William Robertson (Irish architect)

Last updated

William Robertson
Rosehill House, Kilkenny.png
Rosehill House, where he resided until his death
Born1770
Died1850
Kilkenny
Other namesWilliam Robinson
Alma mater Royal Dublin Society
OccupationArchitect
SpouseCatherine Jones
ParentWilliam Robertson & Margery Jones
Awardssilver medal for drawing (1795)
BuildingsSt. Canice's Church, Waterford Courthouse, Kilkenny Jail
Projects Kilkenny Castle (remodelled), St. Canice's Cathedral

William Robertson, an Irish architect, was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, some days before 4 December 1770. [1] He attended the Dublin Society where he was awarded with a silver medal for his drawing skills in 1795. [2]

Contents

After some years in London, he returned to Kilkenny, where he designed the Gaol, St. Canice's Church and the Psychiatric Hospital ("Lunatic Asylum"). He also remodelled Kilkenny Castle and worked on his baptismal church St. Mary's and St. John's Priory. [3] Furthermore, he worked on other buildings in his home county as well as buildings in County Cork, County Tipperary, [4] County Laois and County Waterford. [5] William Robertson's work has been confused in the past with that of Daniel Robertson, so that some work attributed to Daniel has been re-attributed to William by now. [6]

William Robertson's grave in St. Mary's Graveyard William Robertsons Grave.png
William Robertson's grave in St. Mary's Graveyard

He died on 23 May 1850 at his home in Rosehill, Kilkenny [7] which he had also designed himself and is buried in St. Mary's Graveyard alongside his family. [8]

Early life

It is presumed that his father was William Robertson, a Scotsman who had come to Kilkenny from Aberdeenshire and had opened a nursery shop in High Street in 1765. [9] His mother was Margery Jones from Clonmel. [10] His older brother John (1767–1839) followed the father into the business. There is some confusion about his last name, his name appearing in the baptismal register of St. Mary's Church as "Robison" [11] as well as his enrollment at the Dublin Drawing School as "William Robinson". [12]

The London Years

In London, young William Robertson presumably worked for a London-based architect. His notebook shows great interest in architecture and gardening. [13] While in London, he exhibited sketches, amongst them one of Kilkenny Castle. [14] While in London, he published two books that show the influence of his father's profession:

His books were translated into French and German:

Family life

William Robertson married his first cousin Catherine Jones (1785–1872) from Clonmel in 1805. They had no children. [15]

Political life

He was liberal in his political views and supported Catholic Emancipation. He served Kilkenny as justice of peace, magistrate, alderman and was mayor of Kilkenny in 1831. [16] [17]

Impact in Ireland

By 1801, Robertson had returned to Kilkenny. [18] His first commission was the design of Kilkenny Gaol. He designed and worked on private houses for himself [19] [20] and others (Jenkinstown House, [21] Woodstock Estate) and was also involved in designing and working on public works like the Courthouse in Kilkenny (Grace's Old Castle), the entrance gate to St. Kieran's College, [22] several churches and the workhouses in Kilkenny and Carlow. [23]

Architectural style

In Kilkenny, William Robertson used the local stone Kilkenny Marble. He followed a Neo-Gothic style with the country houses [24] and public buildings, very likely influenced by his childhood in Kilkenny. His own town-houses in Kilkenny are more influenced by the Georgian style. [25] Some elements like hood moulds are practical as well as ornamental, whereas his stone plaques are merely decorational. In Kilkenny Castle and Rosehill House, he used oriel windows [26] which might have been influenced by the one on Rothe House. His quatrefoils can be found in his sacral architecture as well as secular buildings built and remodelled by him [27] (see photographs of St. Mary's Church, St. Canice's Cathedral and Kilkenny Castle).

