McCarthy’s obituary in The Irish Builder was a little unkind and disparaging of his lifetime of work. “We would scarcely be justified in saying that Mr. McCarthy was a great ecclesiastical architect, but he was a respectable, and to some extent, a successful one. Great allowances mist be made for the deceased for he had not the advantages in his youth or the influence at his back that other of our native architects commanded.”
“In civil architecture Mr. M’Carthy did not succeed well. During the restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, under the gift of the late Benjamin Lee Guinness, Mr. M‘Carthy took a leading part in the news paper and magazine controversy that that work of restoration gave birth to. He dealt some hard blows respecting the character of the work, the nature of the supervision that obtained, &c., and received some severe thrusts in return.”
Primarily a church architect, McCarthy was responsible for the design of four Irish cathedrals constructed in the 19th Century as well as involved in aspects of others. His son C.J. McCarthy was later City Architect of Dublin.
Now a furniture store, the former Catholic church is a simple structure externally with few architectural pretensions. It was one of the earliest churches to be completed in the post-Emancipation period.
A 19th century castle of random ashlar, built about 1830, replacing an earlier house destroyed by fire.
Work stated in 1834 on a new parish church for Maynooth and in 1840 the new parish church of St. Mary’s was consecrated.
Designed and constructed by J.J. McCarthy in 1851-58, a tower and spire proposed at the south west corner was never constructed.
The spire and tower was added by J.J. McCarthy around 1854 to an earlier church. The earlier building is a simple cruciform church,
A monumental cathedral, the largest building in Ireland to designs prepared by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-52) reputedly based on Tintern Abbey in Wales.
Dedicated in 1858 and is the second church to occupy the same site. The foundation stone of the new church was laid on 30 June 1852.
The main facade with its three gables demonstrates the interior layout; the aisles and nave are the same width.
St Saviour’s Church is perhaps the finest church by J.J McCarthy in Dublin even though it was never completed as planned.
On of Wexford’s “twin churches”, these Neo-Gothic buildings were opened in 1858 and the twin spires are part of the unique skyline of the town.
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