Legendary architecture
Cairns are earthen or stone mounds covering burials, often with a forecourt and whose sacred enclosure was protected by standing stones. The Creggandevesky Tomb and the Ossian's Grave are two superb examples. Ireland also has passage tombs covered with earth or stone and having a narrow access passage lined with large stones leading to the burial chambers; as well as covered alleys composed of galleries serving the burial chambers. Here again, a courtyard precedes these buildings. You can observe amazing examples in County Sligo, notably at the sites of Deerpark and Creevykeel. And let's not forget the dolmens (burial chambers crowned by a large flat stone) such as the porticoed dolmen at Labby Rock, which is located not far from the neolithic cemetery of Carrowkeel, which contains sumptuous corbelled burial chambers. But the flagship site not to be missed is the tumulus of Newgrange, a hill 11 m high and 85 m in diameter, made of nearly 200 000 t of stones sheltering engraved galleries and a burial chamber which lights up at each winter solstice! At the same time, Ireland has seen the development of other ritual sites, such as cromlechs (circles of standing stones) and stepped amphitheaters organized around a vast platform as illustrated by the sites of Dun Duchathair and Dun Aengus on the Aran Islands. In addition, there is an astonishing series of forts and fortified enclosures of circular shape. The raths are made of earth, while the cashel are made of stone. These forts are built on rocky promontories or hills around which protective ditches are dug. Among the sites not to be missed: Cahergeal Fort, Staigue Fort and of course the Hill of Tara with the three rings of the Raths of the Synods. And don't miss the crannogs, artificial islands, built in lake areas, composed of wooden platforms supported by a series of piles and on which are located houses with wattle and daub and thatched or peat roofs and often conical shape. Beautiful examples can be seen in County Clare
Medieval Golden Age
The first Celtic churches were small and simple, made of stone, rectangular in plan, with a high gable roof and narrow, tapered windows. They are protected by a round tower with a crenellated top, with no openings except for loopholes and an entrance raised almost 2 m above the ground. These characteristics can be found in the first monasteries, which are often protected by a circular wall or moat. Originally composed of a single cell, they inherited their simplicity from the huts of the first Christian hermits, circular dry-stone huts called clochán, whose beehive shape also earned them the name of beehive huts. The Celtic crosses, stone giants with richly carved biblical decorations, are the other great symbols of the period. Among the most beautiful witnesses of this High Christian Age, do not miss the site of Skellig Michael, the High Crosses of Ahenny and Castledermot and especially the site of Monasterboice. Ireland knows then a real golden age of abbeys and monasteries. The architecture of the latter was influenced by the monastic orders of the continent, the Cistercians in the lead, with their sense of asceticism and harmony of lines and volumes. The influence of the Normans was also added to this. For their churches, the latter favored a simple plan with a nave, two aisles, a transept and an apse. In terms of style, the Norman-Romanesque style is characterized by sober but richly sculpted decorations with friezes and tympanums decorated with geometric motifs. The interior space, spacious and luminous, includes arcades, large bays and galleries of circulation. An impression of grandeur that will be reinforced by the appearance of the first ribbed vaults, allowing to gain height and announcing the great impulses of the Gothic. Not to be missed: Boyle Abbey, Clonfert Cathedral, Athassel Priory and the sites of Glendalough, Rock of Cashel and Clonmacnoise. The Normans are also famous for their castles, of massive proportions, with crenellated ramparts and thick, powerful stone walls, again decorated with geometric patterns, often in zigzag or sawtooth form. Built on rocky promontories or surrounded by defensive walls and ditches, these castles are dominated by a keep in the center of a central courtyard. The organization of the castles is reminiscent of the tower-houses that dot the country. Aughnanure Castle, Blarney Castle, Carrickfergus Castle and of course Dublin Castle are among the most beautiful fortresses of the country. And to taste the picturesque charm of medieval towns, go to Kilkenny. There you can stroll down High Street, the typical medieval shopping street, but also down the slips, small streets so steep that they have been transformed into staircases; all these streets are lined with arcaded houses. You will also discover the castle, the cathedral and a superb round tower. All of medieval Ireland in one city!
