Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Surveyor and valuer, of Navan, Co. Meath, and Dublin. According to the 1911 census, Frederick Sharpe was born in Co. Meath in 1841 or 1842. His father may have been the builder Patrick Sharpe of Navan; the obituary of Frederick Sharpe in the Irish Builder  states that he was 'all his life connected with building' and, before the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1870, 'was connected with his father in the oversight of church buildings, and appraised their value when taken over by the Commissioners of Temporalities'. Possibly his early career was as a builder in Navan, for he does not appear in the Dublin directories until the 1900, by which time he is described as a surveyor and valuer. He became a respected expert witness in building arbitration cases. He is presumably the Frederick Sharpe who designed a new laboratory at Morgan's Endowed School, Castleknock, Dublin, opened in 1904.(1)

Sharpe died at his house in the North Circular Road, Dublin, in May 1921. There were few men, his obituarist recalled, who were more highly esteemed 'for upright probity of character, shrewd common sense, and genial demeanour'. He had connections with the parishes of St Catherine and St James in Dublin, and had been elected one of the parochial nominators for St James's only a few days before he died. He was married to Mary Jane, daughter of Samuel Hill,(2) and had many sons, one of whom, Thomas Gordon Sharpe, became a Church of Ireland clergyman.(3)

Addresses: 5 St John's Terrace (later No. 115), North Circular Road, Dublin, 1900 until death,(4) and Hayes Cottage, Navan.(5)

See WORKS.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from the obituary of Sharpe in IB 63, 7 May 1921, 326.

(1) IB 46, 8 Oct 1904, 674.
(2) Clergy of Connor (Ulster Historical Foundation, 1993), 587.
(3) See note 3, above.
(4) From Thom's directories.
(5) See note 3, above.


2 work entries listed in chronological order for SHARPE, FREDERICK


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Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, ?, ST WERBURGH'S PAROCHIAL HALL (CI)
Date: 1879ca-1883
Nature: New parochial hall for united parishes of St Werburgh's and St John's opened, 2 Jan 1883.  Begun four year spreviously. Architect: 'Mr Sharpe' (presumably FS). Contractor: Adams.
Refs: Irish Times, 3 Jan 1883;  Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette 25, no. 157, 6 Jan 1883, 14.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, CASTLEKNOCK, MERCER'S ENDOWED SCHOOL
Date: 1904;1912
Nature: New laboratory. Formally opened 26 Sep 1904. Contractor: Lidwill, N Gt George's St (£600). Alts. & adds., 1912.
Refs: IIAA, PKS 0916, B21/76, A09 (Apr 1912);  Irish Times, 27 Sep 1904;  IB 46, 8 Oct 1904, 674.