CRANFIELD, RICHARD *

Woodcarver and gilder, of Dublin, for biography of whom see W.G. Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists (1913). Richard Cranfield was elected master of the Corporation of Carpenters in 1766(1) and was chosen by that body to represent it on the City Council the following year.(2) According to Casey, Cranfield was secretary of the short-lived Society of Artists and as such was the promoter of the building of premises at the angle of South William Street and Coppinger's Row to house an academy and exhibition rooms for the Society.(3)  This building later became the City Hall.  Cranfield was THOMAS COOLEY' THOMAS COOLEY' s executor, and his daughter Emily married Cooley's son, William. His son, John Smith Cranfield, named after the architect JOHN SMITH  JOHN SMITH and also a woodcarver, married Elizabeth, daughter of GEORGE DARLEY[1]  GEORGE DARLEY[1] in 1789.(4)

Richard Cranfield exhibited at the Society of Artists in Ireland from 1765 to 1770, and John Smith Cranfield from 1766 to 1773 and again in 1780.(5) He was a subscriber to the First Volume of the Instructions given in the Drawing School established by the Dublin-Society (Dublin, 1769) and to Thomas Malton's, The Seats and Demesnes of the nobility and gentry of Ireland (Dublin, 1783-1794).

Addresses:(6) Hog Hill, 1765; 3 Church Lane, College Green, 1766(7)-98; Tritonville Lodge, Co. Dublin, 1809.(8)

See WORKS.

References

(1) Faulkner's Dublin Journal, 2-5 Aug 1766.
(2) Faulkner's Dublin Journal, 29 Sep-3 Oct 1767.
(3) Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 477.
(4) Information from manuscript 'Pedigree charts of the Darley family in Ireland 1700-1926' in the possession of Mrs R.C Lewis-Crosby (1998), and R. Refaussé, ed. Register of the Parish of St Thomas, Dublin 1750-1791 (1994), 136.
(5) IALE, I, 159.
(6) From Wilson's Dublin Directory unless otherwise attributed.
(7) See note 5, above. 
(8) Arthur Vicars, Index to the Prerogative Wills of Ireland 1536-1810 (1897), 109.

5 work entries listed in chronological order for CRANFIELD, RICHARD *

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Building:	CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, GRAFTON STREET, NO. 112-113 (DUBLIN SOCIETY)
Date:	1767ca
Nature:	Carving in new premises by Cranfield. Also president's chair.
Refs:	W.G. Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists (1913), I, 219.

Building:	CO. KILDARE, CASTLETOWN
Date:	1768a
Nature:	All woodwork for drawing room supplied in carved lengths by Richard Cranfield.
Refs:	Christopher Moore, 'Lady Louisa Conolly: Mistress of Castletown 1759-1821' in New Perspectives: studies in art history in honour of Anne Crookshank (1987), 129, citing Trinity College Dublin Conolly Manuscripts 3694.

Building:	CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, COLLEGE GREEN, TRINITY COLLEGE, PROVOST'S HOUSE
Date:	1771
Nature:	Carving and gilding by Cranfield.
Refs:	W.G. Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists (1913), I, 219

Building:	CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, BLACKHALL PLACE, BLUE COAT SCHOOL
Date:	1780ca
Nature:	Woodwork by Cranfield.
Refs:	W.G. Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists (1913), I, 219; S.O'Reilly and Nicolas K. Robinson, New lease of life: the Law Society's Building at Blackhall Place (1990), 31.

Building:	CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, COLLEGE GREEN, TRINITY COLLEGE, CHAPEL (1787)
Date:	1787p
Nature:	Wood carving of interior and stone carving of front by RC, with his son John Smith Cranfield.
Refs:	Lesley Whiteside, The Chapel of Trinity College, Dublin' (Trinity College Chapel Committee, 1998), 8