 1882
Nature: Monument to Thomas Rice Henn in south transept, 'designed, and executed in the best style of monumental art, by Mr. C.W. |Harrison'
Refs: IB 24, 1 Jul 1882, 189

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, PARNELL SQUARE, ABBEY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (FINDLATER CHURCH)
Date: 1882p
Nature: Monument to Rev. B. Kilpatrick, to left of altar.
Refs: Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 135.

Building: CO. CARLOW, CARLOW, CHURCH (CI, KILLESHIN PARISH)
Date: 1883
Nature: New reading desk, font, 3 white Sicilian marble headstones in memory of members of Cole and Duke families, polished granite monument to Rev. W.C. Duke.
Refs: IB 26, 1 Jan 1884, 14

Building: CO. MONAGHAN, AUGHNAMULLEN (BALLYBAY), CHRIST CHURCH (CI)
Date: 1884p;1885p;1901p
Nature: Monuments to Mary Ann Tardy (d.1884), Sarah Tardy (d.1885) and Francis Camley Montgomery (d.1901).
Refs: Kevin V. Mulligan, The Buildings of Ireland: South Ulster (2013), 144.

Building: CO. KILDARE, KILDARE, CATHEDRAL OF ST BRIGID (CI)
Date: 1885
Nature: Pulpit by CWH purchased from Artisans' Exhibition.
Refs: IB 28, 15 May 1886, 155

Building: CO. GALWAY, GALWAY, PROSPECT HILL CEMETERY, H.C. MURPHY MEMORIAL
Date: 1885
Nature: Richly carved Sicilian marble Celtic cross erected in memory of H.C. Murphy.
Refs: IB 27, 1 Apr 1885, 109

Building: CO. MEATH, ARDBRACCAN, CHURCH (CI)
Date: 1885
Nature: 'elaborately carved pulpit and reading desk in Caen stone with marble columns'.
Refs: IB 27, 15 Jun 1885, 182

Building: CO. KILDARE, BALLYMORE EUSTACE, CHURCH OF ST JOHN (CI)
Date: 1886
Nature: Memorial tablets in memory of Lt. Woolfe, Royal Scots Greys (d.1885) and also his father.
Refs: IB 28, 15 Jan 1886, 18

Building: CO. CORK, DUNMANWAY, CHURCH OF ST MARY (CI, FANLOBBUS PARISH)
Date: 1886
Nature: Pulpit in memory of Harriet, Lady Carbery (d.1884), erected for Lord Carbery; elaborately carved with shafts of Irish marbles of various colours.
Refs: IB 28, 15 Jan 1886, 18

Building: CO. CAVAN, CAVAN, CHURCH (CI, URNEY PARISH)
Date: 1887
Nature: Carved pulpit and prayer desk to designs by Richard Langrishe.
Refs: IB 30, 15 Jan 1888, 4

Building: CO. CARLOW, TULLOW, CHURCH OF ST COLUMBA (CI)
Date: 1887
Nature: New pulpit in Caen stone and Irish marble in memory of Robert & Mary Burnett. 'When we remember the name of Mr C.W. Harrison...from whose studio the entire of above work has emanated, it is not to be expected that further eulogium is required at our hands.'
Refs: IB 29, 15 Feb 1887, 60

Building: CO. DERRY, DERRY, RICHMOND STREET, ST COLUMB'S TEMPERANCE HALL
Date: 1887
Nature: Statuary group of Erin, Temperance & Vulcan.
Refs: IB 29, 15 Sep 1887, 258

Building: CO. CORK, WHITEGATE, CHURCH OF ST MICHAEL & ALL ANGELS (CI, CORKBEG PARISH)
Date: 1894
Nature: Reredos by CWH in Decorated style to be erected. Marble and Caen stone.
Refs: IB 36, 15 Sep 1894, 213

Building: CO. GALWAY, GALWAY, MONUMENT TO ELEANOR PERSSE
Date: 1895
Nature: Erected in private graveyard of Persse family.
Refs: IB 37, 15 Jul 1895, 172,173(illus.)

Building: CO. WEXFORD, GOREY, CHRIST CHURCH (CI)
Date: 1895
Nature: Caen stone pulpit in memory of Lt. Gen. Guise.
Refs: IB 37, 1 Nov 1895, 251

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, MERRION ROW, NO. 004
Date: ?
Nature: Shopfront 'possibly the work of C.W. Harrison'.
Refs: Frederick O'Dwyer, The Architecture of Deane and Woodward (1997), 408

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, HAROLD'S CROSS ROAD, MOUNT JEROME CEMETERY, DAUNT MEMORIAL
Date: ?
Nature: Memorial to Dean Achilles Daunt (1832-1878).
Refs: Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette 25,no. 157, 6 Jan 1883, 16.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, HAROLD'S CROSS ROAD, MOUNT JEROME CEMETERY, MACNAMARA MEMORIAL
Date: ?
Nature: Memorial to Admiral Sir Burton Macnamara (1794-1876).
Refs: Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette 25, no. 157, 6 Jan 1883, 16;  illus. in Waymarking, http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMFMQ6_Admiral_Sir_Burton_MacNamara_Mt_Jerome_Cemetery_Dublin_IE (last visited, Apr 2017).

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, HAROLD'S CROSS, MOUNT JEROME CEMETERY, JONES MEMORIAL
Date: ?
Nature: Memorial to Araballa Boyce Jones.
Refs: Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette 25, no. 157, 6 Jan 1883, 16.