Horace Tennyson O'Rourke (21 March 188030 December 1963) was

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

city architect for

Dublin Corporation Dublin Corporation (), known by generations of Dubliners simply as ''The Corpo'', is the former name of the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin since the 1100s. Significantly re-structured in 1660–1661, even more si ...

, now

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council () is the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of the city of Dublin in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the authority was k ...

, from 1922 to 1945.

Biography

O'Rourke was born in Dublin, the son of Francis P. O'Rourke and Martha Rafferty. He was educated at the Christian Brothers-run O'Brien Institute, Dublin and subsequently at Dublin Municipal School of Art. From 1905 to 1916 he worked with a number of private architectural practices in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

and Dublin. His architectural output while in private practice up to 1916 included a range of public and private commissions. In 1916, O'Rourke was appointed to the staff of the Dublin Corporation. He was assistant city architect to Charles J. McCarthy from 1918 to 1922, before his appointment as Dublin city architect. In this role, O'Rourke was responsible for leading the redesign and rebuilding of

O'Connell Street O'Connell Street () is a street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections bisected by Henry ...

and surrounding areas following damage during the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...

and

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War (; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Emp ...

. He undertook the reconstruction of

Charlemont House Charlemont House is a mansion in Dublin, Ireland. The house was built in 1763 and designed by William Chambers (architect), William Chambers for James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont, James Caulfeild, the 1st Earl of Charlemont. It is a stone ...

as an art gallery and civic museum. In 1924 he became a fellow of the

Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) () founded in 1839, is the "competent authority for architects and professional body for Architecture in Ireland." The RIAI's purpose is "to uphold the highest standards in architecture a ...

. Despite being a traditionalist in his style and preference, he took a close interest in

town planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

and was said to be "the driving force behind" the Dublin Civic Survey of 1925. He was an active member of the Dublin Civic Week committees in 1927 and 1929, and most of his public addresses and pronouncements during the 1930s were more concerned with town planning than architecture. He became a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, which awarded him a distinction in town planning in 1942. His works include 298 rental houses in Cabra for Dublin Corporation in 1930.

Publications

* O'Rourke, Horace Tennyson, & the Dublin Civic Survey Committee (1925) The Dublin Civic Survey for the Civics Institute of Ireland, Liverpool: University Press of Liverpool

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orourke, Horace 1880 births 1963 deaths 20th-century Irish architects Architects from Dublin (city)