Camden House

Camden House is currently split into two houses. The first is 1 Camden Quay and has the three front windows from the left. The second section is from the first outcropping and also includes the rounded front section.

The internal division is unusual in that the center section is split unevenly between the two buildings. The basement of the centre section belongs to number 1, the first floor to number 2, the second and third floor to number 1.

The building was originally built as housing for the Dominican priests of St Mary’s. There is some evidence of this remaining internally, as an oratory exists on the top floor of number 1, and there is some stained glass with religious iconography to the rear of number 2.

The building was rented from 1946 to 1988 by a family. Mrs Laughton was the occupant. She acquired the house legally in 1988 under the derelict sites act, as no owner could be located. She sold the house to the current owner, who has undertaken the renovation.

The building is not on the register of protected structures, however it is noted on the national inventory of architectural heritage. References: 20512234 and 20512235
http://www.buildingsofireland.com/niah/search.jsp?ype=record&county=CO&regno=20512235

From the National Inventory:

Number 1:

Description

Terraced three-bay three-storey house, built c1862. Rendered walls, with render bracketed eaves course, and decorative string courses at sill levels to upper floors. Segmental- and round-headed window openings with decorative render surrounds and timber sash windows. Segmental-arched door opening with decorative render surrounds and limestone steps. Cast-iron railings to front elevation.

Appraisal

The decorative render detail enlivens the façade of this house and makes it a notable addition to the streetscape. This building forms part of an interesting group with the former houses to the east and west, which also retain fine decorative render details. The house is enhanced by the retention of many interesting features and materials, such as the timber sash windows, cast-iron railings and limestone steps.

Number 2:

Description

Corner-sited end-of-terrace four-bay three-storey over basement former house, built c. 1860, with full-height projecting bow. Now in use as offices. Rendered walls, with render bracketed eaves course, and decorative string courses at sill levels to upper floors. Round-headed window openings with decorative render surrounds. Round-headed door opening with decorative render surround, timber panelled door, toplight, and limestone steps.

Appraisal

The architectural form of this former house, with it’s full-height projecting bay and imposing scale, makes a notable contribution to the streetscape. The building is articulated and enlivened by the decorative render detail. This building forms part of an interesting group with the buildings to the west, which also retain fine decorative render details.

The current owner of number 1 has renovated the building with the assistance of his wife. During the renovation an entirely new support system of internal steel reinforcements had to be installed, as the building is built on unstable foundations. There is restored tiling in the entrance, the staircase has been restored.The internal mouldings have been recast from samples of the original, and fully restored.All internal doors have been replaced due to fire regulations. The internal walls have mainly been removed as the interior is now laid out as offices.

The Crawford Part 1(by Michelle O’Callaghan)

The Crawford Art Gallery as we know it today has a very long and important place in the historic and cultural life of Cork. It was built as the Customs House in 1724 on the edge of Kings Dock, a U shaped dock that welcomed all ships to its quayside for the transaction of paying taxes.
In 1832 some 108 years later, another Cutoms House was built further downstream and the Cork Cork boatclub was given the keys of this beautiful building for the use as a library and museum. Its use as such was relatively shortlived with the established of Queens University Cork in 1845, and it became a school of Design in 1850.

34 years later, an extension to the original Customs House building allowed for the creation of a gallery, and both the school and the gallery co-existed until 1979 when the school relocated to Sharman Crawford Street. The gallery thrived with the already significant collection of artifacts that were housed here since 1819 and thereafter. To the present day it is a critical part of Corks cultural and tourism infrastructure.

The building comprises of three different phases.
Phase 1
Built in 1724 as a Customs House at a site known as Kings Dock (Later renamed Nelsons Place, and renamed again as Emmett Place). The style of the building is along the lines of the Anglo-Dutch red brick tradition. Which the architect is officially unknown, a clue may be evident in other 18th century buildings in the Cork area: In Youghal the Red House on Main street is an excellent example for comparison. It was built in 1710 by the Uniacke family and designed by dutch architect Leeventhem. Brick buidings were quite rare in Munster in the 18th Century, but the influence on Cork architecture by the dutch stemmed from the very close merchantile contacts that existed between Cork and Amsterdam at this time.

The design of the Red House in Youghal and that of the Crawford bear common distinctive features.
The eastern facade is wide and very ornate. In its original form it was 3 stories high and 7 bays wide. It has 5 middle bays recessed. The centremost bay has doric colums at ground level and ionic columns above.

