Re: Re: Patrick Byrne

A very odd relevation that the portico columns were intended to be fluted considering the building material in question: can anyone think of a single case of a fluted granite column of a non-Doric variety in the city, if not wider? They would have been a nightmare to carve, and probably yield unsatisfactory results too.

The internal altar columns are absolutely marvellous in how they frame the space – they look so distinguished and austere when silhouetted. Of course with limited, if any, artificial lighting in the 19th century they wouldn’t have had quite the same impact.

One point probably often forgotton about Bryne’s Our Lady of Refuge Rathmines church is that prior to the installation of the lavish baroque Russian dome after the 1920 fire, it had a decidely reticent, squat dome almost identical to that of the Royal Exchange/CityHall, to which Byrne of course was architect during the conversion around 1850. Given his fondness for the building, demonstrated as much by his dramatic watercolour from earlier years as anything, one one woulder how he felt about slicing the place up for municipal offices…

Something of a modern-day take on the watercolour is made with the interior photograph of the building in The Buildings of Ireland: Dublin 😉