From the 16th to the 18th century
The 16th century was accompanied by an adaptation of the fortification systems to the evolution of artillery. The walls were reinforced with earthen embankments to withstand cannon fire and the number of corner bastions and pointed or projecting forms increased. The ramparts of the Derry Citadel, the Elizabeth Fort in Cork and the Charles Fort in Kinsale, whose star shape was inspired by the citadels of Vauban, date from this period. The 17th century was the century of the "plantations" when English and Scottish settlers took over the lands of the Ulster chiefs. Dominated by the big houses, the owners' homes, these estates retain their medieval appearance with the addition here and there of classical elements borrowed from the Italian Renaissance, notably in the art of gardening. Tully Castle, Crom Estate and Springhill are among the beautiful properties of the period. The 18th century marked the advent of the neoclassical style, and more precisely the Georgian style, largely influenced by Palladianism, where harmony and symmetry reigned, the facades of the buildings being punctuated by high windows, columns and arches, as well as by pediments, cornices and balustrades. This was the golden age of the great country estates of the English gentry, often consisting of a three or four story building flanked by two wings creating a monumental entrance. Don't miss Florence Court and Castle Code in Fermanagh or Castletown House in Kildare whose superb garden is lined with "follies", these ornamental garden buildings with the most fanciful shapes. Another astonishing neoclassical fantasy is the Casino in Marino, a masterpiece by the architect William Chambers, who recreated a veritable little Italian palace in the suburbs of Dublin with an astonishing wealth of decoration. In the city, the neoclassical rigor can be seen in the large public buildings (the Irish Parliament and Custom House in Dublin), while a new urban form appeared: terraced houses, an alignment of semi-detached houses along a street or around asquare, creating harmony and unity, a feeling reinforced by the sobriety of their facade enhanced by the flights of steps leading to their superb, colored paneled doors, topped by richly decorated semi-circular imposts. The terraced houses of Dublin are famous all over the world! A very studied urbanism that can be found in the alternation of brick buildings and white houses with colonnades surrounding the Crescent Gardens in Belfast. This urban effervescence culminated in the creation of new villages with harmonious proportions and wide avenues and tree-lined promenades. The motto of these new villages: order and calm. Go to Birr and Westport to enjoy them!
Victorian Era and Modernity
Victorian architecture is entirely imbued with an eclecticism that revives the great styles of the past, especially Gothic and Tudor. This period was accompanied by major restoration campaigns of castles and churches, as well as by the recreation of traditional villages. St Finbarr's Cathedral in Cork was rebuilt in an exuberant gothic style with roses, mosaics and walls covered with blood red Cork marble. Brick is the Victorian material par excellence and it is found in the many educational buildings that were built everywhere. This was the advent of the great universities, as illustrated by Trinity College in Dublin and Queen's University in Belfast, which also took on the trappings of the Gothic style. At the same time, a very beautiful metallic architecture was developed, announcing the modernity to come. It can be found in the botanical gardens and markets, masterpieces of glass and steel. Don't miss the St George's Market in Belfast, the greenhouses of the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin and especially the Botanic Garden in Belfast with its superb Palm House with its round and organic shapes. The latter is the work of Charles Lanyon, the architect of 19th century Belfast, who also designed the Queen's Bridge, Custom House, Crumlin Road Courthouse and Sinclair Seamen's Church, all of which combine engineering prowess with a very personal style. Industrial Belfast also has many working-class neighborhoods with rows of red brick houses with small backyards. The city also has a fine example of Edwardian architecture that follows the Victorian era: Donegall Square dominated by the City Hall whose white silhouette highlights its powerful green copper dome. The Guinness Building in Dublin marks the definitive entry into modernity. Influenced by the skyscrapers of the Chicago School, it is thefirst building in Ireland with a metal structure supporting several floors! The beginning of the 20th century was also marked by the appearance of the geometric and pure lines of Art Deco, which can be seen in the Church of Christ the King in Cork. The 1920s and 1930s were also a period of urban planning, particularly in Dublin, where it was decided to eradicate the shanty towns and replace them with "Dublin Corporation Houses", large properties divided into semi-detached houses and arranged in a crescent around green spaces. If concrete is now the norm, the Georgian urban scheme is still relevant!
