Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Architect and engineer. John Benson was born in modest circumstances in Collooney, Co. Sligo, in 1812, the only son of another John Benson. At the age of twenty-one he was sent by Edward Joshua Cooper of Markree Castle, where he either had been - or was subsequently to be - employed on restoration work, to 'a technical school in Dublin'.(1) This was presumably the Royal Dublin Society's School of Architectural Drawing, where a John Benson is recorded as gaining premiums in March and December 1832.(2) He obtained an appointment under the Board of Works and, after a first, unsuccessful attempt in December 1838, passed the qualifying examination for the office of county surveyor in March 1846.(3) On 26 March 1846 he was appointed county surveyor for the West Riding of Cork but was immediately transferred to the East Riding, a position which he held until 24 March 1855.(4) During 1846 and 1847 the two new county surveyors for Co. Cork - WILLIAM AUGUSTUS TREACY  WILLIAM AUGUSTUS TREACY had succeeded Benson in the West Riding - were faced with the demanding task of superintending famine relief works.  On 31 May 1848 Benson received the additional appointment of consulting engineer to the Cork Harbour Board(5) and on 29 January 1851 he was also appointed engineer to the city (initially under the old title of surveyor of the County of the City of Cork).  On 23 November 1854 the two posts were amalgamated and Benson was elected to the new post of' city engineer,(6) which he held until his resignation on the grounds of poor health in April 1873.(7) He was also involved in railway construction in the Cork area in several capacities: as engineer to the Cork & Macroom Railway, the Rathkeale & Newcastle Railway, and the Cork & Limerick Railway, as engineer-in-chief and architect to the Cork & Passage Junction Railway, and as a director of the Cork & Kinsale Railway.

Most of Benson's activities were confined to the city and county of Cork, but in1852 he won the competition for designing the premises for the Dublin Exhibition of 1853, the building of which he supervised himself. At the opening on 12 May 1853, he was knighted by the Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of St Germans. He was also involved as a witness before a select committee of the House of Commons in connection with the introduction of the Dublin Waterworks Bill in 1861 and about two years later was appointed arbitrator on behalf of Dublin Corporation in the case of a compensation claim related to the waterworks.(8)   In 1864 he acted as adjudicator in the Sligo town hall competition.(9)

Benson died on 17 October 1874 at Alexander Square, Brompton, 'where he had been residing for some time with Lady Benson…for the benefit of medical advice'.(10) His death was said to have been accelerated by overwork. He had married Mary Clementine Pyne, daughter of John Smith, of the 56th Regiment, in 1849 but had no children.

Benson's pupils and assistants included EDWARD JAMES MARTIN EDWARD JAMES MARTIN , MICHAEL JOSEPH MCMULLEN MICHAEL JOSEPH MCMULLEN , JOHN JOSEPH O'CALLAGHAN  JOHN JOSEPH O'CALLAGHAN and ROBERT WALKER [2]. ROBERT WALKER [2].

RIAI: council member, 1855-1861,1863-1864,1865-1866; vice-president 1864-1865;(11) had ceased to be a member by 1870.(12)
GLFI: member of Lodge 1, Cork, of which he was Master in 1850;(13) Provincial Grand Architect.(14)
Inst.CE: elected member, 4 March 1862.
RSAI: elected member 19 March 1856, having been proposed by RICHARD ROLT BRASH. RICHARD ROLT BRASH. (15)
Architectural Publications Society: local hon. secretary, 1863.(16)

Address: Montenotte, Cork, 1863-1868;(17)  Alexander Square, Brompton, London, at time of death.

See also WORKS and BIBLIOGRAPHY. BIBLIOGRAPHY.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise attributed is from Brendan O'Donoghue, The Irish County Surveyors 1834-1944 (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007), 98-101, which gives the fullest account of his career as a county surveyor, theOxford DNB and from the obituary in Min.Proc.Inst.CE 40 (1874-5), Pt. 2, 251-3. Other obituaries are in B 32, 24 Oct 1874, 883, & IB 16, 1 Nov 1874, 303.

