WJ Barre, 1830-1867: A Vigorous Mind (Hardback)

Hardback
232 pages
246 photographs
280 x 220mm

William Joseph Barre (1830-1867), a native of Newry, Co. Down, who moved his practice to a burgeoning Belfast in 1860, was one of Ulster’s very best Victorian designers. His body of work, the product of an intense but tragically short life, is worthy of celebration anew in this comprehensive, beautifully illustrated monograph. Distinctive, original, eclectic, sometimes quirky and often dramatic, William Barre’s building designs form some of the richest components of Ulster’s built environment from the High Victorian period. From the landmark Albert Memorial Clock and the Ulster Hall in Belfast to Newry Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, St Anne’s Church of Ireland Church, Dungannon and Riverside Presbyterian Church, Newry, to name but a few of his many remarkable church designs, as well as impressive mansions for industrialists such as Danesfort House (now the US Consulate) and The Moat, both in Belfast, nearly all his surviving buildings are full of visual interest.

The volume is illustrated with specially commissioned photographs by David Bunting and covers Barre’s life and practice, his ecclesiastical, domestic, commercial, civic and memorial work, and includes a full gazetteer for those who wish to explore his buildings with fresh eyes and useful information to hand.

Dr Paul Harron wrote his doctorate on the Belfast-based practice of Young & Mackenzie and his book Architects of Ulster: Young & Mackenzie, a Transformational Provincial Practice 1850-1960, also published by UAH, was shortlisted for the Society of Architectural Historians of GB Colvin Prize in 2018. He has authored many articles and chapters in books, edited several publications and was awarded Honorary Membership of the RSUA in 2007.