View source for W. J. Barre

{{Short description|Irish architect}}
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{{Use Irish English|date=November 2020}}
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:348801364 1cad2d8b2a b.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Albert Memorial Clock]] -->
'''William Joseph Barre''' (1830, [[Newry]] – 1867) was a prolific Irish architect who built many well known buildings in [[Belfast]] in a [[Gothic Revival]] style, but was always overshadowed by his great rival, [[Charles Lanyon]].
[[File:University Road Methodist Church - geograph.org.uk - 60008.jpg|thumb|University Road Methodist Church. Built in 1864–65 to the Italianate design of W J Barre, this church is now disused.]]
He moved to Belfast from his home town of Newry in 1860. He designed several of Ulster's most significant buildings during the Victorian period. They are distinctive and often dramatic. Many are churches but he also designed secular buildings.<ref name="Harron 2021">{{cite book |last1=Harron |first1=Paul |title=W J Barre, 1830-1867: A Vigorous Mind |date=2021 |publisher=Ulster Architectural Heritage Society |location=Belfast |isbn=978-0-900457-84-5}}</ref>
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 was not so lucky in the competition in 1856, to design the monument for the [[Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry|3rd Marquess of Londonderry]], which resulted in the building of the [[Scrabo Tower]]. Although his design took first place, the decision was overturned on grounds of cost, the commission instead going to Charles Lanyon, whose design had come fourth. Lanyon, notes Barre's biographer,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dunlop |first1=Durham |title=A Memoir of the Professional Life of William J. Barre, Esq., Member of the Royal Institute of Architects, Ireland: with photographic illustrations selected from his works |date=1868 |publisher=James Magill |location=Belfast}}</ref> 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 best known, if somewhat skewed (it is out by over a metre at the top), [[Albert Memorial Clock, Belfast|Albert 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, above all, churches.
==Works==
Barre's best known work is the [[Albert Memorial Clock, Belfast|Albert Memorial Clock]], in the centre of [[Belfast]], built 1865–1870. He also designed:
* [[Ulster Hall]], Bedford Street, Belfast, 1859–62. Italianate music hall.<ref>{{cite book | last=Larmour, P| year=1987 |title=Belfast. An Illustrated Architectural Guide | publisher=Friar's Bush Press, Belfast| page=23}}</ref>
* University Road Methodist Church, Belfast, 1864
* Bryson House, Bedford Street, Belfast, 1865–67. Former High Victorian linen warehouse in medieval Italian palazzo style.<ref>{{cite book | last=Larmour, P| year=1987 |title=Belfast. An Illustrated Architectural Guide | publisher=Friar's Bush Press, Belfast| page=26}}</ref>
* [[Shaftesbury Square Hospital]], Belfast, 1868
* the [[Provincial Bank of Ireland, Belfast|Provincial Bank of Ireland]] in Castle Place, Belfast
* Clanwilliam House, now called ''Danesfort'', in [[Belfast]], 1864
* ceiling renovation of [[St George's Church, Belfast]], 1865
* The Moat, Belfast<ref name="Harron 2021" />
* remodel of [[Roxborough Castle]] in [[County Tyrone]]
* Newry Non-subscribing Presbyterian church<ref name="Harron 2021" />
* Riverside Presbyterian Church, Newry<ref name="Harron 2021" />
* St Anne’s Church of Ireland Church (Drumglass), Dungannon<ref name="Harron 2021" />
{{Commons category|W. J. Barre}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
* [http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/barre/2.html Victorian Web]
* [http://freespace.virgin.net/mp.hearth/Malone.html Description of Clanwilliam House]
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[[Category:1830 births]]
[[Category:1867 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Newry]]
[[Category:19th-century Irish architects]]
[[Category:Architects from County Armagh]]