(1) T. O'Rorke, History of Sligo II, 531.
(2) MS. transcript from Royal Dublin Society minutes of School of Architectural Drawing admissions and prizewinners (in IAA).
(3) According to Hilary Pyle, The Sligo-Leitrim World of Kate Cullen 1832-1913(1997), 79n, Benson was borough architect for Sligo before he became a county surveyor.
(4) Cork Examiner, 6 Jan 1855 (B.O'D.); IB 15, 1 Apr,1 May 1873, 99,127.
(5) Cork Constitution, 1 Jun 1848 (information from Ronnie Herlihy, Cork).
(6) Cork Examiner, 24 Nov 1854 (information from Ronnie Herlihy, Cork).
(7) IB 14, 1 Dec 1872, 339.
(8) Daniel Tighe v. Dublin Corporation; see IB 4, 1 May 1863, 80, and Brendan O'Donoghue, op. cit.,113.
(9) B 22, 17 Sep 1864, 690.
(10) B 32, 24 Oct 1874, 883.
(11) Thom's Directories; typescript list of RIAI officers in IAA.
(12) RIAI Sessional Papers 1863-4 to 1869-70 (1870), list of members.
(13) GLFI archives.
(14) DB 2, 1 Jun 1860, 286.
(15) JRSAI 4 (1856-1857), 29.
(16) List of subscribers to APSD, 1863.
(17) JRSAI 10 (1868-1869), 139,195.
(18) See note 12, above.


57 work entries listed in chronological order for BENSON, JOHN (SIR)


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Building: CO. SLIGO, SLIGO, VICTORIA BRIDGE *
Date:
Nature: See, above, CO. SLIGO, SLIGO, HYDE BRIDGE
Refs:

Building: CO. SLIGO, STRANDHILL, GLEBE HOUSE
Date: -
Nature: New glebe house.
Refs: Terence O'Rorke, History of Sligo I, 318

Building: CO. SLIGO, COLLOONEY, CHURCH OF ST PAUL (CI, BALLYSADARE PARISH)
Date: 1837
Nature: Transepts, groined ceiling & new windows to church of 1720.
Refs: Terence O'Rorke, History of the parishes of Ballysadare & Kilvarnet (Dublin, 1878), 120-122;  Clergy of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh (Ulster Historical Foundation, 2008), 210(illus.), 212.


Building: CO. SLIGO, OYSTER ISLAND,J LIGHTHOUSES
Date: 1837a
Nature: JB contractor for walls of two towers (lighted 1837) and dwellings.
Refs: John S. Sloane, 'A History of the lighthouses of Ireland…III', IB 22, 15 Jun 1880, ?

Building: CO. MAYO, BALLINA, CATHEDRAL OF ST MUIREDACH (RC)
Date: 1842
Nature: Ribbed ceiling.
Refs: Catholic Directory (1842), 324; DB 1, 1 Feb 1859, 22

Building: CO. SLIGO, COLLOONEY, CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION (RC)
Date: 1843
Nature: Built 1843; consecrated 12 Oct 1861; spire completed 1878
Refs: Terence O'Rorke, History of the parishes of Ballysadare & Kilvarnet (Dublin, 1878), 110; Catholic Directory, 1843, ?; Sligo Champion, 14 Jan 1843; B 19, 19 Oct 1861, 722; Sligo Champion, 16,23 Nov 1878, 8 Jan 1879; illus. in Liam Swords, Achonry and its churches (Strasbourg: Éditions du Signe, 2007), 62-63.

Building: CO. SLIGO, STRANDHILL, CHURCH OF ST ANNE (CI, KNOCKNAREA PARISH)
Date: 1843
Nature: New church.  FS laid 29 Sep 1843. Dedicated 1843.
Refs: Terence O'Rorke, History of Sligo (1889), I, 318;  Duncan Scarlett, Dedicated to St Anne (2007), 62,64(illus.);  exterior illus. in Claude Costegalde & Brian Walker, The Church of Ireland: an illustrated history (2013), 249.

