Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Builder, of Dublin. Mountiford John Hay may be the 'M.F.Hay' who entered the Dublin Society's School of Drawing in Architecture on 22 July 1790.(1) He was admitted a freeman of the City of Dublin by Grace Especial as a member of the Guild of Merchants at Michaelmas 1798(2) and was elected a sheriff on 22 April 1803, holding the office from Michaelmas 1803 until Michaelmas 1804.(3) Hay was responsible for erecting the new circular room at the Mansion House in Dublin for the reception of King George IV in 1821; on 19 October 1821 the Corporation passed a a resolution 'that Mountiford John Hay, esquire, be allowed the sum of three hundred guineas as a compensation in full for his great activity and extraordinary exertions in erecting and compleating the King's Room at the Mansion House in the very limited time allowed for the same.'(4) On 10 July 1822, and again on 17 October 1822, the Mansion House Committee of Dublin Corporation recommended the payment of twelve guineas to Hay for work done at the Sheriffs' Room.(5) In 1835 he was paid for rebuilding the Mansion House chimneys.(6)   According to his fellow tradesmen, writing in 1834,(7) Hay had formerly employed thirty men;  he had built the 'principal part of Blessington Street , Dorset St. &c'  and had 'made a good property',  but he had 'lost a great deal' and was currently 'struggling'.

Hay is listed in Wilson's Dublin Directory for the years 1800-1803 as 'carpenter, builder and timber merchant', for 1804 as 'high sheriff, builder' and for 1817 to 1829 as 'sheriff's peer' and builder.

Addresses:(8) 39 Upper Dorset Street, 1800-1804; 67 Blessington Street, 1817; 9 Molesworth Street, 1818-27; 34 Molesworth Street, 1828-29.

See WORKS.



References



(1) MS. transcript from Royal Dublin Society minutes of School of Architectural Drawing admissions and prizewinners (in IAA). 'M.F. Hay' could be a misreading of 'M.J. Hay'.
(2) 'An alphabetical list of the Freemen of the City of Dublin, 1774-1824', The Irish Ancestor XV (1983), Nos. 1 & 2, 63.
(3) CARD XV, 290.
(4) CARD XVII, 408.
(5) CARD 17, 463,484.
(6) CARD XIX, 218.
(7) Royal Irish Academy, Haliday MS 4B 31; this manuscript is a copy of a report presented to Daniel O'Connell in 1834 to support the argument for repealing the Act of Union by describing the catastrophic impact the Act had had on the tradesmen of Dublin.
(7) From Wilson's Dublin Directory.


2 work entries listed in chronological order for HAY, MOUNTIFORD JOHN *


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Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, DAWSON STREET, MANSION HOUSE (INCLUDING ROUND ROOM)
Date: 1821
Nature: Erection and completion of Round Room..
Refs: CARD 17, 408,463,484.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, DAWSON STREET, MANSION HOUSE (INCLUDING ROUND ROOM)
Date: 1822
Nature: Work on Sheriffs' Room.
Refs: CARD 17, 408,463,484.