North by Northwest

An exhibition on the life and work of Liam McCormick

Star of the Sea, Desertegney, Co. Donegal 1964

Henk Snoek / RIBA British Architectural Library Photographs Collection

Liam McCormick, regarded as the “father of modern church architecture in Ireland”, was a giant of Irish architecture throughout the second half of the 20th century and one of only a handful of Irish architects to attract an international reputation. During his long career he built more 30 churches, including three in England.

McCormick was born in Derry in 1916 to a political and seafaring family and grew up in Ulster’s princely county, Donegal. Apart from brief excursions to the outside world, he found no good reason ever to leave the northwest. Its myths and landscapes fired his soul to create some of the most lyrical and most loved modern architecture in Ireland.

From 23rd April the Irish Architectural Archive will hold an exhibition on the work of Liam McCormick. The exhibition will consist of a selection of photographs of McCormick’s most iconic religious and secular works. There will also be interpretative panels detailing his career and a small selection of maquettes and designs by various artists commissioned for the decoration of his churches.

Coinciding with the exhibition will be a publication on the work of Liam McCormick entitled North by Northwes edited by Shane O’Toole and Paul Larmour. The book will be an in depth examination of the work of McCormick with contributions by Wallace Clarke, John Hume, Tarla MacGabhann, Carole Pollard and Joe Tracey. The publication and the exhibition are sponsored by Harcourt Developments and the RIAI.

St. Aengus, Burt, Co. Donegal, 1967

Henk Snoek / RIBA British Architectural Library Photographs Collection

A short lecture series will accompany the exhibition as follows:

Tuesday 29th April 2008 at 1.15.pm

An Architectural Life

Paul Larmour

Reader, School of Architecture, Queen’s University Belfast

Thursday 1st May 2008 at 1.15pm

Right and Correct: The Seven Donegal Churches of Liam McCormick

Carole Pollard

Architect

Tuesday 6th May 2008 at 1.15pm

A Patron of Church Art

Paul Larmour

Reader, School of Architecture, Queen’s University Belfast

Thursday 8th May2008 at 1.15pm

Symbolism in the Work of Liam McCormick

Shane O’Toole

Architect and Critic

All lectures are free and open to the public and take place in the Irish Architectural Archive, 45 Merrion Square, Dublin 2
BOOKING ESSENTIAL – Places are strictly limited to 50