Building: CO. SLIGO, MARKREE CASTLE
Date: 1843?
Nature: Superintends works.  For Edward Joshua Cooper.
Refs: Terence O'Rorke, History of Sligo (1889), 531

Building: CO. SLIGO, SLIGO, HIGH STREET, CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS (RC, DOMINICAN)
Date: 1845-1848;1852
Nature: New church built 1845-48 to replace church of 1763 on Pound St.. Tower added 1852.  (Church later largely demolished, but E end retained.)
Refs: Survey drawings, 1955, in IAA, W.H. Byrne & Son drawings collection, Acc. 2006/142; T. Kilgannon, Sligo and its Surroundings (1926), 127-8; Terence O'Rorke, History of the parishes of Ballysadare & Kilvarnet (Dublin, 1878), 126

Building: CO. MAYO, BALLINA, PEARSE STREET, BARRACKS?
Date: 1846
Nature: Block barrack opposite Royal Hotel removed and new range built after plans by JB.
Refs: DB 2, 1 Aug 1860, 313

Building: CO. SLIGO, SLIGO, HYDE BRIDGE
Date: 1846-1852
Nature: Replacement for existing skew bridge designed by John Benson with Noblett St Leger. Opened 1852 as Victoria Bridge.
Refs: Terence O'Rorke, History of Sligo(1889), I, 335,556-7; Terence O'Rorke, History of the parishes of Ballysadare & Kilvarnet (Dublin, 1878),126;  Hilary Pyle, The Sligo-Leitrim World of Kate Cullen 1832-1913(1997), 79;   R.C. Cox & M.H. Gould, Civil Engineering Heritage: Ireland (1998), 225-6(illus.)

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, O'CONNELL SQUARE, BUTTER MARKET
Date: 1849-50;1855;1860
Nature: Remodelled with Doric portico, 1849. Circular. New roof over part of market supported by laminated trusses of bent plank in five thicknesses. Firkin Crane Building, added to meet need for increased space, opened Aug 1855. Cost about £1,500. Alterations almost completed, 1860 (Contractor: Hurley).
Refs: Date inscr. under portico; information from Peter Foynes, administrator of Cork Butter Museum, O'Connell Sq, Shandon, Cork; B 4, 18 Mar,13 Jun 1846, 152,287 (refs. are to 'new markets' in parish of St Ann, Shandon); 8, 15 Jun 1850, 283-4;  Cork Examiner, 10 Aug 1855,28 May 1960 (information from Ronnie Herlihy, Cork, Jun 2011);  APSD, C, 148

Building: CO. CORK, CARRIGROHANE, BRIDGE
Date: 1849a
Nature: New stone skew bridge constructed with 6 ribs.
Refs: Model in IAA, Acc. 2009/128  (formerly in School of Engineering, Trinity College,Dublin);  John Benson, 'An account of the Skew Bridge built on the new Western entrance to Cork', TICEI 4, Pt. 1 (1849), 1-2;  Peter O'Keeffe & Tom Simington, Irish Stone Bridges: History and Heritage (Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1991), 86.

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, SULLIVAN'S QUAY, TOWN HALL (PROPOSED)
Date: 1851
Nature: Competition entrqant. Model & design exhibited at Cork National Exhibition, 1852; design exh. Dublin Great Industrial Exhibition 1853, no. 543.
Refs: IALE, I, 48. (For further refs. to this project, see B 7, 10 Feb 1849, 70; 9, 22 Feb,12 Jul,13 Dec 1851, 124,437,791; 10, 21 Feb 1852, 23.)

