Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

English architect, of London, for whom see Howard Colvin, A Biographical dictionary of British architects 1600-1840 (4th edn., 2008), 904-906. In 1805 Savage won the competition for rebuilding Ormond Bridge, Dublin, which had been swept away by floods in December 1802,(1) and exhibited his design at the Royal Academy in 1806.(2) It is not clear whether this is effectively the same design as the one which was accepted by the Ballast Board in 1808 and exhibited at the Academy in 1809 under the new name of Richmond Bridge.(3) According to de Courcy, there was 'some discussion in Dublin with George Halpin about the precise profile of the arches'(4) before the bridge was built in 1813-16.(5) The contractor, GEORGE KNOWLES GEORGE KNOWLES , adapted Savage's design when he built Whitworth Bridge, the next bridge upstream. According to Cox, Savage also 'assisted' Knowles in the creation of Lucan Bridge.(6)

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References



(1) 'Annals of Dublin' in Wilson's Dublin Directory (1825).
(2) Competition design, 1805, in RIBA Drawings Collection (see Margaret Richardson, ed., Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects S (1976), 21); exh. RA 1806, no. 933, and British Architectural Library Catalogue, http://riba.sirsidynix.net.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/mEzqWTXyFb/MAIN_CAT/180920086/13 (last visited Apr 2009).
(3) RA, 1809, no. 845;.
(4) J.W. de Courcy, The Liffey in Dublin(1996), 351; John S. Sloane gives responsibility for the Whitworth and Richmond bridges to George Halpin[1], IB 22, 1 Apr 1880, 99.
(5) 'Annals of Dublin', as above.
(6) R.C. Cox & M.H. Gould, Civil Engineering Heritage: Ireland (1998), 40


2 work entries listed in chronological order for SAVAGE, JAMES #


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Building: CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, RICHMOND BRIDGE
Date: 1805;1808?;1813
Nature: JS winner of 100 guinea premium in competition for same (after old Ormond Bridge was swept away 3 Dec 1802). ?New or revised design, 1808. FS laid 9 Aug 1813. Completed 16 Mar 1816. . Cost: £25,800. Contractor: George Knowles. For Corporation of the Port of Dublin (alias Ballast Board).
Refs: Competition design, 1805, in RIBA Drawings Collection (see Margaret Richardson, ed., Catalogue of the Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of British Architects S (1976), 21); design exh. RA 1806, no. 933, and another in 1809, no. 845; Warburton, Whitelaw & Walsh, History of Dublin II (1818), 1096; G. Petrie, Historical Guide to Dublin (1821)., ?; 'Annals of Dublin' in Wilson's Dublin Directory (1825); APSD S, 25; J.W. de Courcy, The Liffey in Dublin(1996), 351; Christine Casey, The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin (2005), 695. 

Building: CO. DUBLIN, LUCAN, BRIDGE
Date: 1814
Nature: Designed and built by George Knowles; 'assisted' by James Savage (Cox).
Refs: M.B. Mullins, 'Address of M.B. Mullins, Esq. AM, President, being an historical sketch of engineering in Ireland', TICEI 6 (1859-61), 39; Peter O'Keefe & Tom Simington, Irish Stone Bridges (1991), 272,272(illus.); R.C. Cox & M.H. Gould, Civil Engineering Heritage: Ireland (1998), 40(illus.).