Some examples of William Robertson's works include

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">County Kilkenny</span> County in Ireland

County Kilkenny is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the county. At the 2022 census the population of the county was 103,685. The county was based on the historic Gaelic kingdom of Ossory (Osraighe), which was coterminous with the Diocese of Ossory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kilkenny</span> City in Leinster, Ireland

Kilkenny is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2022 census gave the population of Kilkenny as 27,184, the thirteenth-largest urban center in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castlepollard</span> Village in County Westmeath, Ireland

Castlepollard is a village in north County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland. It lies west of Lough Lene and northeast of Lough Derravaragh and Mullingar.

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. What are unaccountably somewhat less famous are the still complete Palladian and Rococo country houses which can be favourably compared to anything similar in northern Europe, and the country's many Gothic and neo-Gothic cathedrals and buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cainnech of Aghaboe</span> Irish abbot and saint (c. 515 – 600)

Cainnech of Aghaboe (515/16–600), also known as Saint Canice in Ireland, Saint Kenneth in Scotland, Saint Kenny and in Latin Sanctus Canicus, was an Irish abbot, monastic founder, priest and missionary during the early medieval period. Cainnech is one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland and preached Christianity across Ireland and to the Picts in Scotland. He wrote a commentary on the Gospels, which for centuries was known as the Glas-Choinnigh or Kenneth's Lock or the Chain of Cainnech.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bennettsbridge</span> Village in County Killkenny, Ireland

Bennettsbridge is a village in County Kilkenny in Ireland. It is situated on the River Nore 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south of Kilkenny city, in the centre of the county. Bennettsbridge is a census town, and had population of 745 as of the 2016 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Peter's Church, Ennisnag, Kilkenny</span> Church in County Kilkenny, Ireland

Saint Peter's Church, Ennisnag is a church of the United Dioceses of Cashel and Ossory and the ecclesiastical province of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel in the (Anglican) Church of Ireland. The church lies beside the Kings River, one mile north of Stoneyford village in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Located in the townland of Ennisnag, in the barony of Shillelogher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny</span> Church in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland

St Mary's is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ossory. It is situated on James's Street, Kilkenny, Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paulstown</span> Village in County Kilkenny, Ireland

Paulstown is a small village in County Kilkenny in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravensdale, County Louth</span> Village in County Louth, Ireland

Ravensdale is a village, townland and electoral division located at the foothills of the Cooley Mountains on the Cooley Peninsula in the north of County Louth in Ireland. Bordering with the townland of Doolargy, Ravensdale is approximately 8 km to the north of Dundalk. The dual carriageway between Dublin and Belfast runs nearby, and the R174 connects it with Jenkinstown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Canice's Cathedral</span> Church of Ireland cathedral in County Kilkenny, Ireland

St Canice's Cathedral, also known as Kilkenny Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Kilkenny city, Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin. Previously the cathedral of the Diocese of Ossory, it is now one of six cathedrals in the United Dioceses of Cashel and Ossory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Kilkenny</span>

The history of Kilkenny began with an early sixth-century ecclesiastical foundation, this relates to a church built in honour of St. Canice, now St. Canice's Cathedral and was a major monastic centre from at least the eighth century. The Annals of the Four Masters recorded the first reference Cill Chainnigh in 1085. Prehistoric activity has been recorded suggesting intermittent settlement activity in the area in the Mesolithic and Bronze Age. Information on the history of Kilkenny can be found from newspapers, photographs, letters, drawings, manuscripts and archaeology. Kilkenny is documented in manuscripts from the 13th century onwards and one of the most important of these is Liber Primus Kilkenniensis.

Hervey Morres, 1st Viscount Mountmorres, was an Irish landowner and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary's Collegiate Church, Gowran</span> Church in County Kilkenny, Ireland

St. Mary’s Collegiate Church Gowran, also known as the Church of the Blessed Virgin of the Assumption, is a church in the centre of the town of Gowran, County Kilkenny, Ireland. The site is a National Monument in the care of the Gowran Development Association (GDA) and the Office of Public Works (OPW). The church and its family connections have been of huge importance to Gowran and further afield over the centuries. The church is a collegiate church, which means that the priests or chaplains attached to it lived in community together. The present church was not a monastery or an abbey; however experts believe the church was built on the site of an earlier monastery. The presence of an Ogham stone on the site, which is on display in the chancel, suggests there was a place of worship here dating back 2000 years to Celtic times or beyond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green's Bridge</span> Bridge in County Kilkenny, Ireland

