Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

George Halpin, the son of GEORGE HALPIN [1] GEORGE HALPIN [1] , Inspector of Works and Lighthouses to the Ballast Board, is said to have been a pupil of ALEXANDER NIMMO  ALEXANDER NIMMO for eight years.(1) He was appointed assistant to his father in 1830. On his father's death in 1854, he succeeded him in his post at a salary of £665.7s.5d. per annum.(2) When his own assistant, Ramsey, resigned in 1856, the forceful BINDON BLOOD STONEY  BINDON BLOOD STONEY was brought in as assistant engineer rather than assistant inspector. This new arrangement, which effectively confined Halpin's responsibilities to lighthouse work only, was made on account of Halpin's poor state of health. Nevertheless, Halpin seems to have found it difficult to delegate responsibility for the port entirely to Stoney, and in 1861-62 a dispute arose between the two men over Stoney's proposal for the construction of a new graving dock at Dublin port. Halpin resigned for health reasons in March 1862, and Stoney was then appointed engineer to the Port.(3) In addition to his post with the Ballast Board, Halpin was also engineer to the Suir Navigation Co. from 1846 or earlier until 1858 or later.(3) His pupils and assistants included JOSEPH MAGUIRE JOSEPH MAGUIRE , ARTHUR SYDNEY ORMSBY ARTHUR SYDNEY ORMSBY , and JOHN SWAN SLOANE JOHN SWAN SLOANE . The William Halpin who appears as an engineer in the 'Trades Directory' section of Thom's directories for the years 1850-1864 with an address at the Ballast Office is presumably either a relation or a misprint.

ICEI: council member, 1849-1851; no longer a member by 1870.(4)
Inst.CE: member by 1838.(5)

Addresses:(6) 33, Dorset Street Lower, <=1844->=1849; 4 Sandford Terrace, Ranelagh, 1863.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from H.A. Gilligan, A History of the Port of Dublin (1988), 82-83,124-126,128. A portrait photograph of Halpin is on p.111.

(1) B of I files, citing Dublin-Kingstown Ship Canal Report (1833).
(2) Bill Long, Bright light, white water (1993), 61.
(3) There are some discrepancies between Gilligan's dates for these events and those given by R.C. Cox, Bindon Blood Stoney: Biography of a Port Engineer (Dublin, Insitution of Civil Engineers, 1990), 15.
(4) Pettigrew & Oulton's and Thom's Directories.
(5) Jones transcripts of lists of officers in Thom's directories; list of members in IB 12, 15 Aug 1870, 197.
(6) List of members for 1838 in Trans.Inst.CE 2 (1838), 232.
(7) From Thom's and Post Office directories.


11 work entries listed in chronological order for HALPIN, GEORGE [2]


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Building: CO. CLARE, LOOP HEAD, LIGHTHOUSE
Date: 1844-1854
Nature: New lighthouse. Contractors: William & James Burgess, Limerick. Lantern by Mallet, Dublin. Dioptric light by Henri Lepaute, Paris. Total expense £6,685. Light exhibited 1 May 1854.
Refs: John S. Sloane, 'A History of the lighthouses of Ireland…V', IB 22, 15 Jun 1880, 222; Bill Long, Bright light, white water (1993), 139-40

Building: CO. CORK, KINSALE, OLD HEAD LIGHTHOUSE (NEW)
Date: 1846-1853
Nature: Replaced old lighthouse which was at too high an altitude. Cost: over £10,534.10s.8d. Built by Ballast Board workmen unter superintendence of John Connolly and Edward McKenna from drawings of J.S. Sloane. Catadioptric light by Wilkins of London exhibited 'somewhat prematurely' in 1853.
Refs: John S. Sloane, 'A History of the lighthouses of Ireland…VI', IB 22, 15 Oct 1880, 290; Bill Long, Bright light, white water (1993), 86