Contemporary architecture
With its concrete facade punctuated by a "monotonous" alignment of windows, Busaras, Dublin's central bus station built in 1953 by Michael Scott, is the perfect example of the austerity of the international style. Sam Stephenson, on the other hand, invented a brutalism with elegant contours, as evidenced by the Central Bank of Dublin and the two towers of the Civic Offices with facades interspersed with concrete blocks and black stone bands. A land of architectural innovation, Dublin has continued to redesign itself under the pencil strokes of famous architects. Santiago Calatrava gave Dublin its two emblematic bridges: the James Joyce Bridge with its silhouette reminiscent of an open book, and the Samuel Beckett Bridge, whose shape is reminiscent of a harp, the country's emblem. Daniel Libeskind designed the Grand Canal Theater, with its stunning mirror façade and fluid, transparent sculptural volumes, which has become the focal point of the new Grand Canal Harbor district. Among the other must-see contemporary creations in Dublin, don't miss the amazing Umbrella Project in the heart of Temple Bar with its retractable sunshade pillars protecting the central square, the Marker Hotel with its facade elegantly alternating glass and smooth white surfaces and the Capital Dock and its 79 m height. But Dublin is also and above all the city of Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell, founders of the Grafton Architects agency, and recipients, in 2020, of the prestigious Pritzker Prize, the Nobel Prize for architecture. With Zaha Hadid, they are the only women to have received it! Creators of a sober and pure architecture with brutalist accents, the two architects' watchwords are humanism, altruism and generosity. This no doubt explains the astonishing number of schools they have built! We also owe them the beautiful Solstice Art Center in Navan. Belfast is not to be outdone and today enjoys a beautiful creative vitality. The docks and shipyards have been rehabilitated and now house two of the city's most emblematic buildings: the Titanic Building with its four protruding volumes reminiscent of the legendary liner's bow and the Odyssey Arena. Victoria Square is also a must-see. This huge shopping mall, with its interlacing walkways and beautiful glass dome, has integrated the old streets of the district into its structure. Belfast also has the highest tower in the country: the Obel Tower which reaches 85 m. Ireland is also seeing the development of very beautiful organic architecture projects that integrate harmoniously into the landscape, such as the Giant's Causeway Visitor Center with its green roofs and its volumes inspired by basalt formations
Vernacular richness
The richness of Ireland is also that of its rural and traditional heritage. On the coasts, it is impossible to miss the picturesque fishing villages with their small colored houses and their harmonious unity. Dingle is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful. Inland, it is the cottage that is the ambassador of the Irish identity. Most often on one level, these houses of rectangular plan, narrow and deep, and with sturdy stone or clay walls, have a main room lit by sash windows and accessed by a front door slightly offset from the center of the room. When the cottage is composed of several rooms, they follow one another without a hallway. How do you recognize an Irish cottage? By its whitewashed silhouette (or sometimes slightly colored in yellow or orange tones) topped by a thatched roof (slate is reserved for the more expensive cottages). Heather, straw or reed make up this resistant and insulating thatch. On the Atlantic coast, it is maintained by ropes to resist the winds. In Ulster and Munster, several overlapping layers of straw are used, while in the rest of the country, a technique of "pinning" the thatch on a mesh of tapered rods is used. Connemara has some very fine examples. The vernacular architecture is also that of the small heritage: the windmills, like the Wellbrook Beetling Mill, but also the low stone walls dividing the land everywhere. The most impressive ones can be seen on the Aran Islands. From the air, these walls look like a tightly woven mesh. Each plot owner has worked his low walls of broken stones like lace. This vernacular architecture is to be discovered in the numerous ecomuseums or Folk Park of the country. Among the richest, do not miss: the Sligo Folk Park and the Ulster-American Folk Park.
