Architecture of Ireland
The architecture of Ireland is one of the most visible features in the Irish countryside – with remains from all eras since the Stone Age abounding.
Ireland is famous for its ruined and intact Norman and Anglo-Irish castles, small whitewashed thatched cottages and Georgian urban buildings.
Despite the oft-times significant British and wider European influence, the fashion and trends of architecture have been adapted to suit the peculiarities of the particular location.
Variations of stone (particularly limestone, granite and sandstone), lime mortar, wood, sod, cob and straw are prevalent materials in traditional Irish architecture.
They were possibly defensive in nature, serving as lookout posts and a place of refuge during an attack (the door to such structures was usually quite high off the ground).
It was the Normans who brought the Gothic style to Ireland, with such buildings as Christ Church and St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.
This was epitomised by the buildings designed by Sir William Robinson between the 1670s and early 1700s, most notably the Royal Hospital Kilmainham and Marsh's Library.
Also notable was Thomas Burgh (1670–1730), the architect of Trinity College Library (1712), Dr Steevens' Hospital (1719) and the Royal Barracks (1702).
In the early 18th century classical Palladian architecture swept through Ireland, the driving force behind this new fashion was the Irish architect Edward Lovett Pearce.
Castletown house was a milestone in Irish architecture, designed originally by the Italian Alessandro Galilei, circa 1717, in the manner of an Italian town palazzo, for Ireland's most influential man, the politician Speaker William Conolly, it set a new standard and fashion in Irish architecture.
Through Castletown and his later work, including the Irish Houses of Parliament, Pearce had firmly established many of the Italian architectural concepts in Ireland.
Palladianism in Ireland often differed from that elsewhere in Europe because of the ornate rococo interiors, often with stucco by Robert West and the Lafranchini brothers.
Elsewhere in Dublin, George Semple built St Patrick's Hospital (1747) and Thomas Cooley the Royal Exchange (1769; now City Hall).
By this time the Palladian style had evolved further, and the strict rules of mathematical ratio and axis dictated by Palladio had been all but abandoned.
He also left a number of very fine buildings, including St. George's Church, Hardwicke Place and the Viceregal Lodge in the Phoenix Park.
This latter now serves as Áras an Uachtaráin, the official residence of the President of Ireland, and is one possible model for the White House in Washington.
Leinster House also claims this distinction, and the Neoclassical Castle Coole in County Fermanagh designed by James Wyatt bears an even greater similarity.
The building has been largely rebuilt since its original construction, mainly due to severe damage incurred in the Easter Rising in 1916.
These included several rather elegant statues of figures such as Queen Victoria, Daniel O'Connell and Henry Grattan.
The design is typical of Irish Gothic; it blends Corinthian and Doric orders and is decorated with Sicilian marble and Caen stone.
In January 1940, the Art Deco Dublin airport opened, designed by Desmond FitzGerald and the Office of Public Works.
[23] Michael Scott, its designer, is now considered one of the most important architects of the twentieth century in Ireland[24] – however the original structure has become dilapidated and dated.
Stephenson designed the Civic Offices (1979) and the Central Bank of Ireland (1980), both of which generated considerable controversy at the time of their construction.
Patrick O'Donovan has observed that in the nineteenth century there was "a brilliant explosion" of domestic architecture borne of the opportunities that plate glass, Art Nouveau and classical and gothic themes all offered up at the time.
