The Museum Building Of Trinity College Dublin

This volume addresses the most influential Victorian building in the city of Dublin and explores the new standard which it set in the use of Irish decorative stone, the employment of native craftsmen and the unprecedented eclecticism of its design. The geology, quarrying, building, carving and architectural design which created this spectacular structure are explored in a series of papers by established scholars and experts in the field. The book is richly illustrated in full colour to capture the sumptuous polychromy of the building and the profuse detail of its carved ornament.

The Architecture of Deane and Woodward chronicles the development of one of the nineteenth century¿s most influential architectural practices: from Deane and Woodward¿s first designs for the Irish provincial elite to their world famous buildings in Dublin.

In 1854, John Henry Newman, one of the foremost intellectual figures of the nineteenth century, was officially installed as the rector of the first Catholic university in Ireland. University Church (constructed in 1855–6) was Newman’s first objective when he agreed to the rectorship and it can be considered as a tangible manifestation of the idea behind the unprecedented Catholic university in Dublin – the posing of an erudite Catholic alternative to post-Enlightenment secularism and Protestant hegemony through a style-based analogy to the early Church. Despite physically embodying what Newman wished to achieve in and through his new university, this ‘early Christian' style church, which drew upon Roman and Byzantine basilicas, has received little attention. This book charts for the first time the significant place that the building occupies within the history of Victorian revivalist architecture. Niamh Bhalla explores the meaningful connection between the church’s context and the ambiguity of its ‘early Christian’ style. In the intersection of these two things, a significant monument was created. The study of University Church therefore provides an effective lens to understand more comprehensively the architectural revivalism that dominated the nineteenth century, particularly the first stirrings of basilican and Byzantine revivalist architectures in the British Isles. Praise for Newman University Church, Dublin 'Newman University Church, Dublin is an important contribution to the burgeoning study of historistic architecture of the nineteenth century. In studying the larger contexts of the church, Niamh Bhalla illumines the aspirations of Cardinal Newman for the university that he directed and Catholicism in Ireland and the United Kingdom.' Robert S. Nelson, Yale University 'A riveting analysis of the University Church and its intellectual background. Niamh Bhalla steers us effortlessly through the many strands of architectural and religious thought that lie behind Newman’s church, while revealing its seminal place in the history of the Byzantine revival.' Roger Stalley, Trinity College Dublin

* Highlights the diverse holdings of the Library of Trinity College Dublin and illuminates their fascinating history, through a personal tour given by the Library's Director * The Library houses Ireland's greatest cultural treasure, the medieval Book of Kells, whose rich illuminations are one of the finest examples of medieval art * An enlightening addition to Scala's acclaimed Director's Choice series The Library of Trinity College Dublin dates back to the establishment of the College in 1592 and is the largest library in Ireland. Its extensive collection of journals, manuscripts, maps and music reflects over 400 years of academic development and amounts to over 6 million volumes. A Legal Deposit Library since 1801, it receives copies of all material published in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The most famous of its treasures is the Book of Kells, whose rich illuminations are one of the finest examples of medieval art. Together with the Book of Durrow, also in the collection, they represent Ireland's greatest cultural treasure. The Library also bears testament to more recent history, counting letters from Irish WWI soldiers and various artefacts from the Easter Rising - including a bullet fired through the Library roof - among its collection. This selection of objects highlights the diversity of the holdings and illuminates their fascinating history.

One of the most enduring tropes of modern Irish history is the MOPE thesis, the idea that the Irish were the Most Oppressed People Ever. Political oppression, forced emigration and endemic poverty have been central to the historiography of nineteenth-century Ireland. This volume problematises the assumption of generalised misery and suggests the many different, and often surprising, ways in which Irish people sought out, expressed and wrote about happiness. Bringing together an international group of established and emerging scholars, this volume considers the emerging field of the history of emotion and what a history of happiness in Ireland might look like. During the nineteenth century the concept of happiness denoted a degree of luck or good fortune, but equally was associated with the positive feelings produced from living a good and moral life. Happiness could be found in achieving wealth, fame or political success, but also in the relief of lulling a crying baby to sleep. Reading happiness in historical context indicates more than a simple expression of contentment. In personal correspondence, diaries and novels, the expression of happiness was laden with the expectations of audience and author and informed by cultural ideas about what one could or should be happy about. This volume explores how the idea of happiness shaped social, literary, architectural and aesthetic aspirations across the century. CONTRIBUTORS: Ian d'Alton, Shannon Devlin, Anne Dolan, Simon Gallaher, Paul Huddie, Kerron Ó Luain, David McCready, Ciara Thompson, Andrew Tierney, Kristina Varade, Mai Yatani

Refinement and enrichment of surfaces in stone, wood and plaster is a fundamental aspect of early modern architecture which has been marginalised by architectural history. Enriching Architecture aims to retrieve and rehabilitate surface achievement as a vital element of early modern buildings in Britain and Ireland. Rejected by modernism, demeaned by the conceptual ‘turn’ and too often reduced to its representative or social functions, we argue for the historical legitimacy of creative craft skill as a primary agent in architectural production. However, in contrast to the connoisseurial and developmental perspectives of the past, this book is concerned with how surfaces were designed, achieved and experienced. The contributors draw upon the major rethinking of craft and materials within the wider cultural sphere in recent years to deconstruct traditional, oppositional ways of thinking about architectural production. This is not a craft for craft’s sake argument but an effort to embed the tangible findings of conservation and curatorial research within an evidence-led architectural history that illuminates the processes of early modern craftsmanship. The book explores broad themes of surface treatment such as wainscot, rustication, plasterwork, and staircase embellishment together with chapters focused on virtuoso buildings and set pieces which illuminate these themes.