03.11.2020, 18:30 P.M.

This talk is the fifth in the Irish Country House Architecture nine week on-line lecture series presented by the Irish Georgian Society, in association with the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates (CSHIHE), University of Maynooth.

Neo-Classical Country House (Abbeyleix, Castle Coole, Curraghmore, Westport, Headfort) by Dr Conor Lucey

While Ireland’s longstanding cultural, economic and political relationship with Great Britain gave rise to a shared architectural sensibility, design in the early Georgian period was largely the province of architects resident in Ireland. From mid-century, however, Irish patrons increasingly turned to British architects for houses and interiors in the neoclassical idiom, typically realised through a process of design by correspondence. With reference to the designs of Robert Adam, James Wyatt and others, this talk will consider the impetus for a new direction in architectural design and architectural patronage.

Conor Lucey is Assistant Professor in the School of Art History and Cultural Policy at University College Dublin, and President of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. His recent book, Building Reputations: Architecture and the Artisan, 1750-1830 (Manchester University Press, 2018) was awarded the Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion by the SAHGB in 2019, and shortlisted for the Historians of British Art prize in 2020.

Book for this pre-recorded online Zoom lecture.

Acknowledgments

Irish Country House Architecture lectures have been inspired by the late Hon. Desmond Guinness who was a tireless champion of the Irish country house, through the establishment of the Irish Georgian Society, the saving of Castletown house for the nation, and the writing of publications that celebrated the Irish country house, such as Irish Houses and Castles (1973) and Great Irish Houses and Castles (1992).

Irish Country House Architecture lectures form part of the IGS's Conservation Education Programme, which is supported by Merrion Properties and Heather and John Picerne. The Society also wishes to acknowledge the generous support of the London Chapter of the Irish Georgian Society and Ecclesiastical Insurance in sponsoring the Irish Country House Architecture lecture series.

Attendance at the lectures is recognised as formal CPD by the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland.