Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Plumber, engineer and ironfounder, of Dublin. John Mallet, elder son of RICHARD MALLET RICHARD MALLET , was baptised in North Tawton, Devon, on 23 January 1781. He came to Dublin at the invitatation of his uncle ROBERT MALLET [1] ROBERT MALLET [1] , whose daughter Thomasina he subsequently married. He had settled in Dublin by Michaelmas 1801, when he was admitted a freeman of the city as a member of the Guild of Plumbers by Grace Especial.(1) He encouraged his parents to join him in Dublin, along with their younger son WILLIAM MALLET  WILLIAM MALLET and their daughter Jane. While his father set up his own ironmongery establishment in Marlborough Street, John Mallet continued to work with Robert Mallet [1], whose foundry and plumbing establishment he inherited in 1804. Under his ownership the business, which he moved to new premises in Ryder's Row, continued to thrive. In 1831 he was joined by his only surviving son ROBERT MALLET [2] ROBERT MALLET [2] , who took responsibility for the foundry. He himself became increasingly involved in Corporation matters, serving as High Sheriff of the city in 1830-31.(2)

The firm of J. & R. Mallet was employed on a regular basis by Trinity College, Dublin, from 1836 or earlier until 1850.(3)   In about 1840 the firm built a new foundry at Cross-Guns Bridge to the north of Dublin,(4) but during the 1850s business began to decline, and, after the firm had failed to secure the contract for supplying pipes and castings for the extension of the Dublin Corporation waterworks, it was closed down circa 1855. Robert Mallet [2] moved to London where he worked as an engineering consultant, while his father stayed on in retirement in Dublin until his death in 1868.

'John Mallet, Esq. Ryder's-row' was a subscriber to William Stitt's The Practical Architect's Ready Assistant; or Builder's Complete Companion (Dublin, 1819).

In the Powerscourt Albums in the Irish Architectural Archive there is a design by J. & R. Mallet, dated 27 May 1836, for supporting the floor of the saloon at Powerscourt and a letter to the Rev. W. Magee about the same proposal, which was not executed (Acc,  89/62.1/28/1 and 1/87(P)/1).

Addresses:(5) 5 & 6 Ryder's Row, 1806-1815; 8 & 9 Ryder's Row, 1816->=1839; 7, 8 & 9 Ryder's Row, <=1841->=1847; 7, 8 & 9 Ryder's Row, 10 Cross Lane and 5th Lock, Royal Canal, 1853.
Home: 98 Capel Street, 1847; Delville House, Rathmines, <=1853->=1857.

See WORKS.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from R.C. Cox, 'Robert Mallet: Engineer and Scientist', in R.C. Cox, ed. Robert Mallet 1810-1881: Centenary Seminar Papers (1982), 1,30.

(1) CARD XVIII, 459.
(2) 'An alphabetical list of the Freemen of the City of Dublin, 1774-1824', The Irish Ancestor XV (1983), Nos. 1 & 2, unpaginated.
(3) Trinity college muniments, MUN/P/2/266-7, 287, 295, 297, 299, 301, 303, 306, 309, 311, 314, 317.
(4) Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 285-6.  
(5) From Wilson's, Post Office, Pettigrew & Oulton's and Thom's directories.


8 work entries listed in chronological order for MALLET, JOHN *


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Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, HARDWICKE PLACE, ST GEORGE'S CHURCH (CI)
Date: 1808-1814
Nature: JM paid for plumber's work on same.
Refs: Papers relating to St George's Church, Dublin…Ordered, by the House of Commons, to be Printed, 29 April 1825, 7,20 (copy in IAA, RP.D.130.10)

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, COLLEGE GREEN, TRINITY COLLEGE, PROVOST'S HOUSE
Date: 1822
Nature: JM paid £26-5s-3½d. for plumbing work.
Refs: Trinity College muniments, MUN/P/2/251.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, HENRIETTA STREET, KING'S INNS
Date: 1828ca
Nature: Cast-iron tables in reading room and probably cast-iron gallery handrail.
Refs: Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 161.

Building: CO. WICKLOW, POWERSCOURT
Date: 1836
Nature: Unexecuted proposal for supporting saloon floor by J. & R. Mallet.
Refs: Drawing, signed John & Robert Mallet and dated 27 May 1836, and letter from Robert Mallet to Rev. W. Magee, 7 Jun 1836, about the proposal in IAA, Powerscourt Albums, 1/28/1 and 1/87(P)1

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, HARDWICKE PLACE, ST GEORGE'S CHURCH (CI)
Date: 1836
Nature: Re-engineering of roof and ceiling by suspending latter from cast-iron arches.  By J & R Mallet.
Refs: Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 122.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, WILTON PLACE, FOUNTAIN
Date: 1841p
Nature: Fountain in park by J. & R. Mallet, fed with water from canal.
Refs: Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 595.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, BROADSTONE, RAILWAY STATION (MIDLAND GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY TERMINUS)
Date: 1847
Nature: Floating pontoon bridge across canal to give vehicular access to station.
Refs: Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 282.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, DAWSON STREET, NO. 019 (ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY)
Date: 1853
Nature: Cast-iron galleries in library and museum.

Refs: Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 478.