Green's Bridge, or Greensbridge, is an elegant, Palladian-style, limestone arch bridge that crosses the river Nore in Kilkenny, Ireland. The bridge is a series of five elliptical arches of high-quality carved limestone masonry with a two-arch culvert to the east. Its graceful profile, architectural design value, and civil engineering heritage endow it with national significance. Historian Maurice Craig described it as one of the five-finest bridges in Ireland. It was built by William Colles and designed by George Smith, and was completed in 1766. The bridge was 250 years old in 2016.

Eland Mossom, Esq. M.P. was a lawyer, recorder of the City of Kilkenny, and representative in the Parliament of Ireland for the Borough of St Canice in Irishtown. He was the eldest son of Dean of Kilkenny Robert Mossom. He resided at Mount Eland, near Ballyraggett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Canice's Hospital</span> Hospital in County Kilkenny, Ireland

St. Canice's Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Percy Le Clerc</span> Inspector of National Monuments in Ireland

William Percival "Percy" Le Clerc was Inspector of National Monuments in Ireland from 1949 to 1974, making him responsible for the preservation of buildings already classified as National Monuments. He also made decisions on which further buildings in Ireland should be brought into state ownership or guardianship. He was a founding member of the Irish Georgian Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenkinstown Castle</span> Historic house in County Kilkenny

Jenkinstown Castle was a country house using designs by William Robertson which incorporated the earlier Palladian building (pre-1798). This structure was built for Sir Patrick Bellew (1798-1866), first Baron Bellew of Barmeath at Jenkinstown Park, County Kilkenny, Ireland. However the design had serious structural issues, and the Bellews hired architect Charles Frederick Anderson to remedy the situation. However, some of that structure collapsed. The architect left Ireland and moved to the USA. The house was restored in a smaller version and remained occupied by the Bellew family until the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary's Church, Kilkenny</span> Church in Kilkenny City, Ireland

St. Mary's Church was a church in Kilkenny, Ireland, first built in 1202 at the time of the Norman settlement of the town. The church building was deconsecrated in 1957 and has been used as the Medieval Mile Museum since 2017.

References

  1. John Lucey: William Robertson (1770-1850), Kilkenny's First Architect, in: Old Kilkenny Review 2018, p. 144
  2. "William Robertson". Dictionary of Irish Architects. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  3. "St. John's Priory". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
  4. "Lismacue House". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  5. Lucey, pp.161-163
  6. Lucey, pp. 166
  7. "DEATHS". Kilkenny Moderator (23 May): 3. 1850.
  8. Buggy, Madge. "St Mary's Graveyard (off High St.)" (PDF). Kilkenny Archaeological Society. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  9. Lucey, p. 142
  10. Buggy, Madge. "St Mary's Graveyard (off High St.)" (PDF). Kilkenny Archaeological Society. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  11. Lucey, p. 144
  12. Lucey, p. 144
  13. "William Robertson". Dictionary of Irish Architects. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  14. "William Robertson". Dictionary of Irish Architects. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  15. Lucey, John (2018). "William Robertson (1770-1850), Kilkenny's First Architect". Old Kilkenny Review : 141.
  16. Patterson, Tony (2002). "Mayors of the City of Kilkenny 1609-2002". Old Kilkenny Review : 97.
  17. Lucey, John (2018). "William Robertson (1770-1850), Kilkenny's First Architect". Old Kilkenny Review : 141.
  18. "William Robertson". Dictionary of Irish Architects. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  19. "William Street". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  20. "John G. Hayes and Company, William Street". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  21. "Jenkinstown House". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  22. "Saint Kieran's College". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  23. Lucey, p.161-163
  24. "Kilrush House". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  25. Lucey, p. 163
  26. Lucey, p.165
  27. Lucey, p.163