Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Architect, of Belfast. Roger Mulholland, who appears to have been born in Co. Londonderry,(1) was admitted a student at the Dublin Society's School of Drawing in Architecture on 2 February 1769.(2) He was described as 'of Derry Diocese' when he married Jane Russell in Belfast a year later, on 31 January 1770. He enjoyed the patronage of Arthur Chichester, 5th Earl of Donegall, for whom he worked on the building of St Anne's, Belfast, completed in 1776, and developed the streets round the church during the 1780s and 1790s. He also leased ground for speculative ventures of his own and was the proprietor of a timber yard in Ann Street. He was probably the architect of the White Linen Hall (1785) and is known to have worked on the House of Correction in 1808. His chef d'oeuvre and only firmly attributed work was the First Presbyterian Church in Rosemary Street, Belfast, completed in 1783.

Mulholland was a founder member of the Belfast Reading Society, established in 1788, to which he presented copies of Vitruvius Britannicus and Duncan's translation of Caesar's Commentaries. He was one of the original subscribers to Pool and Cash's Views of Dublin (1780). PLACIDO COLUMBANI PLACIDO COLUMBANI , described him as 'a particular friend' in a letter to the Bishop of Derry in 1784. Mulholland was also a founder member of the Belfast First Volunteer Company, but seldom attended its meetings.

After 1792, when he sold his timber yard, Mulholland appears to have confined himself to working for the Grand Jury. He died in Belfast on 30 November 1818,(3) leaving an estate worth £3,835.17s.2 1/2p. His will mentions a grandson also named Roger Mulholland, who was an architect in London.(4)

Addresses: Cromack Lodge, Belfast, 1786-<=1799; 12 Castle Street, Belfast, <=1807(5) until death.

See WORKS and BIBLIOGRAPHY. BIBLIOGRAPHY.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from C.E.B. Brett, Roger Mulholland, architect, of Belfast (UAHS, 1976). Brett has also published accounts of Mulholland's life and works in 'Roger Mulholland', BIGS 17 (Jan-Jun 1974), 19-21, and in The Buildings of Belfast (2nd ed., 1985), 5-7. A portrait of Mulholland was (1974) in the collection of his descendant Charles Mulholland of Stratford, Ontario; it is reproduced on the cover and on p. 3 of Brett (1976).

(1) www.familysearch.org, which also gives his date of birth as about 1745. This seems more likely than the date of 1740 which is inferred from the announcement of his death on 30 November 1818 aged 78 in the Belfast News Letter.
(2) MS. transcript from Royal Dublin Society minutes of School of Drawing in Architecture admissions and prizewinners (in IAA). Mulholland was already about 29; does his late age suggest that he might have been sent to the School by the Earl of Donegall or possibly by Frederick Hervey, the new Bishop of Derry? Brett suggests that he might have learned his trade originally from Michael Priestley.
(3) See note 1, abaove.
(4) Abstract of will pf Roger Mulholland, 13 ul 1818, in PRONI, T2773/2/2. Colvin's Dictionary (1st ed., 1954) has an entry for a John Mulholland, who was a pupil of S.P. Cockerell and entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1791 at the age of 20.
(5) Belfast Directory for 1807, 28.


12 work entries listed in chronological order for MULHOLLAND, ROGER


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Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, ROSEMARY STREET, 1ST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Date: 1781-83
Nature: New church on elliptical plan. (Destroyed in air raid, 1 Oct 1941.)
Refs: C.E.B. Brett, 'Roger Mulholland', BIGS 17 (Jan-Jun 1974), 20; C.E.B. Brett, The Buildings of Belfast (2nd ed., 1985), 5-6,Pl.8; Marcus Patton, Central Belfast: an historical gazetteer (UAHS, 1993), 244(illus.),277

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, DONEGALL SQUARE, WHITE LINEN HALL
Date: 1782-85
Nature: RM subscribed £100 to building and may have been the architect.
Refs: C.E.B. Brett, Court Houses and Market Houses of the Province of Ulster (UAHS, 1973), 48; C.E.B. Brett, 'Roger Mulholland', BIGS 17 (Jan-Jun 1974), 20; C.E.B. Brett, The Buildings of Belfast (2nd ed., 1985), 7,Pl. 11

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, LINEN HALL STREET, HOUSES (003)
Date: 1786-1791
Nature: RM leased site and built 3 large houses.
Refs: C.E.B. Brett, 'Roger Mulholland', BIGS 17 (Jan-Jun 1974), 20

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, DONEGALL PLACE (OFF), HOUSE
Date: 1787
Nature: RM rebuilt coach house on site of old Belfast Castle for Earl of Donegall as residence for his agent.
Refs: C.E.B. Brett, 'Roger Mulholland', BIGS 17 (Jan-Jun 1974), 20

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, TALBOT STREET, HOUSES
Date: 1787?
Nature: For Earl of Donegall.
Refs: C.E.B. Brett, 'Roger Mulholland', BIGS 17 (Jan-Jun 1974), 20; C.E.B. Brett, The Buildings of Belfast (2nd ed., 1985), 6

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, ACADEMY STREET, HOUSES
Date: 1787p
Nature: For Earl of Donegall.
Refs: C.E.B. Brett, 'Roger Mulholland', BIGS 17 (Jan-Jun 1974), 20; C.E.B. Brett, The Buildings of Belfast (2nd ed., 1985), 6

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, CHURCH STREET, HOUSES
Date: 1787p
Nature: For Earl of Donegall.
Refs: C.E.B. Brett, 'Roger Mulholland', BIGS 17 (Jan-Jun 1974), 20; C.E.B. Brett, The Buildings of Belfast (2nd ed., 1985), 6

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, DONEGALL STREET, HOUSES
Date: 1787p
Nature: For Earl of Donegall.
Refs: C.E.B. Brett, 'Roger Mulholland', BIGS 17 (Jan-Jun 1974), 20; C.E.B. Brett, The Buildings of Belfast (2nd ed., 1985), 5

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, DONEGALL STREET, ST ANNE'S VICARAGE
Date: 1789
Nature: For Earl of Donegall.
Refs: C.E.B. Brett, 'Roger Mulholland', BIGS 17 (Jan-Jun 1974), 20; C.E.B. Brett, The Buildings of Belfast (2nd ed., 1985), 6

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, FISHERWICK PLACE, HOUSE OF CORRECTION
Date: 1805-08
Nature: RM member of Grand Jury committee formed to supervise execution of House of Correction, 1805; paid for work on same, 1808.
Refs: Parliamentary Papers 1808 xiii (IAA, Edward McParland files, Acc.2008/44); C.E.B. Brett, 'Roger Mulholland', BIGS 17 (Jan-Jun 1974), 21

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, CROMACK BRIDGE
Date: 1813p
Nature: RM on Grand Jury committee to build new bridge over Lagan; subscribed £5 and may have designed it.
Refs: C.E.B. Brett, 'Roger Mulholland', BIGS 17 (Jan-Jun 1974), 21

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, DONEGALL STREET, HOUSE
Date: ?
Nature: New house opposite St Anne's vicarage, for Earl of Donegall.
Refs: C.E.B. Brett, 'Roger Mulholland', BIGS 17 (Jan-Jun 1974), 20

Author Title Date Details
Brett, C.e.b. 'Roger Mulholland' 1974 BIGS 17 (Jan-Jun 1974), 19-21.
Brett, C.e.b. Roger Mulholland Architect, of Belfast 1976 Belfast: UAHS, 1976.