Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

County surveyor for Co. Clare,1855-1867, for the western division of Co. Tyrone, 1867-1874, and for Co. Derry, 1874-1900. Arthur Adair was a pupil of CHARLES LANYON  CHARLES LANYON in Belfast and was subsequently employed by the Commissioners of Public Works on various building projects. He then spent some years in Canada working on railway construction before returning to Ireland in the 1850s. He was appointed county surveyor for Co. Clare on 27 August 1855. He remained in this position until 1867, when he reported to the Grand Jury in that capacity.(1) In May 1867 he was transferred to the Western Division of Co. Tyrone, based in Omagh, and in 1874 to Co. Derry in place of RICHARD WILLIAMSON RICHARD WILLIAMSON , who had died.(2) He was also surveyor to the Grand Jury of Derry City.

During his term of office Adair also ran a private architectural, engineering and surveying practice in Derry(3) as well as acting as a land agent in Co. Tipperary, a situation which prompted the MP for Cavan, J.G. Biggar, to ask the Chief Secretary in Parliament whether Adair's activities were consistent with his official duties. The Chief Secretary replied that he did not think it necessary to pursue the matter further, as Adair had been appointed a county surveyor twenty-five years earlier, when private practice was not forbidden. Adair resigned the Co. Derry surveyorship in March 1899 but continued in the post on an acting basis unil March 1900. He died after a long illness on 15 December 1903, aged seventy-nine, and was buried in the city cemetery. He had married Sarah Magee and had at least one son.(3)

Adair's pupils and assistants included JAMES DELANEY JAMES DELANEY , MICHAEL THOMAS MORLEY ORMSBY  MICHAEL THOMAS MORLEY ORMSBY and WILLIAM JAMES ROBINSON.. WILLIAM JAMES ROBINSON..

ICEI: passed for ballot as member, 1856.(4)

Addresses:(5) Bindon Street, Ennis, 1855-1867; Lisnamallard House, Omagh, 1868-74; Crawford Square, Derry, 1875-1899.(6) 21 Crawford Square at time of death.(7)

See WORKS.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from Brendan O'Donoghue, The Irish County Surveyors 1834-1944 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007), 89-90, which gives a full account of Adair's career as a county surveyor.

(1) IB 9, 1 Mar 1867, 54.
(2) IB 16, 1 Jun 1874, 161.
(3) www.familysearch.org.
(4) Derry Almanac 1875-99.
(5) ICEI admissions applications, I, 14.
(6) From Thom's directories unless otherwise stated.
(7) See note 4, above.
(8) Derry Sentinel, 16 Dec 1903 (B.O'D.).


6 work entries listed in chronological order for ADAIR, ARTHUR CHARLES


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Building: CO. CLARE, ENNIS, MILL ROAD, BRIDGE
Date: 1857a
Nature: Single-arch bridge completed 1857 'probably to a design by Adair'.
Refs: Brendan O'Donoghue, The Irish County Surveyors 1834-1944 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007), 89

Building: CO. CLARE, ENNIS, GALWAY ROAD, DISTRICT LUNATIC ASYLUM
Date: 1863-1866
Nature: With William Fogerty. Chiefly designed by Fogerty; ACA responsible for water system and services. Superintended construction with Joseph Fogerty. Tenders invited, Apr 1863.  To cost : £35,000. Builder: Michael Meade.
Refs: Contract drawings, signed and dated A.C. Adair, Ennis, 1866, (formerly?) in OPW drawings collection, old ref. A.3.5; DB 5,1 Apr 1863,63; B 24,3 Mar 1866,153;  Freeman's Journal, 18,20 Apr 1863;  Irish Times, 18 Aug 1863; IB 9,1 Aug 1866 (tenders); IAA, PKS B05/03, A03 (Jun 1863, p.100Av), L1 (pp.468,478,486-93,496 &c.);   Civil Engineer & Architect's Journal 29, 1 Apr 1866, 119;   Brendan O'Donoghue, The Irish County Surveyors 1834-1944 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007), 89

Building: CO. DERRY, LIMAVADY, WATER SUPPLY
Date: 1877
Nature: -
Refs: IB 19,1 Sep 1877,263

Building: CO. DERRY, DERRY, STRAND ROAD, DISTRICT LUNATIC ASYLUM (OLD)
Date: 1888-1890
Nature: Additions; sewage & hot water systems
Refs: IAA, PKS 0670, 0687, B15/22 (missing), A07 (Nov 1888, Jul-Aug 1890) pp.335,388,405); Architect 41, 11 Jan 1889, suppl. p.1; 44, 5 Sep 1890, suppl. p.2

Building: CO. DERRY, DERRY, BISHOP STREET, COUNTY COURT HOUSE
Date: 1896-97
Nature: Alts. & adds (including new wing?). Tenders invited, Jul 1896. Estimated cost: £6,289.
Refs: IAA, PKS 0762, B17/17, B17/38, A08 (Jul 1896); Architect 53, 22 Feb 1895, suppl. p.11;  Irish Times, 10 Jul 1896;  IB 38,15 Jul 1896,156,164; IAA Alistair Rowan, The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster (1979), 389

Building: CO. DERRY, DERRY, COUNTY OFFICES
Date: 1899a?
Nature: New offices, completed ?1899
Refs: Brendan O'Donoghue, The Irish County Surveyors 1834-1944 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007), 90, but cf. W.S. Ferguson, A.J. Rowan, J.J. Tracey, Historic Buildings…in and near the City of Derry (UAHS, 1970), 19 (no. 16) which gives date as 1890.