1912
Carnegie Library
Clondalkin
Co. Dublin
libraries
T.J. Byrne
Random Building
1583 – Rathfarnham Castle, Co. Dublin
1912 – Library, Clondalkin, Co. Dublin
Architect: T.J. Byrne
Far and away the best building in the Clondalkin area, the library of 1912 is a delightful Arts and Crafts design. A mixture of stone, brickwork and render, the buildings horizontal glazing contrasts with the verticality of the buttresses and the short tower. A porch is angled between the main volume of the building and the tower.
The building by T.J. Byrne, who was William Scott’s brother-in-law, resembles a design by C.F. Voysey for a Library in Limerick. Scott was the leading Irish exponent of Arts and Crafts and perhaps Byrne was familiar with Voysey’s design. But this is speculation.
One gable wall has a curious design with a split Diocletian windows – purely decorative as it is a blind, the upstairs room lit by the windows on the front and rear façades. The central portion of the window is projected out onto the chimney stack. Much of the interior is original especially in the upstairs room.