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, CATHEDRAL ROAD, CATHEDRAL OF ST MARY (RC)
Date: 1851,1854-5
Nature: Reconstruction comprising new tower, lengthening of nave, insertion of stone-mullioned windows.Second Pointed style. FS of tower laid 25 Mar 1850. Extension of nave already completed and 'arch on which the steeple is to rest...just springing from the solid pillars which form its base', Apr 1851. (Steeple never added).
Refs: Plans and elevations sold Mealy's, 4 Dec 2012, Lot 530, illus. in catalogue, p. 49 (copy in IAA, RP.C.107.5); Cork Examiner, 25 Mar 1850,7 Apr 1851 (information from Roger Herlihy, Cork, Sep 2010); B 9, 8 Nov 1851, 704; 11, 22 Jan 1853, 60; 15, 17 Jan 1857, 38; APSD, Vol. 2, C, 147

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, SUNDAYS WELL ROAD, CHURCH OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL (RC)
Date: 1851-1857
Nature: New church. FS laid Oct or Nov 1851. Opened 20 Jul 1856 but unfinished. Completed by George Goldie and S.F. Hynes.
Refs: APSD 2, C, 147-8; B 9, 8 Nov,13 Dec 1851, 704,790; 10, 18 Sep 1852, 599; 15, 17 Jan 1857, 38; 24, 22 Dec 1866, 940; IB 26, 1 Jun 1884, 159

Building: CO. CORK, COBH, ROYAL CORK YACHT CLUB
Date: 1851;1866ca
Nature: JB prepares designs for same, but design by Antony Salvin chosen as architect instead. E & W wings containing private room and billiard room respectively added to JB's design 1866ca.
Refs: B 9, 21 16 Aug 1851, 517; 10, 13 Nov 1852, 720; Hunt's Yachting Magazine 3 (1854), 281 (information from Roger Herlihy, Cork);  Cork Constitution, 17 Jul 1866 (information from Ronnie Herlihy, Cork).

Building: CO. CORK, MONKSTOWN, PIER AND TIMBER JETTY
Date: 1851p
Nature: Contract for erecting same taken by Roddy & Doran (£830). 2nd lowest tender by Edwards (£1,130) (See also timber jetty at Cobh; is Monkstown a mistake for Queenstown?)
Refs: B 9, 13 Dec 1851, 791

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, ALBERT QUAY, CORN EXCHANGE (NATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1852)
Date: 1852
Nature: Conversion of Corn Exchange for National Exhibition of 1852 (opened 10 Jun 1852). Alts. included remodelling  of Great Hall, 225 x 52x45 ft and addition of Fine Arts Court, 145 x 52 ft. Exhibition opened, 12 Jun 1852. (Building afterwards became new Corn Market, then City Hall;  Fine Arts Court taken down, 1853.)
Refs: B 10, 8 May,5 Jun,31 Jul 1852, 300,483; 11, 26 Feb 1853, 134; 18, 21 Jul 1860, 464; Cork Journal, Vol. 6 (1900), 224; Frederick O'Dwyer, The Architecture of Deane and Woodward (1997), 127-128;  Roger Herlihy, A Walk through the South Parish (Cork: Red Abbey Publications, 2010), 34-35;  information from Roger Herlihy, Dec 2011.

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, LEINSTER LAWN, DUBLIN INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION BUILDING
Date: 1852-1853
Nature: Winning competition design. Exhibition opened (though not yet ready) on 12 May 1853 by Lord Lieutenant.
Refs: B 10, 21 Aug,18 Sep,30 Oct 1852, 534,589,593(illus.),695; 11, 1 Jan,21 May,23 Jul 1853, 1,8,9(illus.),321-2,329(illus.),466;  Armagh Guardian, 30 Oct 1852(illus.);  Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal 16 (Jun 1853), 222-223;  Irish Times,  6 May 1907;  History of the Royal Dublin Society, 281-282

