Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

English engineer, for biography of whom see Min.Proc.Inst.CE 28 (1868-9), 615-618, and A.W. Skempton et al., A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland I (2002), 575-7. During the 1830s and 1840s Rhodes was engaged on a number of Irish engineering and surveying projects. As a member of a special three-man commission set up in 1831 to report on the navigation of the Shannon, he made a survey of the river from Limerick to its source, producing his report in 1833. In 1835, with the passing of the first Shannon Navigation Act, a board of Commissioners for the Improvement of the River Shannon was established, with Rhodes as one of the five commissioners.(1) In 1839 he was engaged as the commissioners' principal engineer, a position which he held until 1846.(2) In this role he was responsible for several major bridges, locks and weirs, including the bridge at Portumna, Co. Galway, and Banagher, Co. Offaly.  He also worked in the north of Ireland, where he made plans for Belfast harbour and for a new bridge across the Lagan at Belfast and prepared a report on the Ulster Canal. For the Commissioners of Public Works Rhodes prepared surveys of Loughs Neagh, Erne and Corrib, of the Upper and Lower Bann,(3) the Blackwater and the Barrow, and of the coast of Kerry. He was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 1839.(4) In 1849 he took up a new post as resident engineer for harbour works on Jersey and Alderney.

The Irish Architectural Archive holds a proposal by Rhodes of 1840 for alterations to the East, West and Carry Bridges over the River Erne at Enniskillen to facilitate navigation on the river (Acc. 2005/091.1).

Addresses:(5) 8 Clifton Terrace, Monkstown, Co. Dublin, 1844-1846; 2 De Vesci Place, Monkstown, 1847

See WORKS and BIBLIOGRAPHY. BIBLIOGRAPHY.



References



(1) See V.T.H. & D.R. Delany, The Canals of the South of Ireland (1966), 112-114,135,172.
(2) Jones transcripts from Thom's directories.
(3) A map of the Bann from Coleraine to Lough Neagh, signed and dated 1839, is in the OPW archive (NA OPW5HC/6, item 0787).
(4) See note 1, above.
(5) From Post Office Dublin Directory for 1844 and Pettigrew & Oulton's Almanack for 1846 and 1847.


13 work entries listed in chronological order for RHODES, THOMAS #


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Building: CO. GALWAY, PORTUMNA, BRIDGE
Date: 1837-1842
Nature: TR submits plan for new bridge, including 40 ft swivel bridge, to Board of Works by 1837. Girders by J. & R. Mallet, Dublin.
Refs: Samuel Lewis, A Topographical dictionary of Ireland (1837), II, 469; Thomas Rhodes, 'Description of a bridge across the river Shannon at Portumna', Min.Proc.Inst.CE 3 (1844), 99-101 (summarized in Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal 7 (Jun 1844), 245-6).

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, HARBOUR
Date: 1838
Nature: Plans, specifications & estimates.
Refs: Dated plans in NA/PRO (Kew) MR666 (IAA, Edward McParland files, Acc.2008/44); obituary in Min.Proc.Inst.CE 28 (1868-69), 616 (this seems to suggest that date was somewhat earlier)

Building: CO. FERMANAGH, ENNISKILLEN, BRIDGES
Date: 1840
Nature: Proposed alterations to the East, West and Carry Bridges over the River Erne at Enniskillen to facilitate navigation on the river.
Refs: Drawing, dated 1840, showing plans and elevations of East and West Bridges and elevation of Carry Bridge, in  Irish Architectural Archive, Acc. 2005/091.1.

Building: CO. OFFALY, BANAGHER, BRIDGE OVER RIVER SHANNON
Date: 1841-43
Nature: New bridge for Shannon Commissioners. District engineer: Henry Buck. Resident engineer: Henry Renton. FS laid by Col. Harry Jones, 21 Aug 1841.  Contractor: William Mackenzie, M.Inst.CE
Refs: Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal 4 (Oct 1841), 366; TICEI 1 (1845), 78

Building: CO. WESTMEATH, ATHLONE, TOWN BRIDGE
Date: 1841-44
Nature: TR principal engineer. Resident engineer: John Long. Contractor: John McMahon. Opened 9 November 1844. For Shannon Commissioners.
Refs: Inscription on bridge (IAA, Edward McParland files, Acc.2008/44); B 2, 23 Nov 1844, 587; TICEI 1 (1844-45), 79; R.C. Cox & M.H. Gould, Civil Engineering Heritage: Ireland (1998), 68-69(illus.)

Building: CO. CLARE, KILLALOE, WEIR ON RIVER SHANNON
Date: 1842ca
Nature: New weir, 1100 feet long, designed by TR and/or Thomas Barton.  618 feet completed by Oct 1842. Contractor: W. Mackenzie.
Refs: Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal 5 (Dec 1842), 417.

Building: CO. CLARE, CLARECASTLE, QUAY
Date: 1843-1845
Nature: Inscription on plaque on quay wall:  'The quay was erected by the Commissioners/Appointed under the Acts 2 and 3, Vic. Cap.61./The Right Honourable, William Baron Heytesbury C.C.B./Lord Lieutenant./Commenced July 1843, finished March 1845./Thomas Rhodes, Engineer/Richard Grey, Contractor'

Refs: Information from Eric Shaw, Clarecastle, Jun 2012.

Building: CO. LEITRIM, CARRICK-ON-SHANNON, BRIDGE
Date: 1845-47
Nature: Five-span bridge. Notice of contract, Dec 1844. Completed 1847. Contractor: William Mackenzie (or R.A. Gray? cf. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, www.buildingsofireland.ie, citing inscription on plaque on bridge)
Refs: B 2, 21 Dec 1844, 636; R.C. Cox & M.H. Gould, Civil Engineering Heritage: Ireland (1998), 216-7(illus.)

Building: CO. WESTMEATH, ATHLONE, LOCK & WEIR ON RIVER SHANNON
Date: 1846a
Nature: TR principal engineer. John Long, district engineer. Bernard Mullins, contractor.
Refs: Inscription on cut stone plaque on wall of lock; R.C. Cox & M.H. Gould, Civil Engineering Heritage: Ireland (1998), 68-70(illus.)

Building: CO. LIMERICK, LIMERICK, DOCKS
Date: ?
Nature: Proposed improvements.
Refs: R.C. Cox & M.H. Gould, Civil Engineering Heritage: Ireland (1998), 239

Building: CO. WESTMEATH, JAMESTOWN, BRIDGE
Date: ?
Nature: New bridge.
Refs: Min.Proc.Inst.CE 28 (1868-9), 617; R.C. Cox & M.H. Gould, Civil Engineering Heritage: Ireland (1998), 214

Building: CO. LONGFORD, LANESBOROUGH, BRIDGE
Date: ?
Nature: New bridge.
Refs: Min.Proc.Inst.CE 28 (1868-9), 617

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, BRIDGE OVER RIVER LAGAN
Date: ?
Nature: New.
Refs: Min.Proc.Inst.CE 28 (1868-69), 616

Author Title Date Details
Rhodes, Thomas 'Report of the improvement of Lough Erne, for the purpose of rendering [it] Navigable for Steam Vessels, and other Craft, and for Keeping the Lake at a more uniform level'
1840 Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal 3 (Oct, 1840), 343-345.
Rhodes, Thomas 'Description of a bridge across the river Shannon at Portumna' 1844 Min.Proc.Inst.CE 3 (1844), 99-101 (summarized in Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal 7 (Jun 1844), 245-6).