It features:
Quoins. Quoins are the corner stone of brick or stone walls. They may be structured or decorative. Architects and builders use them to give an impression of strength and firmness to the outline of a building.
Ballustrade. A ballustrade is a low screen formed by railings of stone, wood, metal, glass or other materials to prevent falls from roof, balcony etc.
Window surrounds of carved Limestone. (Limestone from beaumont quarry, red sandstone is from little island. Two together is known as locally as streaky bacon).
A string course at 1st floor level. A string course or Band course is a projecting course of prickwork that runs horizontally around a building. This emphasises the junction between floors, or just below the eaves. Purely decorative.
A lunette over the entrance doorway was added in a later renovation in 1884. A lunette is a half-moon shaped space. If it contains glass it is known as a half-moon window. If a door is a major access and the lunette above it is large and deeply set, it may be called a tympanum.The
centremost bay was the original main entrance to the custom house.
It is surmounted by a carved pineapple of Cork Limestone. Pineapple motifs were used extensively in the 18th century to symbolise hospitality.

The use of brick not indigenous to Cork City is another nod to the dutch influence.

The architectural character of Cork changed dramatically during the 19th century. Great wealth generated by the exports of butter, beef, textiles and other agricultural produce resulted in the merchant prince class constructing great houses in the Cork area. The attractive Dutch character of Cork was replaced by a new phase of architecture in the neoclassical gothic and georgian genres when banks, churches and main thoroughfares were being developed.

The Royal Cork Institute was a cultural institute established in 1803 and continued for 82 years until 1885. It consisted of a library of scientific works, a museum of old Irish manuscripts and Ogham Stones, lecture and reading rooms. It was founded by Rev Thomas Dix Hincks, a minister of the Old presbryterian Church on Prices Street. It was modelled on the Royal Dublin Society and the Royal Society of London. It operated from Pembrooke Street at first, and its most noted patrons were William Beamish, William Crawford, Cooper Penrose and James Roche. It offered courses, public lectures on science, agriculture and industry from a scientific outlook. The RCI established the Botanic Gardens in 1806 (which later became a cemetary after 1830. St Josephs. The cedar tree is all that remains of original botanic gardens). They were also responsible for the establishment of the Crawford College of Art and Design, and they had links with medical schools and gave lectures on anatomy.

Firken Crane

Site
The building is on the site of a 1784 Dominican chapel which was in turn built on the site of Shandon Castle, a 16th century building which was, for a time, the seat of Tudor power in Munster. During the Williamite wars of the 1690’s, Cork was besieged and Shandon castle served as an artillery position for the Williamite forces. The castle was never rebuilt subsequent to the siege and was eventually demolished in 1750. Local tradition tells that stone from the castle was used in the building of nearby church of St Anne’s. The Butter Exchange acquired the building in 1852 and the Dominicans built a new church and priory in Pope’s Quay.

Original Usage
The Firkin Crane building was opened in August 1855, designed by Sir John Benson to meet the needs of the Butter Exchange. “Firkin” is a Danish word meaning quarter barrel, which represented 9 gallons or 80Ibs of butter. In former times the tarred firkins or casks were weighed on a balance known as a “Crane”, hence the name. Prior to the introduction of farmers co-operative creameries, farmers brought their butter to this area of the city to sell. Here it is graded, blended and sold on at the butter exchange building.

Commercial Usage
In 1871 a butter trading company is founded by James Daly. In 1885 the business locates from Ballyduff to the Shandon Street area of Cork City.

In 1921 Sir Eric Shackelton requested Daly’s butter to be taken on his expedition to the South Pole. Apparently the parchment wrapper design was ideal for such demanding conditions.
After the Butter Market closed in 1924, James Daly & Sons manufactured margarine in the building until the 1970’s.

In 1927 James Daly gifts a pedestrian bridge to the City of Cork. Still in use today and known as Daly’s bridge, (or The Shaky Bridge) it traverses the River Lee between Sundays Well and Fitzgerald’s Park.

The Second World War created a shortage of raw materials causing production to cease between 1941 and 1946. In 1979 production moves from Shandon Street to a purpose built factory in Churchfield on the north side of the city.