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, EMMET PLACE, ATHENAEUM
Date: 1853-54
Nature: New art gallery. Semicircular Roman Doric colonnade at entrance. Great Hall, 115 x 52 ft, with fluted Corinthian columns and 2 galleries, each 10 ft wide. Domed rotunda, 52 ft in diameter, at end.  In use by Jan 1857 but colonnade not yet erected for want of funds. Supervising architect: Richard Rolt Brash.   Builder: (1) William Brash (early construction work). (2) Cassidy (exterior work and roofing). Cut stone front by William Egan, Union Quay.   Internal stuccowork by John Church. Opened 25 Jan 1855. Officially opened by Lord Lieutenant, 22 May 1855.
Refs: Original plan in Cork City Archives;  survey drawing(s) in NA, OPW drawings collection (old ref. F.3.4); APSD II, C, 147-8; B 10, 2 Apr 1852, 215; 11, 26 Feb 1853, 134; 12, 18 Feb 1854, 89; 15, 17 Jan 1857, 38; Cork Constitution, 20 Aug 1853,25,30 Jan,27 Jul 1854 (information from Roger Herlihy, Cork, Dec 2010,Dec 2011); Cork Examiner, 10 Jul 1854, 6 Oct 1854,23 May 1855 (information from Roger Herlihy, as above);  Tourist's Illustrated Handbook for Ireland (1854), 66; www.askaboutireland.ie; Mary Cecilia Lyons, Illustrated Incumbered Estates Ireland, 1850-1905 (1993), 224(illus.); Alicia St Leger, Melodies and Memories - 150 Years at Cork Opera House (2005), .24 (information from Roger Herlihy, Cork, Dec 2010, Dec 2011).

 


Building: CO. CORK, CORK, ST PATRICK'S BRIDGE (TEMPORARY)
Date: 1854
Nature: Temporary wooden bridge after old bridge swept away by floods in winter of 1853.
Refs: Tourist's Illustrated Handbook for Ireland (1854), 64;  Colin Rynne, The Industrial Archaeology of Cork City and its Environs  (1999),194

Building: CO. CORK, SKIBBEREEN, BANK HOUSE
Date: 1855
Nature: New banking house to be built.
Refs: B 13, 18 Aug 1855, 395

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, GLANMIRE ROAD LOWER, RAILWAY TERMINUS (GREAT SOUTHERN & WESTERN RAILWAY)
Date: 1855-1860
Nature: New railway terminus approached fromPenrose's Quay. Contractor: John J. Bagnell. Construction includes colonnade of 20 Roman Doric columns costing £8,000.
Refs: Unsigned, undated drawings for colonnade and roof in IAA, ICEI Collection, Acc.2005/95.IEI 5366; APSD 2, C, 147-8; B 13, 20 Oct 1855, 502; 15, 17 Jan 1857, 38; DB 2, 1 Jul 1860,295(illus.),297; Jeanne Sheehy, 'Railway Architecture - its heyday', Journal of the Irish Railway Record Society 12, No. 68 (Oct 1975), 136;  Colin Rynne, The Industrial Archaeology of Cork City and its Environs  (1999), 209-212.

Building: CO. CORK, COBH, TIMBER JETTY
Date: 1855a
Nature: Timber jetty to new pier just completed. Contractor: John Edwards. Cost £3,200. (See also timber jetty at Monkstown - a mistake for Queenstown?)
Refs: B 13, 20 Oct 1855, 502

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, LEE ROAD, WATERWORKS
Date: 1857-59
Nature: Contract for building reservoirs given to John Moore, May 1857;  contract for preparatory excavations and building retaining walls for engine house and  coal yard given to Peter R. Roddy, May 1857. Contractor for engine house, boiler house and chimney: Gerald Mahony. Contractor for turbine house: John Moore. Reservoir 'lately built' 180 ft above river in Aug 1858.  Engine capable of raising 2 million galls. of water per day to it; 160 galls. raised at each stroke of pump. Boilers set by Mr Carlisle, Belfast. Higher reservoir to be built on elevation of 360 ft to supply highest localities in city will contain 630,000 gallons. 'The Cork Waterworks erected by Sir John Benson, CE, at a great expense, are most effective and produce an abundant supply of aqua vitae.'(1860).
Refs: Cork Examiner,13,27 May 1857;23 Aug 1858 (information from Roger Herlihy, Cork, Feb 2011); B 16, 28 Aug 1858, 596; DB 2, 1 Jan 1860, 186; obit. of JB in IB 16, 1 Nov 1874, 303;  Colin Rynne, The Industrial Archaeology of Cork City and its Environs  (1999),230-233.

