Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Architect, of Belfast. According to the 1911 census, John J. O'Shea was born in Co. Antrim in 1872.   He may have been apprenticed to MORTIMER H. THOMSON  MORTIMER H. THOMSON whose practice he took over after the latter's death in 1894.(1)   During 1897 and 1898 he collaborated with E. & J. BYRNE  BYRNE on the west wing of St Mary's Dominican Convent, Falls Road, Belfast (and perhaps also on the related training college) and the Church of the Holy Rosary, Ormeau Road. His commissions included other Catholic churches, as well as commercial and domestic premises. Described as a man of 'high culture and refinement', he died, after an illness of about six months, in the spring of 1919 at the age of forty-seven. At the time of the 1911 census he was already a widower, living with three of his sisters and his daughter, Cathleen. His pupils and assistants included PATRICK  PATRICK (PADRAIG PADRAIG ) BERNARD GREGORY BERNARD GREGORY . He was a subscriber to George Lister Sutcliffe,ed., The Principles and Practice of Modern House-Construction (London, 1898).(2)

Address: Work: 124 Donegall Street, Belfast, <=1898;  Donegall Street, 1900.(2)
Home: 71 Fitzroy Avenue, Belfast, <=1911 until death.

See WORKS.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise attributed is from the obituary of O'Shea in IB 61, 3 May 1919, 227.

(1) His first works to be recorded in IB date from the summer of 1897.
(2) B 78, 2 Jun 1900, 554.
(2) MS list of  subscribers from Belfast and other towns in the northern counties  (photocopy in IAA, Acc. 2009/066).


11 work entries listed in chronological order for O'SHEA, JOHN J.


Sort by date | Sort alphabetically


Building: CO. DOWN, CARNMONEY, CHURCH OF ST MARY ON THE HILL (RC)
Date: 1895-97
Nature: New church, for Rev. James Hamill, PP. Dedicated 5 Aug 1897 by Bishop of Down & Connor. Builder: John Fegan.
Refs: PRONI D 1898/1/21; B 73, 21 Aug 1897, 155; IB 61, 3 May 1919, 227

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, FALLS ROAD, ST MARY'S DOMINICAN CONVENT
Date: 1897
Nature: West wing. With E. & J. Byrne.
Refs: IB 61, 3 May 1919, 227; Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (1987), 39 (no. 79)

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, ORMEAU ROAD (BALLYNAFEIGH), CHURCH OF THE HOLY ROSARY (RC)
Date: 1897-98
Nature: With E. & J. Byrne. FS laid 4 Jul 1897. Contractor: H. & J. Martin.
Refs: B 73, 10 Jul 1897, 33

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, DERRYVOLGIE AVENUE, ST BRIDE'S SCHOOL
Date: 1898
Nature: Designed 1898 but not built until 1902.
Refs: IB 61, 3 May 1919, 227; Paul Larmour, The Architectural Heritage of Malone & Stranmillis (UAHS, 1991), 58

Building: CO. DERRY, AGHADOWEY, CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION (RC)
Date: 1898-1901
Nature: Hall church in squared rubble basalt with polygonal apse. Dedicated May or Jun 1901.
Refs: IB 43, 6 Jun 1901, 751,61, 3 May 1919, 227; Alistair Rowan, The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster (1979), 105; Clergy of Derry & Raphoe (Ulster Historical Foundation, 1999), Pt 1, 37(illus.)

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, FALLS ROAD, ST MARY'S TRAINING COLLEGE
Date: 1898-1901;1902
Nature: Collaboration with E. & J. Byrne?
Refs: Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (1987), 39 (no. 79), but see obituary of O'Shea, IB 61, 3 May 1919, 227

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, RAVENHILL ROAD, HOUSES
Date: 1900
Nature: Terrace of houses. Contractor: J.W. Lester, Milewater Rd.
Refs: IB 42, 1 Feb 1900, 256

Building: CO. ANTRIM, BELFAST, UNION STREET, SHOPS
Date: 1900
Nature: For Mr T. Houston. Tenders invited.
Refs: B 78, 2 Jun 1900, 554

Building: CO. DOWN, BANGOR, HAMILTON ROAD, NO.075 & 77
Date: 1900ca
Nature: Pair of semi-detached houses.
Refs: Marcus Patton, Bangor: an historical gazetteer (UAHS, 1999), 92

Building: CO. DOWN, BANGOR, HAMILTON ROAD, NO.004-6 & 8-10
Date: 1900ca
Nature: 2 prs of semi-detached houses 'probably both by John O'Shea' (Patton).
Refs: Marcus Patton, Historic Buildings in…Bangor and Groomsport (UAHS, 1984), 26

Building: CO. DOWN, DOWNPATRICK, CHURCH (RC?)
Date: ?
Nature: 'fine tower and spire of the Memorial Church at Downpatrick'.
Refs: IB 61, 3 May 1919, 227