Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

Engineer with the Office of Public Works. John Chaloner Smith, a son of JOHN CHALONER SMITH [1] JOHN CHALONER SMITH [1] , was born in Co. Mayo on 7 November 1870.(1) He served his articles with THOMAS BENJAMIN GRIERSON  THOMAS BENJAMIN GRIERSON from 1888 until 1891 and with BERKELEY DEANE WISE BERKELEY DEANE WISE , chief engineer of the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway, from 1891 to 1892, remaining as Wise's assistant until the end of 1893. He was then employed by the railway contractor Robert Worthington on the Achill extension line and other works until July 1896, when he became an assistant to EDMUND KEVILLE DIXON EDMUND KEVILLE DIXON , who was then engaged on alterations and additions to the district lunatic asylum at Castlebar, Co. Mayo. At the end of 1896 or shortly afterwards, he joined the engineering department of the Office of Public Works as an inspector, a post which he held for the rest of his life. He became a leading expert in the subject of water levels and rainfall, and his private hydrological research into the flow of the Shannon over a thirty year period formed the basis of the Shannon Hydro-Electric scheme.(2) Like his father, he was an active member of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland. He died at home in Donnybrook on 14 October 1932 and was buried in Deansgrange cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Geraldine, the second daughter of Dr. J. O'Malley Knott, FRCSI, of Castlebar, Co. Mayo, whom he had married circa 1896, and daughters.

ICEI:(3) elected member, 2 December 1896;(4) council member, 1912-13,1920-21,1927-1930; hon. secretary, 1921-26; vice-president, 1930-32; winner of Mullins Gold Medal, 1919, for paper, 'Notes on the average volume of flow from large catchment areas', read 6 January 1919;(5); wins Smith Premium for paper, 'A rational method of eliminating flood effects from a series of river gaugings', read 5 February 1923.(6) wins Smith Premium for paper, 'Some notes on the prospects of a revival of arterial drainage work in Ireland', read 5 November 1923.(7)

Addresses:(8) Work: Infirmary House, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, 1896.
Home: 11 Alma Terrace, Ballsbridge, 1898; 33 Pembroke Park, 1911; 121 Morehampton Road, <=1911->=1913; 11 Mount Eden Road, Donnybrook, 1924 until death.

See WORKS and BIBLIOGRAPHY. BIBLIOGRAPHY.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from ICEI membership applications, III, 67, from the obituary of Smith in IB 74, 22 Oct 1932, 944, and from the 1911 Census, http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000124056/ (last visited Mar 2009).

(1) Headstone in Dean's Grange Cemetery (B.O'D.).
(2) TICEI 51 (1924-25), 261-2.
(3) From Jones transcripts from lists of office bearers in TICEI unless otherwise stated..
(4) TICEI 26 (1896-97), 176.
(5) TICEI 45 (1918-19), 176.
(6) TICEI 49 (1922-23), 249.
(7) TICEI 50 (1923-24), 2.
(8) From lists of members in TICEI.


2 work entries listed in chronological order for SMITH, JOHN CHALONER [2]


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Building: CO. CARLOW, BARROW DRAINAGE SCHEME
Date: ?
Nature: Scheme devised by JCS and 'Professor Myer Peter, a Swiss hydraulic engineer'; work directed by JCS.
Refs: Obituary of JCS in IB 74, 22 Oct 1932, 944

Building: CO. GALWAY, CLEGGAN, PIER
Date: ?
Nature: Construction of same, for OPW.
Refs: Obituary of JCS in IB 74, 22 Oct 1932, 944

Author Title Date Details
Smith, John Chaloner 'Notes upon the average volume of flow from large catchment areas in Ireland…deduced from gaugings of the River Shannon at Killaloe 1919 TICEI 45 (1918-19), 41-118.
Smith, John Chaloner 'Notes upon a rational method of eliminating flood effects from a series of river gaugings' 1923 TICEI 49 (1922-3), 126-159.
Smith, John Chaloner 'Some notes on the prospects of a revival of arterial drainage works in Ireland' 1924 TICEI 50 (1923-24), 2-26.
Smith, John Chaloner 'Arterial Drainage with some reference to the River Barrow'
1931 Department of Agriculture Journal 30, No 1 (Stationery Office, Dublin, 1931) (information from Brian J. Goggin, Castleconnell, Co. Limerick, 2011).