Building: CO. CORK, TULLYLEASE, CHURCH OF ST BERECHEART (CI)
Date: 1858
Nature: Tiny new church with 2-bay rectangular plan, W bellcote, paired lancet windows. Triple window at E end. Picturesquely situated in old churchyard of parish in which are the ruins of the ancient church of St Berecheart. Local brownstone with limestone dressings. Dedicated 3 Sep 1858.
Refs: Unsigned, undated drawing(s) in RCB Library, portfolio 5; B 16, 2 Oct 1858, 665;  Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette1, no. 31 (oCT 1858), 622.

Building: CO. CORK, BLACKPOINT, LIGHTHOUSE
Date: 1858
Nature: Lighthouse 'of a more ornamental character and different design from those on the coast and headlands of Ireland' to be erected on estate of Mr Smith Barry from designs of JB. Brick and limestone. Will cost about £800.
Refs: B 16, 28 Aug 1858, 591

Building: CO. CORK, ANNAKISSA, CHURCH OF ST CRANNACHT (RC)
Date: 1858-1861
Nature: New Gothic church, 100 x36ft, with 4 windows and porch on N side and 5 windows on S side. Built on site made available by James Hamilton, of Castle Hamilton, Co. Cavan.  Window jambs and mullions by Egan, Cork. Stained glass W window, trefoil E window. JB gave services gratuitously. Builder: P. Coleman, Mallow. Glazing by Maurice Brooks, Dublin. Cost under £2,000.
Refs: Cork Examiner, 23 Aug 1858 (information from Roger Herlihy, Cork, Mar 2011); DB 3, 1 Jun 1861, 530;  illus. in Killavullen Parish Church http://variouscplaces.net/cloyne/parishes/annakissachurch.htm (last visited 15 Oct 2008).

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, LINCOLN PLACE, TURKISH BATHS
Date: 1859
Nature: 'designed by Sir John Benson for Mr Dargan' (but see also Richard Barter [2])
Refs: DB 1, 1 Jan 1859, 7

Building: CO. CORK, BLACKROCK, BRIDGE
Date: 1859
Nature: Metal footbridge over Cork & Passage Railway line at Blackrock. Wooden platform with iron trellis approached by spiral staircases at each end.  Completed in Jul 1859.  Contractor: Kennedy, Hanover St, Cork. (Became known as the "Crinoline Bridge", because the dresses of ladies crossing it would often get snagged in its ironwork, particularly on the spiral staircases.)
Refs: Cork Examiner, 6 Jun,11 Jul 1859 (information from Roger Herlihy, Cork, Apr 2011).

Building: CO. WICKLOW, BRAY, QUINSBOROUGH ROAD, TURKISH BATHS
Date: 1859
Nature: Contr: Cunningham
Refs: DB I, 1 Jan 1859, 9

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, ST PATRICK'S BRIDGE (NEW)
Date: 1859-1861
Nature: New masonry bridge of 3 elliptical arches. (JB provided 3 designs for iron swivel, iron single arch and stone bridge. Iron single arch design initially chosen but stone bridge eventually built.)    FS laid  by Earl of Carlisle,10 Nov 1859.  Contr: Joshua Hargrave. Clerk of Works: Barnard. (According to Robert Walker bridge was finished in 1863 and cost £17,000.)
Refs: B 15, 17 Jan 1857, 78; 17, 5 Mar 1859, 173; 18, 21 Jul 1860, 464; 19, 2 Mar,19 Nov 1861,21 Dec 147,759,887;  DB 1, 1 May,1 Dec 1859, 62,155; 2, 1 Jul 1860, 297; 3, 1 Feb,1 Aug,15 Dec 1861, 415,593,712;  Irish Times, 12 Nov 1859;  Cork Examiner, 12 Dec 1861 (information from Ronnie Herlihy, Cork); MS notes by R. Walker, Cork city surveyor, c. 1890;  Colin Rynne, The Industrial Archaeology of Cork City and its Environs  (1999),194

