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James Gandon (20 February 1743 – 24 December 1823) was an English architect best known for his work in Ireland during the late 18th century and early 19th century. His better known works include The Custom House and the surrounding Beresford Place, the Four Courts and the King's Inns in Dublin and Emo Court in County Laois.
In 1765, Gandon left William Chambers to begin practice on his own. His first commission was on Sir Samuel Hellier's estate at the Wodehouse, near Wombourne. Gandon's new practice, whilst successful, always remained small. In about 1769 he entered an architectural competition to design the new Royal Exchange in Dublin. The plan eventually chosen was by Thomas Cooley. However, Gandon's design came second and brought him to the attention of the politicians who were overseeing the large-scale redevelopment of Dublin, one of the largest cities in Europe at the time.
During the following years in England, Gandon was responsible for the design of the County Hall in Nottingham. Between 1769 and 1771, he collaborated with John Woolfe on two additional volumes of Vitruvius Britannicus, a book of plans and drawings of Palladian revival buildings by such architects as Inigo Jones and Colen Campbell. During his English career he was awarded the gold medal for architecture by the Royal Academy, London in 1768.Duffy, pp. 62–67
In 1771 he was paid five guineas ″To making of a design of a Theater at Wynnstay″ He was also paid nine guineas for giving ″36 Lessons in Architecture″ to Sir Watkin Williams Wynn. The Theatre was converted from a huge kitchen which had been built for the stupendous Coming of Age Celebrations of Sir Watkin in that year and was used from 1771 until Sir Watkin died. The British Library has a drawing of the Theatre which was used for an admission ticket for a performance which belonged to King George III.The Wynnstay Papers at The National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth.
This conspicuous commission proved to be the turning point in Gandon's career and Dublin was to become Gandon's home and its architecture his "raison d'etre" for the remainder of his life. He took a house in Mecklenburgh Street (now Railway Street), that he might be near the residence of John Beresford, the main proponent for the development of the city. The city, which in Gandon's lifetime was to grow to become the fifth largest city in Europe, was undergoing vast expansion, mostly following the Palladian and neoclassicism designs already popularised in the city by Edward Lovett Pearce and Richard Cassels.
The newly formed Wide Streets Commission employed Gandon to design a new aristocratic enclave in the vicinity of Mountjoy Square and Gardiner Street. The new classicism terraces of large residences became the of members of the newly built and imposing Irish Houses of Parliament situated in College Green south of the river. Gandon also designed Carlisle Bridge (now O'Connell Bridge) over the River Liffey to join the north and south areas of the city.
Gandon's least well known building in Dublin is his Royal Military Infirmary of 1787 on Infirmary Road. He worked for the Wide Street Commissioners and designed the facades for the shops at ground floor of D'Olier Street, Burgh Quay and some surrounding streets. One of his most prestigious commissions, which came in 1785, was to extend Pearce's monumental Houses of Parliament, for which he built the (well known today) curved screen wall which links his new corinthian portico for the House of Lords facing College Street to Pearce's original building. This building is now the Bank of Ireland.
His work in Ireland was not confined to Dublin, nor to civic and municipal commissions. In 1784 he designed the new courthouse and Gaol in Broad Street (Demolished) in Waterford; and he also worked on many private houses, including Abbeville, Dublin which he designed for John Beresford in 1792,Duffy, pp. 180–203 Emsworth, Malahide, County Dublin in 1794 for James Woodmason, a London stationer who became involved in banking in Dublin,Robin Hamlyn. “An Irish Shakespeare Gallery.” The Burlington Magazine Vol. 120, No. 8, Issue No. 905 (August 1978), pp. 515-529.Mary Pollard. A Dictionary of Members of the Dublin Book Trade, 1550-1800. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), pp. 27, 225, 344, 634-635. James was the son of Rev. Charles Woodmason.Malcolm Dillon. The History and Development of Banking in Ireland from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. (London: Effingham Wilson & Co. and Dublin: Alex. Thom & Co., 1889), p. 30. and Sandymount Park for the painter William Ashford. In County Laois, he designed Emo Court, County Laois in 1790–96 for the Earl of Portarlington, and also Coolbanagher Church of Ireland Church just outside Emo village.
His town planning work included creating a new setting for the Custom House with a curved terrace of townhouses at Beresford Place, Dublin, and the New Geneva town in County Waterford which was never completed. He designed a number of buildings including walled gardens, and farm buildings at Carriglass just outside Longford Town.
In 1798, revolution broke out on the streets of Ireland and Gandon, an unpopular figure, hurriedly fled to London. On returning to Dublin he found a much changed city. The Irish Houses of Parliament, which had inspired the great period of development, were closed. The 1801 Act of Union had placed Ireland directly under rule from London. One by one the Anglo-Irish aristocracy left their fine new town houses in the city. As a direct result Dublin declined from being one of the great cities of Europe.Duffy, pp. 203–258
Gandon had married Eleanor Smullen on 26 July 1770. They had five children, four daughters and a son, James. Some sources state he was widowed shortly after his invitation to Dublin, but others state there is evidence of his wife in Dublin for a short time. Gandon died on 24 December 1823 at his home in Lucan, Dublin, having spent forty-two years in the city. He was buried in the church-yard of Drumcondra Church, in the same grave as his friend the antiquary Francis Grose.John H. Farrant, 'Grose, Francis (bap. 1731, d. 1791)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2009 It seems that already by the time of his death his reputation was undergoing a re-evaluation, for his tomb-stone reads: – " Such was the respect in which Gandon was held by his neighbours and friends from around his home in Lucan that they refused carriages and walked the 16 miles to and from Drumcondra on the day of his funeral."
In the years since his death, Ireland's troubled history has resulted in destruction and damage to much of Gandon's work, especially his interiors. The Custom House was burnt down in 1921 by the IRA during the War of Independence and parts of it were rebuilt using a darker shade of native limestone. Michael Collins: A Life by James A. Mackay (), page 199 The Four Courts was shelled by government forces during the Civil War in 1922 and partly destroyed by a huge explosion. Even though it was later rebuilt, much of Gandon's original work is gone and the interior can today only be appreciated from his original drawings. The wings to the Four Courts were shortened by one bay, in order to widen the roadway, and to permit more lanes of traffic. This alteration seriously damages the original composition. Yet despite this, the stamp of his work is still clearly visible in Georgian Dublin today.
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