James Hoban 1758-1831: Born in Co. Kilkenny and trained in the drawing school of the Royal Dublin Society, Hoban practised briefly in Dublin before establishing himself first in Philadelphia and then in Charleston, South Carolina. The influence and friendship of George Washington set him on a career path to becoming America's first Federal Architect, and the only professional to survive the early decades of the new republic with his reputation and his fortune intact. He was involved in the planning or execution of virtually every major and notable public building project up to the early decades of the 19th. century. His legacy is The White House; he designed it (1792), built it (1800), rebuilt it after its burning (1814), and was still supervising additions and renovations in the late 1820s, being associated with the first seven U.S. Presidents in their visions and plans for the executive mansion.
Benjamin Latrobe*1764-1820: Son of a Dublin-born pastor, Latrobe built an impressive early professional career in architecture in London before the death of his wife caused him to seek a fresh beginning in Virginia and Philadelphia. A favored associate of Thomas Jefferson, he was involved in the progression of the stalled Capitol project and also designed many private residences in the Washington area. Despite a major commission for Baltimore's Catholic Cathedral, his later years were turbulent both professionally and personally, and he died while engaged in a water engineering project in New Orleans at age 56.
James Gallier Sr. 1798-1866: Son of a local builder, Dundalk-born James Gallagher spent part of his early life in England, where he obtained work superintending a prison project for an established architectural firm. He emigrated to New York in 1832 and gained professional training at a practice there before moving to New Orleans where he prospered in independent practice and in partnership as James Gallier from 1836 to 1849. He designed many public buildings in Louisiana and Alabama as well as individual residences and commercial projects. His legacy includes Gallier Hall and the Boston Club buildings in New Orleans and Barton Academy in Mobile, the first public school building in Alabama. His son, James Jr., continued the practice on the premature retirement of his father in 1849, due to failing eyesight (see 16 below).
William Tinsley 1804-1885: William Tinsley was born in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary to a family established in the construction business, and during the first forty years of his life was involved in the building of bridges, small country houses and churches, for some of which he is also credited as designer. The training in architecture he acquired during these years was applied to a town plan for the town of Cahir and this may have given him the confidence to set up in Cincinnati as an architect when he arrived there with his large family in 1851.He designed college buildings, churches, cemeteries and prisons in Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin, working mainly for the Episcopal denomination, but is best remembered for the Tyler Davidson Fountain, commissioned by a property magnate to mark and enhance the symbolic centre of Cincinnati. He died at the age of 81, and was commemorated in his native area in 2006 with the restoration of a dovecote originally designed by him.
Thomas Stewart 1806-1876: Thomas Stewart emigrated from Co. Antrim to Philadelphia at the age of 12 to join his uncle, a master-carpenter in that city. After further apprenticeships he began to enter major architectural competitions from 1830. In Philadelphia he designed Pennsylvania Hall and St. Luke's Church, the latter impressing citizens in Richmond, who invited him to design St. Paul's, completed in 1845 and Richmond Medical College, regarded as his finest work. In his later years he acted as adviser and consultant to several local authorities, preparing designs for bridges and viaducts.
Charles Cluskey 1807-1871: This versatile and personable practitioner arrived from Ireland in Georgia in 1829 and began a practice of building design that produced several important buildings in the upstate, including a chapel at the University of Georgia in Athens, the Georgia Female College at Macon, the Medical College at Augusta and the Governor's Mansion at the then state capital in Milledgeville, as well as a lighthouse at St. Simon's Island. From 1839 he focused on Savannah itself, acting as ward politician, shipping agent and builder in addition to designing several impressive mansions. In 1847 he moved to Washington DC where he produced designs and reports for federal building projects. His Georgia work vindicates his reputation, particularly the Old Governor's Mansion, which has now undergone extensive renovation and restoration. Mansion Website
Henry Howard 1818-1884: After early training as a carpenter, Henry Howard emigrated from Cork to the U.S. at the age of 17. Following a short period in New York , he established himself in New Orleans in the late 1830s, obtaining further training from James Gallier's partner Charles Dakin. From 1846 he was preparing his own designs for impressive plantation houses such as Madewood and Woodlawn, the massive Nottaway (the largest plantation house in the South at 63000 sq. ft), the Pontalba Apartments in Jackson Square, and a number of churches and rectories. He also designed buildings for Natchez, Mississippi and Whitney, Texas.
James Gallier Jr.* 1827-1868: Born during his father's sojourn in England (see above), James Gallier Jr. was five when the family emigrated to the U.S. After education at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and in the design offices of Thomas Wharton, he took over his father's New Orleans practice in 1849 when the latter's sight failed. He is associated with over fifty projects in Louisiana, including the rebuilding of the downtown Christ Church (now a private club), on the original of which his father also worked. His most accessible and interesting project is his own residence in Royal Street, now restored and open to the public, which incorporated many advanced ideas for domestic living. Like his father, he died tragically before his time.
Jeremiah O'Rourke 1833-1915: Though he had worked for almost forty years as an architect specialising in churches (see Section D) , in 1893 O'Rourke accepted the position of Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury, in effect the Chief Federal Architect of the United States. In this position (which he held for only a few years when he was in his early sixties) he was credited with the design of the Federal Buildings and U.S. Courthouse in Savannah (where an impression of his face is said to be incorporated into the design), the Old Federal Building in New Orleans, and the old Post Office (now Erie Community College) in Buffalo, New York.
The Federal Building at the corner of Broad and Meeting Streets in Charleston, opposite the work of his countrymen Cardy (St. Michael's Church and the the original Colonial Statehouse Building) and Hoban (the 1792 reconstruction of Cardy's building as The Historic Courthouse).
As the dawn of a professional age spread to the pursuit of building design in the British colonies of North America, Irish-born architects schooled in the traditions of their native island grouping made their presence known in the counsels of those who were prominent in the revolutionary movement. Beginning with the Executive Mansion, their achievements down to the present day continue to impress out of all proportion to their numbers.
Masters of the Mainstream