In 1989 the Daly family sells the business to Irish Sugar Ltd. which subsequently becomes Greencore Group plc. In 2001 the company is purchased from Greencore by it’s Managing Director Charlie Fleury.

2003 sees the completion of an extension to the Churchfield plant and the re-branding of retail and foodservice products under the Riva name. Products include own label products for Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Supervalu, Centra, Superquinn and Aldi. Also branded products such as FRYTEX, Summer meadow, Irish Cottage Garlic Butter, Marigold Margarine.

Current Usage
The deserted building was completely destroyed by fire on 6th July 1980. A group of businessmen under the Chairmanship of former Taoiseach Jack Lynch, restored the building as a home for the Cork-based Irish National Ballet, until that became defunct in 1992. Now houses a centre dedicated to dance.

Links with Jack Lynch
Jack Lynch was born at home in Bob & Jane’s Lane, Cork, on August 15, 1917, the fifth child of Dan Lynch and Nora nee O’Donoghue. In 1966, he became the first Corkman to hold the office of Taoiseach (Prime Minister). On 8th June 2005, the Lynch family home was officially opened as an artists’ residence. The three-bedroom terraced house is managed by the Firkin Crane to provide subsidised, self-catering accommodation for up to five visiting artists.

Sir John Benson (1811-62)
Originally from County Sligo, Benson was appointed surveyor to Cork City and County in 1851 and spent the remainder of his short career there. In 1852 he designed the buildings for the Irish Industrial Exhibition in Dublin and was knighted on the exhibition’s opening. But the major body of his work was in Cork. He designed the Athenaeum which later was the much-loved Opera House; as well as the Shandon Butter Market; the Central Markets on Princes Street (English Market); Berwick Fountain in Grand Parade, St. Patrick’s Bridge, St. Vincent’s Church in Sunday’s Well. Benson also helped in the remodelling of St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral.

Architectural style
Cork Examiner extract:
“It is completely circular, and has a diameter of about a hundred feet. By a most ingenious arrangement the entire rafters of the immense roof converge upon one large center pillar, like the ribs of an umbrella upon the handle, and thus instead of having the space, the great object, interfered with by numerous pillars, the whole support does not occupy the room of more than three or four feet. The roof meets in a circular ridge, and the rain falling on the inside descends into the center pillar, which is hollowed, and conveys it to the reservoir. Around the outer edge of the roof a chute runs, which conveys the water by several pipes into the same receptacle, and so preserves for the purposes of cleaning firkins, and the many other uses for which it was required. Amongst the many advantages of this ingenious arrangement, one not the least important is the saving of the walls from damp. The entire cost of the building has been about £1,500.”

Style is typically Greek Revival . It quotes features of the rotunda section of the Pantheon. The Pantheon (meaning “Every god”), originally built by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt in the early 2nd century AD. There are really two parts to the Pantheon, the circular part or rotunda and the portico. The portico was originally a part of a temple built by Agrippa, but was not put in its present place until some time after the great rotunda was built by Hadrian (117 A.D.). It is poorly joined to the main edifice.

An Introduction to The Everyman Palace Theatre

Development of King Street ( Mc Curtain Street since 1921) only began after the building of St Patrick's bridge in 1789 and St. Patrick's Quay in the 1820s.It is useful to think of the area sandwiched between these two streets as one block as the warehousing which ran along so much of St. Patrick's Quay often ran more or less right through as you see in the 1897 Goad Insurance Plan below.

Victorian Cork therefore spread East Following the Georgian development of the city centre.
Easter Monday night 1897 saw the opening of the much-heralded Dan Lowry Palace of Varieties at 15 King Street in Cork, a sister theatre to the Olympia (then The Empire Palace) in Dublin.

The account is taken from ' Infinite Variety: Dan Lowry's Music Hall 1879-1897'.

In general,the Variety Theatres were large and lavish, built and run by the great theatrical impresarios.They were a more upmarket version of the Music Hall which had developed as a form of working-class entertainment in London of the 1800s.
Although the present day theatre extends all the way back to St. Patrick's Quay, its King street entrance was originally occupied by a private house owned by Mr John O'Connell and built in 1840. It was a two bay three storied affair, similar in design to the houses on its immediate left and right.The theatre itself was built on a site owned by Sir Alfred Dobbin which had previously been a coal store. (Sir Alfred was in partnership with Ogilivie and Co. across the road and his wine cellars were to be located in the basement of the theatre.)

