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
COVID-19 Update for Irish Georgian Society - The City Assembly House is closed to the public until early December, with all IGS staff working remotely. Staff can be contacted by phone and/or email. Our office hours are 10.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. Please review our COVID-19 Policy for the City Assembly House here.
(Image courtesy of Nicola Woods)
Death of Desmond Guinness, founder of the Irish Georgian Society - We are indebted to his legacy in founding the Society in 1958, together with the late Mariga Guinness. He boldly championed the cause of Ireland's architectural heritage at a time when it faced great challenges through neglect and the threat of demolition from new development. Sign Book of Condolence.
(Portrait of Desmond Guinness by Amelia Stein)
Irish Country House Architecture lecture series - Running over nine consecutive weeks (6 October to 1 December), these talks will chart the architectural evolution of Ireland’s finest country houses. The Irish Country House Architecture lectures have been inspired by the late Hon. Desmond Guinness who was a tireless champion of the Irish country house.
Book online here
“Saving Graces”- Conserving Ireland’s Architecture (2000-2020), 18 September to 30 October - A exhibition of restoration projects supported by the Irish Georgian Society over the past twenty years through its Chapters in the United States and in London. More information.
Traditional Building Skills Register: Our TBS Register was established to ensure that those undertaking conservation work can identify craftspeople and professionals with good conservation expertise. Find accredited architects, skilled craftsmen and contractors based in Ireland on our free online database.
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)
24.11.2020
Working on restoring Maudlin's Pyramids, Naas, Co. Kildare (2020)
Details of the Built Heritage Investment Scheme 2021 and the Historic Structures Fund 2021 have been announced. A total of €6m is being made available with €3m allocated to the Built Heritage Investment Scheme, and €3m allocated to the Historic Structures Fund.
13.11.2020
The Irish Georgian Society has appealed a decision by Cork City Council to grant permission for the demolition of the greater part of the Revenue Building, Cork, a protected structure, and the construction in its place of a 34-storey hotel and office tower. This proposal does not comply with the provisions of the city development plan and the relevant local area plan, runs contrary to good conservation practice, and would set a very worrying precedent for the future protection of our built heritage.
12.10.2020
The Hon. Desmond Guinness (1931-2020)
The Desmond Guinness Scholarship is awarded annually by the Irish Georgian Society to an applicant or applicants engaged in research on the visual arts of Ireland including the work of Irish architects, artists and craftsmen, material culture and design history, 1600-1940. Preference will be given to work based on original documentary research.
08.10.2020
Monalty House is situated in a drumlin landscape next to the N2 roadway and to the south of Monalty Lough, a proposed Natural Heritage Area. It was built c. 1770 by the Bath estate, is set overlooking a parkland and is approached by a tree lined avenue. A road widening proposal by Monaghan County Council threatens to significantly encroach on the demesne and parklands of this protected structure which is described by Kevin Mulligan as being “studiously proportioned” with an “attractive central limestone doorcase with engaged Tuscan columns” and a Doric frieze surmounted by a webbed fanlight (Buildings of Ireland – South Ulster, Yale, 2013).
In a submission to the Council, the IGS has contended that as a protected structure, Monalty House, its curtilage and attendant grounds should be protected from inappropriate development and noted that the Monaghan County Development Plan aims “to resist any development which is likely to impact on the building’s special interest and/ or any views of such buildings and their setting” (BHP 6).
04.09.2020
This exhibition will remained closed until late October, in accordance with government guidelines.
18 September to 30 October 2020
27.08.2020
The Irish Georgian Society has objected to a planning application that proposes the construction of a six-storey residential building to the rear of No. 38 North Great George’s Street, Dublin 1.
No. 38 was built in 1785 by Charles Thorpe who lived in the house and went on to become Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1800. It was later occupied by Professor John Pentland Mahaffy, founder of the original Georgian Society (1908 to 1913) and tutor of Oscar Wilde, and it is for him that the house is today named. Between the 1920s and 1960s the building deteriorated into tenement use but after its purchase by Desiree Shortt in 1975 it gradually underwent a long series of repairs and restorations which the Irish Georgian Society lent support to through its conservation grants programme.