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, GRAND PARADE, BERWICK FOUNTAIN
Date: 1860
Nature: Designed by JB. Completed Dec 1860.
Refs: Cork Examiner Jul 20, Dec 17 1860 (information from Ronnie Herlihy, 2009).

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, GRAND PARADE, NO. 046 (CORK CITY CLUB)
Date: 1860-61
Nature: New front and wing. Work in progress Aug 1860. Contractor: Daniel (or David?) Barrett.
Refs: Cork Constitution, 29 Aug 1860 (information from Ronnie Herlihy, Cork); DB 3, 1 Jan,1 Feb 1861, 390,415

Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, PATRICK STREET, ST PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL (CI)
Date: 1861
Nature: Benson consulted by Benjamin Lee Guinness.
Refs: DB 3, 1 May 1861, 491

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, VEGETABLE & FOWL MARKET
Date: 1862
Nature: New. Opened 'recently'. Two houses attached to it. Cost about £2,000. For Cork Corporation.
Refs: Irish Times, 2 Jan 1863; DB 5, 15 Jan 1863, 11

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, PRINCE'S STREET, MARKET
Date: 1862
Nature: New root market (now part of English Market). Completed Nov 1862.
Refs: Cork Examiner, 1 Nov 1862 (information from Ronnie Herlihy, 2009).

Building: CO. CORK, VICTORIA QUAY
Date: 1862-63
Nature: Part of same designed by JB.  Contractor: Joshua Hargrave.
Refs: Information from Ronnie Herlihy, Cork (Mar 2009).

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, NORTHGATE BRIDGE
Date: 1863
Nature: New bridge replacing early 18th-century bridge. Single cast-iron arch (by Rankin & Co., Liverpool) with stone abutments (built by Barry McMullen). Work supervised by Jerome J. Collins. Opened on St Patrick's Day, 1864. Cost £8,1500. (Replaced by Griffith's Bridge, 1961.)
Refs: MS notes by R. Walker, Cork city surveyor, c. 1890;  Colin Rynne, The Industrial Archaeology of Cork City and its Environs  (1999),194-5.

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, GLASHEEN, ST FINN BARRE'S CEMETERY
Date: 1867
Nature: 2 mortuary chapels in English Decorated style in new cemetery. Contractor: James Hunter, Bandon.
Refs: IB 9, 1 Jul 1867, 172

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, OLIVER PLUNKETT STREET, THEATRE ROYAL
Date: 1867
Nature: Major refurbishment. (Building bought by Postmaster General as site for new Post Office, 1873.)
Refs: DB 8. 1 May 1866, 119;  Cork Constitution, 22 Nov 167;  IB 15, 1 Apr 1873, 99

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, CATHEDRAL(RC) (PROPOSED)
Date: 1869
Nature: Proposed new cathedral in geometric Gothic style.
Refs: IB 11, 15 Jul,15 Sep 1869, 165,212-3; B 27, 18 Sep 1869, 742

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, GLANMIRE ROAD LOWER, CHURCH OF ST PATRICK (RC)
Date: 1872
Nature: Enlargement 'being proceeded with'. Builder: Barry McMullen..
Refs: IB 14, 15 Dec 1872, 339

Building: CO. CORK, FOTA HOUSE
Date: 1872
Nature: Billiard room, conservatory & heating apparatus. For A.H. Smith Barry. Contractor for building work: Richard Evans, Cork. Heating Contractors: Perrott & Sons, Hive Ironworks.
Refs: IB 14, 15 Dec 1872, 339

Building: CO. CORK, MIDLETON, CORK DISTILLERIES CO.
Date: 1873
Nature: Kiln & malt stores recently erected for Cork Distilleries Co. Contractor: Barry McMullen.
Refs: IB 15, 15 Apr 1873, 109

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, SUMMERHILL, CHURCH OF ST LUKE (CI)
Date: 1873
Nature: Romanesque extensions (with W.H. Hill). £6000.
Refs: IB 15, 1 Apr,15 Sep 1873, 99,246(illus.)

