Irish Modernism in Architecture - Lecture Series Summer 2026
Docomomo UK is pleased to announce its summer 2026 themed lecture series which explores the subject of Irish Modernism in Architecture.
IRISH MODERNISM IN ARCHITECTURE
By 1922 as Ireland finally shook off British rule and the Irish Free State was formed, modernism was already a powerful force in literature through James Joyce and WB Yeats.
Irish modernism in architecture began to emerge as the country aimed to project a new, progressive national identity, gaining huge momentum in the years after the second world war as the government and major institutions modernised and expanded.
Key public buildings included Busáras (Central Bus Station Dublin), Liberty Hall Dublin, The American Embassy, the Irish Central Bank, the Irish Management Institute (IMI) as well as a large church building programme reflecting the pivotal role that Catholicism played in forging the social, religious and political structure of the new Ireland.
Great architects emerged such as Sam Stephenson, Arthur Gibney, Michael Scott, Ronnie Tallon, and John Walker alongside many others. These pioneers helped set the stage for Ireland’s following generations of fine architects to emerge including DeBlacam and Meagher, and later O’Donnell & Tuomey and Grafton among many others.
Our programme of 4 distinguished Irish speakers across June and July, will open with distinguished practitioner and teacher Dr Patrick Lynch, followed by academics Dr Ellen Rowley (University College Dublin) and Dr Carole Pollard before closing with Niall McLaughlin (RIBA Gold Medal 2026).
2 June : Dr Patrick Lynch : Progress is a Myth, Change is the Reality:
On Poetics, Myth and Modernity in the Architecture of Robin Walker
22 June : Dr Ellen Rowley : Cement and Sacraments: Architectures of Irish Catholic Modernism
+ film screening of Making Dust
6 July : Dr Carole Pollard : 'Rise from Tumbledown Decay - Dublin's office buildings of the 1960s and 1970s'.
22 July Niall McLaughlin : DeBlacam & Meagher
Between them our distinguished speakers will deliver 4 talks and one film on this rich and diverse tapestry of architectural expression and invention and I am enormously grateful for their time and energy in committing to this programme.
As an architect whose practice has worked on major public projects in Ireland for a quarter of a century, I wanted to shine a light on this powerful and influential history. In this short, themed series, we can only touch on a small part of this vast subject, but I hope that it will foster a greater appreciation of what the pioneers of Irish modernism achieved, their lasting influence across the decades, and encourage further exploration, understanding and debate.
Keith R Williams FRIBA MRIAI FRSA
founder + director of design : keith williams architects
Chair of Trustees Docomomo UK