The vision of the Irish Georgian Society is to conserve, protect and foster an interest and a respect for Ireland’s architectural heritage and decorative arts.
Learn more about the IGS
A Student's Perspective of 'Conservation Without Frontiers' Cross-Border Summer School 2019 - Viktoria Hevesi, an architecture student at Technological University Dublin (TUD) and one of this year's summer school scholarship recipients wrote a short blog about her experience at this year's summer school. Read it here. (Image: Students gathered outside the Masonic Hall, Cavan town, on the second day of the summer school, 21 June 2019)
City Assembly House wins 2019 RIAI Award for Adaptation and Re-use: Conservation - Marking the 30th year of its prestigious architecture awards, RIAI announced 23 Award Winners across 14 categories. The building architects were Consarc Design Group Ltd. Read more.
(Image: Nicola Woods)
Doneraile Court, Co. Cork reopens to the public - The OPW has re-opened Doneraile Court, Co. Cork, following a major refurbishment program. The IGS has lent a number of artworks and items of furniture, some of which were donated during the 1970s and 80s when the Society was restoring the house. More Information.
IGS submission on the government's Climate Change Adaptation Sectoral Plan for Built & Archaeological Heritage - In its submission to the government’s public consultation for a Climate Change Adaptation Sectoral Plan, the IGS made the following recommendation Read the IGS submission in full online.
Kildare Heritage Buildings Show at Castletown House - The show took place on the weekend of 15 & 16 June in the recently restored farmyard of Castletown House, supported by Kildare County Council and OPW. The annual exhibition promotes the need for and availability of traditional building skills in the conservation and care of historic building. More information.
Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies, Volume XXI: Volume XXI of Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies, the Journal of the Irish Georgian Society, edited by Dr. Finola O'Kane, is now available for purchase from the IGS bookshop, priced at €25. Buy online.
16.07.2019
Members should be made aware that the City Assembly House and IGS bookshop will be closed to the public for a private event from Monday 22 July and normal opening hours will resume on Monday 29 July.
10.07.2019
Summer School group at Ballyhaise House, Co. Cavan
This year’s ‘Conservation Without Frontiers’ summer school took place in Co. Fermanagh and Cavan. The 3-day school focused on exploring many challenges facing Irish towns, and the opportunities for enhancement through sustainable heritage-led regeneration to benefit built heritage, the local economy and the wider community. It was exciting, refreshing and re-assuring to see such important subject matters being tied back to our current and most relevant concerns, such as climate change.
Students pictured at the Cole Monument (1845-57), Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh on the first day of the summer school
08.07.2019
A research initiative being undertaken jointly through Queen’s University Belfast and Cardiff University is contrasting stakeholder perceptions of planning in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Wales. It is designed to explore the role and extent of stakeholder engagement with the planning systems; views of the planning systems in relation to the public interest and other issues; changes in perceptions, based on a survey of a comparable stakeholder population in Northern Ireland, carried out in 2011; perceived relationships between various stakeholders; and priorities for reform or change.
The research is based on a major online survey of individuals to represent those citizens and public, private and voluntary sector interests with direct involvement with the planning systems. This survey will be live from the end of June until 30 September 2019 and members and supporters of the Irish Georgian Society have been invited to participate in this. The survey can be accessed at https://bit.ly/31JW4IK and further information is available here.
28.06.2019
The rejuvenation of North Great George’s Street, one of the principal streets of Georgian Dublin, into a living, breathing street is celebrated in this exhibition. The exhibition was organised by the members of the North Great George’s Street Preservation Society, (NGGSPS), which this year is celebrating 40 years since its foundation. Each member has played their individual part in restoring the street and its houses to their former glory.
North Great George’s Street was originally built as town houses for the gentry between the middle and end of the 18th century. The Act of Union in 1801 quickly marked its decline when the gentry moved to London. The street then became home largely to the medical and legal professions, but it went into massive decline in the early part of the 20th century in poverty ridden Dublin as many of the houses were turned into tenements.
24.06.2019
The Office of Public Works (OPW) has re-opened Doneraile Court, Co. Cork, following a major refurbishment program. Hundreds of people queued up for the official reopening on Saturday 22 June to see inside a house that has been closed for some 25 years. The IGS has lent a number of artworks and items of furniture, some of which were donated during the 1970s and 80s when the Society was restoring the house. Well done to all involved!
17.06.2019
Irish Georgian Society staff and volunteers at the Kildare Heritage Buildings Show at Castletown House: Executive Director Donough Cahill; IGS volunteer Tatiana Smith-St Kitts; Programmes and Communications Coordinator, Zoë Coleman; Kildare County Council Heritage Officer Bridget Loughlin; Assistant Director and Conservation Manager Emmeline Henderson, OPW Minister Kevin 'Boxer' Moran; IGS Membership and Events Coordinator Róisín Lambe
Pictured at the launch of the Kildare Heritage Buildings Show at Castletown House on 15 June: Bridget Loughlin, Heritage Officer KCC; Emmeline Henderson, IGS Assistant Director & Conservation Manager, IGS; Liam McGree, Acting Director of Services, Kildare County Council; Donough Cahill, IGS Executive Director; Cathaoirleach Suzanne Doyle, Kildare County Council; Peter Black, Architectural Conservation Officer, Kildare County Council; Camilla McAleese, IGS Vice President; OPW Minister Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran; John Cahill, OPW Assistant Principal Architect; Michael Wall, IGS Chairperson; and Jacqui Donnelly, Senior Architect, Department of Culture Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