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, ALBERT STREET, RAILWAY STATION (CORK, BLACKROCK & PASSAGE RAILWAY)
Date: 1873a
Nature: New railway terminus replacing one at Victoria Road. Officially opened  6 Feb1873 (but 'business of the General Offices will be conducted as usual at the Old Station (Victoria Road), until further notice'). Contractor: Joshua Hargrave. (Attr. to JB by Rynne but but appears to be based on Hargrave's design for company's former terminus in Victoria Road.)
Refs: Colin Rynne, The Industrial Archaeology of Cork City and its Environs  (1999), 205,218(illus.);  Cork Examiner, 1 Feb 1873 (information from Roger Herlihy, Cork);  Roger Herlihy, A Walk through the South Parish (Cork: Red Abbey Publications, 2010), 26-28(illus.).

Building: CO. SLIGO, SLIGO, HIGH STREET, HOLY CROSS PRIORY (DOMINICAN)
Date: ?
Nature: Designed by JB.
Refs: Terence O'Rorke, History of the parishes of Ballysadare & Kilvarnet (Dublin, 1878), 126

Building: CO. CORK, BEECHMOUNT
Date: ?
Nature: House designed by JB.
Refs: Richard J. Hodges, Cork and County Cork in the Twentieth Century (1911), 99

Building: CO. SLIGO, COOLERA, CHURCH (CI)
Date: ?
Nature: -
Refs: Terence O'Rorke, History of the parishes of Ballysadare & Kilvarnet (Dublin, 1878), 126

Building: CO. CORK, CORK, CORNMARKET STREET, POLICE OFFICE
Date: ?
Nature: New. Completed May 1858.
Refs: Cork Examiner, 13 Jan,24 Feb,5 May 1858 (information from Ronnie Herlihy).

Building: CO. SLIGO, SLIGO, HOUSE
Date: ?
Nature: 'Colonel Barrett's cottage'. Picturesque
Refs: Terence O'Rorke, History of the parishes of Ballysadare & Kilvarnet (Dublin, 1878), 126

Building: CO. SLIGO, SLIGO, GEORGE ALLEN'S COTTAGE
Date: ?
Nature: -
Refs: Terence O'Rorke, History of the parishes of Ballysadare & Kilvarnet (Dublin, 1878), 126

Building: CO. SLIGO, COLLOONEY, CAMPHILL LINEN OFFICE
Date: ?
Nature: -
Refs: Terence O'Rorke, History of the parishes of Ballysadare & Kilvarnet (Dublin, 1878), 126

Building: CO. SLIGO, COLLOONEY, MARKET HOUSE
Date: ?
Nature: Portico by Benson.
Refs: Terence O'Rorke, History of the parishes of Ballysadare & Kilvarnet (Dublin, 1878), 126

Building: CO. SLIGO, COLLOONEY, SIMS'S MILLS
Date: ?
Nature: -
Refs: Terence O'Rorke, History of the parishes of Ballysadare & Kilvarnet (Dublin, 1878), 126

Author Title Date Details
B---n, J., C.e. (john Benson?) 'Agricultural Improvement of Ireland'
1844 Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal 7  ar 1844), 101-103.  (This article is signed 'J. B---N, C.E.' amd dated 'Parsonstown, Feb. 26, 1844').
Benson, John 'An account of the Carrigaline Bridge over the River Lee' 1848 TICEI 3 (1848), 57.
Benson, John 'An account of the bridge built on theWestern entrance to Cork' 1849 TICEI 4, Pt. 1 (1849), 1.