The theatre, its beautiful Victorian interior, the ornate boxes with their elaborate moorish design, the magnificent proscenium arch and the original glass and steel canopy on King Street were all the work of the architect and designer R. H. Brunton..........himself a very colourful character. More later!

The Palace was partly lit by gas and partly by innumerable electric jets of different colours powered by two dynamos in the basement. Each section of the raked auditorium had its own bar fitted up in the most expensive style with mirrored walls and decorated ceilings. Above the boxes were large oil painted panels by the Cork artist Samuel Wright representing Music, Dance, Fancy and Folly in the shape of lively though decorously draped ladies! These have since been lost.

Seating was as follows:
Pit: 442
Pit Stalls: 100
Orchestra Stalls: 76
Gallery: 500
Standing Room: 150
Almost 1300 people jammed in !

Prices ranged from £1for a box to 6d for a seat in the gallery with the beautifully ornamented balustrade. The gallery was entered, not from King Street, but from St. Patrick's Quay where a box office was set into the wall. Access was by a pair of staircases. The ceiling of the theatre was a gem of ornamentation, 68 ft x 36ft, panelled by a team of London experts, probably from RH Brunton's own company. Suspended from the centre was an extremely attractive 'sun-burner.' This was a circle of gas burning lights for illumination or ventilation. (Example only left).

The photo above is a section of the packed crowd in the early 1900s at the Palace showing the ornamented balcony.

Above: 1913 Guy's Almanac Street Directory showing Palace Theatre and Metropole Buildings

A word about R.H. Brunton (1841-1901)..... Richard Henry lived only 60 years but he certainly lived them to the full. Born near Aberdeen, he trained as a railway engineer before being sent to Japan to establish lighthouses at the approaches to Yokohama, Tokyo, Kobe and Osaka to allow foreign shipping safe access to the ports thus promoting trade and opening Japan to the west.
By the time he left in 1876 he had built over 30 lighthouses, and established 2 lightships, 13 buoys, and 3 beacons around 1500 miles of coastline. He was also variously consulted on railways, bridges, roads, drainage, land reclamation and telegraph lines - all projects about establishing communications infrastructure.

Back in London he bought a business producing architectural ornaments and practised as an architect and engineer in theatre design, and ornamentation- doubtless his knowledge of lighting provided the link. Interestingly there is a large amount of information on his civil engineering works as 'The Father of Yokohama' and only a line or two about his work in the theatre.

The promise of top acts continued from opening night as announced in The Cork Constitution when the line-up included The Tiller Girls Dancing Troupe and Professor Jolly's world renowned Cinematographe, the first time moving pictures had been seen in Cork. Charlie Chaplin appeared on stage in 1912 as did Laurel and Hardy and George Formby. Eugene Sandown, the world's strongest man, also appeared at The Palace giving rise to the city's famous trademark and slogan -'Murphy's Stout is Good, No Doubt!

Moving pictures gradually replaced music hall and the Palace became a picture house in 1930, billed as - 'The House with the Perfect Sound'. Stories abound from the era when The Palace was a thriving cinema but it eventually closed its doors as such in June 1988.

That year Ward-Anderson (Abbey Films) sold the theatre to the Everyman for £120 000 in the form of a 12 year lease at £10 000 per year. There were pros and cons. Although the Palace had been turned into a cinema could it be reconfigured and renovated to meet the needs of a contemporary theatre? Was saving The Palace in keeping with the ethos of Everyman as it had developed over 25years?

The stage itself was cramped with limited wing space suited to music hall rather than drama. Dan Donovan, in An Everyman Life is quoted as saying that the theatre was 'jerry-built'; there were serious problems with leaks in the roof. It was 'too big, too old-fashioned and too dilapidated'.

Notwithstanding these concerns Everyman took on the Palace which was reopened in 1990 and was completely restored in time for its centenary celebrations in 1997. The canopy, lost in a road traffic accident, was replaced and is the work of stained glass artist, James Stevens- whose work can also be seen in the Crawford Art Gallery. Twenty Years on, the Palace Theatre is once again the thriving (650 Seat) Victorian-style theatre it was conceived as.

Reading References:
Evening Echo - 1.3.90 (p. 3), 20.3.90 (p. 2), feature - 31.3.90(p. 5)
Cork Constitution - 14.4.1897, 20.4.1897