Sir Thomas Drew (18 September 1838 – 13 March 1910) was an Anglo-Irish architect.
Life
Thomas Drew was born in Victoria Place,
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
. He was the son of the Rev. Thomas Drew and Isabella (née Dalton) Drew. He was one of four sons and eight daughters of the couple, although most of the children died young. His sister, Catharine Drew, was a journalist and writer.
He was trained under Sir Charles Lanyon before moving to work in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, where he became principal assistant to William George Murray. In 1865 he became the diocesan architect of the united dioceses of Down, Connor and Dromore in 1865, and from then on Church architecture was Drew's principal activity. He was consulting architect for both St. Patrick's Cathedral and Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin.
He married Adelaide Anne, sister of William George Murray, in 1871.
Among other projects, he was responsible for the design of the Ulster Bank on
Dame Street
Dame Street (; ) is a large thoroughfare in Dublin, Ireland.
History
The street takes its name from a dam built across the River Poddle to provide water power for milling. First appears in records under this name around 1610 but in the 14th c ...
,
Rathmines
Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to t ...
Town Hall (completed 1899) and the Graduates' Building at
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to:
Australia
* Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales
* Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
. He took an interest in historic buildings and was the first to draw serious attention to the architectural and historic importance of the St. Audoen's Church, Dublin's oldest parish church, in 1866. He produced detailed plans of the church for which he won an award from the RIAI, carried out excavations and drew up a paper on the church and its history.
From 1885 to 1892, Richard Orpen worked with him as a managing assistant. Drew's most significant work in Belfast was St Anne’s Cathedral, completed in 1899.
Honours/Affiliations
He was knighted in the
1900 Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours 1900 were announced on 23 May 1900 in celebration of the birthday of Queen Victoria. The list included appointments to various orders and honours of the United Kingdom and British India.
The list was published in ''T ...
and was inaugural
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
of the
Royal Society of Ulster Architects
The Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA) is the professional body for registered architects in Northern Ireland.RIAI, the RSAI and the RHA and held the chair in architecture at the
National University of Ireland
The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...
. He lived in Gortnadrew,
Monkstown, Dublin
Monkstown (), historically known as ''Carrickbrennan'' ( gle, Carraig Bhraonáin), is a suburb in south Dublin, located in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It is on the coast, between Blackrock and Dún Laoghaire.
The lands of the Carrickbr ...
.
In February 1910, he underwent an operation for appendicitis which left him in a critical condition, and he died on 13 March 1910. He was buried in
Deans Grange Cemetery
Deans Grange Cemetery (; also spelled ''Deansgrange'') is situated in the suburban area of Deansgrange in the Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown part of the former County Dublin, Ireland. Since it first opened in 1865, over 150,000 people have been burie ...
.
Selected works
*Christ Church,
Ballyculter
Ballyculter is a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Lecale Lower.
Settlements
The civil parish contains the following settlements:
*Strangford
Townlands
Ballyculter civil parish contains the ...
, Co Down - renovations & rebuilding, 1880-1882
*Holy Trinity,
Seapatrick
Seapatrick () is a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies partly across the three historic baronies of Iveagh Upper, Upper Half, Iveagh Lower, Lower Half and Iveagh Lower, Upper Half.
Civil parish of Seapatrick
The civil parish cen ...
, Co. Down - complete rebuild, 1882
*St. Patrick's Church,
Coleraine
Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...
, Co Londonderry - renovations & rebuilding, 1883-1885
* St. Anne's Cathedral, Belfast (original design), 1899-1904, completed 2007
*
Graduates Memorial Building
The Graduates Memorial Building (GMB) is a neo-Gothic Victorian building, in Trinity College Dublin designed by Sir Thomas Drew in 1897. It is home to Trinity College's oldest student societies: the University Philosophical Society (the Phil), th ...
,
Trinity College, Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...