1842 – Roxborough Castle, Moy, Co. Tyrone
Architect: William Murray / William Barre
Seat of the Earls of Charlemont, and originally built in the 18th Century but heavily remodeled by the second Earl in 1842,
William J. Barre (1830-1867)
William Joseph Barre was a prolific Irish architect who built many well known buildings in Belfast and the northern part of Ireland in a Gothic Revival style, but was always overshadowed by his great rival, Charles Lanyon.
Barre’s best known work is the Albert Memorial Clock, in the centre of Belfast, built 1865-1870. Barre had a colourful history when it came to architectural competitions. By the time he was thirty he had beaten numerous rivals to win the task of designing the Ulster Hall. His design for the Methodist Church on University Road (originally the Wesleyan Church, on what was then Botanic Road) took first place in a competition of 1864, the work being completed the following year.
But he had not been so lucky in the competition, a few years earlier, to design what is now known as Scrabo Tower, the landmark building overlooking Newtownards. Although his design for the monument to Lord Londonderry took first place, the decision was overturned on grounds of cost, the commission instead going to Charles Lanyon, whose design had come second to Barre’s. Lanyon, notes Barre’s biographer, was County Surveyor at the time.
History came close to repeating itself in 1865: the Selection Committee charged with choosing a design for the monument to Prince Albert picked Barre’s clock; the General Committee, of which Lanyon was a member, chose to overrule in favour of Lanyon’s design. This time, however, public outcry was sufficient to restore the original decision, leaving us with Belfast’s well-known leaning clock tower.
Barre built several other monuments, perhaps the most unusual being that to the Banbridge-born arctic explorer Francis Crozier, featuring polar bears poised on top of flying buttresses. Barre died of tuberculosis at the age of 37, having completed several dozen major buildings, including private houses, schools, factories, and churches.
1851 – First Presbyterian Church (Non-subscribing), Newry, Co. Down
Architect: William J. Barre
A fine small Gothic church with three bay nave, north and south transepts, and a gabled porch with corbelled roof to ground.
1855 – St. James Church of Ireland, Rockcorry, Co. Monaghan
Architect: William Barre
Designed by William Barre who died before it was complete, this is a fine little Church of Ireland which has recently had a restoration.
1857 – Dawson Monument, Monaghan, Co. Monaghan
Architect: William Barre
The Dawson Monument was built to commemorate Colonel Dawson – a local landowner who died at the battle of Inkerman in 1854.
1857 – Scrabo Tower, Newtownards, Co. Down
Architect: Charles Lanyon
Erected in 1857, the Tower was built by local people as a monument to Charles William Stewart,
1858 – First Presbyterian Church, Portadown, Co. Armagh
Architect: William J. Barre
The present building replaced an earlier building of 1822 and opened in August 1858. Extended and altered several times a gallery was added in 1875 and the transepts,
1858 – Presbyterian Church & School, Clones, Co. Monaghan
Architect: William J. Barre
Simple Presbyterian church, probably by William Barre, with slightly later school adjacent.
1859 – Adam Clarke Memorial Obelisk, Portrush, Co. Antrim
Architect: William Barre
A45 foot tall obelisk to a leading member of early Methodism, Adam Clarke whio was born in County Derry.
1862 – Crozier Memorial, Banbridge, Co. Down
Architect: William J. Barre
Crozier was a British naval officer who participated in six exploratory expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic.
1862 – Ulster Hall, Belfast, Co. Antrim
Architect: William Barre
Opened in 1862, by the Ulster Hall Company, the hall’s purpose was to provide the expanding city of Belfast with a multi-purpose venue of sufficient size.