Building: CO. CORK, KINSALE, LIGHTHOUSE
Date: 1853ca
Nature: Built by Ballast Board workmen under superintendence of John Conolly and Edward McKenna. Total cost: £10,534.10s.8d. Light 'somewhat prematurely exhibited in 1853' before completion of building work.
Refs: John S. Sloane, 'A History of the lighthouses of Ireland…VI', IB 22, 15 Oct 1880, 290

Building: CO. DONEGAL, ARANMORE, LIGHTHOUSES
Date: 1857
Nature: 2 lighthouses with attached dwellings. Light first exhibited 1 Feb 1865. Contractor: Daniel Crowe & Sons, Dublin. Ironwork by Edmundson , Dublin. Cost: North Light£15,126.1s.7d; South Light £14,252.2s.4d.
Refs: John S. Sloane, 'A History of the lighthouses of Ireland…V', IB 22, 1 Sep 1880, 248; Bill Long, Bright light, white water (1993), 167

Building: CO. WATERFORD, BALLINACOURTY (DUNGARVAN), LIGHTHOUSE
Date: 1858
Nature: Built by Ballast Board workmen under Mr Lenehan. Light exhibited 1 Jul 1858. Cost: £6,836.4s.3d.
Refs: John S. Sloane, 'A History of the lighthouses of Ireland…V', IB 22, 1 Sep 1880, 248; Bill Long, Bright light, white water (1993), 73.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, VICTORIA & ALBERT BRIDGE
Date: 1858-1861
Nature: Replacement for 'Bloody Bridge'(i.e. Barrack Bridge, now Rory O'More Bridge). . Partially opened 1861. Designed by GH, working drawings by J.S. Sloane. Contractor: John Killen. Castings by Robert Dalglish, jr, of St Helen's Foundry, Lancashire.
Refs: B 17, 30 Oct 1858, 723; DB 3, 1 Sep 1861, 616; IB 21, 15 Nov 1879, 350; APSD II, D, 75-77; H.A. Gilligan, A History of the Port of Dublin (1988), 100;  Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 697

Building: CO. CORK, CALF ROCK LIGHTHOUSE
Date: 1858-1864
Nature: Cast iron tower designed by GH sen.or jun.? Contractor: Henry Grissell, Regent's Canal Iron Works, London. Destroyed by storm of 27 Nov 1881.
Refs: Bill Long, Bright Light, White Water (1993), 93,113-116 (who says that tower was designed by GH senior)

Building: CO. CORK, ALDERMAN ROCKS (CROOKHAVEN), BEACON
Date: 1860-62
Nature: New beacon constructed of cast-iron casing filled with masonry. Tenders sought Apr 1860. Contractor: Head, Wright & Ashby, Stockton-on-Tees. Completed 1862.
Refs: DB 2, 1 Apr 1860, 239; B 18, ? ? 1860, 628; John S. Sloane, 'A History of the lighthouses of Ireland…VI', IB 22, 1 Oct 1880, 278

Building: CO. DUBLIN, ROCKABILL LIGHTHOUSE
Date: 1860a
Nature: New lighthouse built of Milverton limestone. Mostly built by Burgess & Son, Limerick. First lighted 1860. Cost: £15,256.6s.7d. Executant architects?: 'Messrs. Louch and Sons, of Dublin' (B 13, 19 May 1855, 233).
Refs: John S. Sloane, 'A History of the lighthouses of Ireland…V', IB 22, 1 Sep 1880, 248.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, HARBOUR LIGHT
Date: 1861
Nature: New, wrought-iron light.
Refs: DB 3, 1 Jan 1861, 383

Building: CO. DONEGAL, ARANMORE, LIGHTHOUSE
Date: 1862-63
Nature: New 76 ft high lighthouse. Contractors: William Crowe, Dublin. Cost, with light, £9,250.3s.6d. Cast iron balcony & lantern by Edmundson, Dublin. Dioptric light removed from Rathlin O'Birne and erected under supervision of John S. Sloane. Light first exhibited, 1 Feb 1865. (Light replaced by new light, 1876.)
Refs: DB 5, 1 Dec 1863, 198; IAA, PKS A03 (Nov 1863, p.44v))