James Joseph McCarthy was an Irish

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

famous for his design of ecclesiastical buildings. McCarthy was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland on 6 January 1817. His parents were from County Kerry. He was educated by the Christian Brothers in Richmond St., and went on to study architecture at the Royal Dublin Society School. He was a follower of the style of the architect Pugin and Gothic Revival. McCarthy served as Professor of Ecclesiastical Architecture at

All Hallows College All Hallows College was a college of higher education in Dublin. It was founded in 1842 and was run by the Vincentians from 1892 until 2016. On 23 May 2014, it was announced that it was closing down, due to decreasing student numbers. The sale ...

, Dublin. He was also appointed Professor of Architecture at the

Catholic University of Ireland The Catholic University of Ireland (CUI; ga, Ollscoil Chaitliceach na hÉireann) was a private Catholic university in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1851 following the Synod of Thurles in 1850, and in response to the Queen's University o ...

and at the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

. McCarthy was a friend of Dr.

Bartholomew Woodlock Dr Bartholomew Woodlock (30 March 1819 – 13 December 1902) was a Roman Catholic bishop, philosopher and educator. He established the Catholic University School, Dublin, and founded the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Ireland. He was the 2nd R ...

, who had been rector of both All Hallows' and the Catholic University, and he helped Woodlock to found the Irish Ecclesiological Society in 1849. He was also a close friend of Charles Gavan Duffy and was a member of the Young Irelanders. He died in 1882 and is interred in

Glasnevin Glasnevin (, also known as ''Glas Naedhe'', meaning "stream of O'Naeidhe" after a local stream and an ancient chieftain) is a neighbourhood of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the River Tolka. While primarily residential, Glasnevin is also home t ...

Cemetery.

Buildings

J.J McCarthy completed over fifty commissions for Churches, Monasteries, Convents and Cathedrals. *

Cathedral of the Assumption, Thurles The Cathedral of the Assumption is the mother church of the Metropolitan Province of Cashel and the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly in Thurles, County Tipperary in Ireland. It is the cathedra of the Archbi ...

, Co. Tipperary *St. Brendan's, Ardfert, Co. Kerry * Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception,

Ballingarry, County Limerick Ballingarry () is a village in County Limerick, Ireland. It lies between Rathkeale and Kilmallock on the R518 road (Ireland), R518 road. The population was 521 at the 2016 census. Ballingarry had a vital weaving and linen industry until the Gre ...

* St. Kevins, Glendalough * St. James's Church, Killorglin, Co. Kerry * St. Joseph's, Carrickmacross, Monaghan *

St Macartan's Cathedral, Monaghan St Macartan's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clogher in Ireland. It is located in the townland of Latlurcan, Monaghan town in the ecclesiastical parish of Monaghan and Rackwallace. It was built between the year ...

* St. Mary's Church, Dingle, Co. Kerry * St. Mary's Parish Church, Maynooth, Co. KildareLadychapel Maynooth 150 years
www.kildare.ie * St. Mary's Church, Rathkeale, Co. Limerick. * St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh * St. Peter and Paul Church, Kilmallock, Co. Limerick, * Mortuary Chapel, Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin * Capuchian Franciscan Church, Church Street, DublinCapuchian Franciscan Church
Dublin. * Holy Trinity Church, Cookstown * College Chapel, St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, Co. Kildare * College Chapel,

Clonliffe College Holy Cross College (also known as Clonliffe College), located in Clonliffe Road, Drumcondra was founded in 1854 as the Catholic diocesan seminary for Dublin by Cardinal Paul Cullen. History The College was founded in 1859 by the then Archbish ...

, Dublin * Ladychapel Church, Maynooth, Co. Kildare * St. Michael's Church, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway * St Patrick's church , Mayobridge * St Patricks church Dungannon, Tyrone * St. Saviour’s Dominican Church, Dublin (1861) * St. Saviour's Dominican Church, Limerick (1870)

External links

Entry at the Irish Architectural Archive

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, James Joseph 1817 births 1882 deaths Irish ecclesiastical architects 19th-century Irish architects Architects from Dublin (city)