{{Short description|English architect (c. 1780-1841)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} '''Joseph Ireland''' ({{circa|1780}}{{snd}}1841) was an English architect who designed Roman Catholic Church buildings in the early nineteenth century. He specialized in Romanesque Revival architecture and worked with Joseph John Scoles.
==Life== Ireland was born into a Catholic family from Crofton, near Wakefield.<ref name="notts">{{cite web|title=Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham: An Architectural and Historical Review|url=http://www.grasshopper-hosting.co.uk/Diocese/02_Admin/AHP/Final%2520report%2520(PDF)/Summary%2520report(NXPowerLite).pdf&sa=U&ei=s8cAU5iwIuuy7AaY_YGYCw&ved=0CB4QFjAA&sig2=9gpsJYcRTGQ4Jneep7e28Q&usg=AFQjCNGfhCiTcWQEOBE9btl6mHpczsWnLA|publisher=Nottingham Diocese|accessdate=19 May 2013}}{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He worked almost entirely for Roman Catholic patrons,<ref name="notts"/> notably the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District, John Milner. From 1812 until 1819, he employed Joseph John Scoles, a relative, as an apprentice.<ref name="dnb">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Scoles, Joseph John|author=Samuel Joseph Nicholl|volume=51|no-icon=1}}</ref>
From 1816 to 1818, he was the architect of Church of All Saints, Hassop, originally built as a private chapel for Hassop Hall and its owner Francis Eyre.<ref>[http://www.derbyshireheritage.co.uk Derbyshire Heritage] retrieved 5 February 2014</ref> The design was based on Inigo Jones' St Paul's Covent Garden.<ref name="notts"/> In 1821, he built a Greek-style chapel beside Houghton Hall for Charles Langdale who had inherited the estate.<ref>'Langdale Family' from [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=050-ddladdha&cid=0#0 National Archives] retrieved 5 February 2014</ref>
In 1824, he was behind the initial plans for St Austin's Church in Wakefield. In 1826, the Society of Jesus set up a mission there and building work started on the church the following year.<ref>'Parish History' in [http://www.stmartinswakefield.org/index.php/sample-sites-2/parish-history StMartinsWakefield.org.uk] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321223420/http://stmartinswakefield.org/index.php/sample-sites-2/parish-history |date=2015-03-21 }} retrieved 5 February 2014</ref> For the next two years, he worked on St Peter and St Paul Church in Wolverhampton and a chapel for the Dominican Order in Hinckley. The priory in Hinckley was the centre for the Dominicans in Britain and the chapel was dedicated to St Peter. It was demolished in 1976.<ref>[http://hinckley.netfirms.com/Hinckley%20-%20R.htm History of Hinckley] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150311160721/http://hinckley.netfirms.com/Hinckley%20-%20R.htm |date=11 March 2015 }} retrieved 5 February 2014</ref>
Other works included Holy Cross Church in Leicester from 1817 to 1819, St Mary's the Mount Church in Walsall in 1825.<ref>[http://hinckley.netfirms.com/Architects.htm#Ireland Hinckley Architects] retrieved 5 February 2014</ref> In 1829 he built a chapel at Tixhall Hall, Staffordshire for the Clifford family; it was dismantled following the sale of the estate in 1840 and rebuilt as St John the Baptist Church at Great Haywood.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.search.staffspasttrack.org.uk/engine/resource/default.asp?txtKeywords=haywood+ireland&lstContext=&lstResourceType=&lstExhibitionType=&chkPurchaseVisible=&rbAlphabeticalRecent=1&txtDateFrom=&txtDateTo=&originator=%2Fengine%2Fsearch%2Fdefault%5Fhndlr%2Easp&page=&records=&direction=&pointer=2754&text=0&resource=1398|title=St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Great Haywood|work=Staffordshire Past Track|publisher=Staffordshire County Council|accessdate=23 October 2013|archive-date=7 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307065237/http://www.search.staffspasttrack.org.uk/engine/resource/default.asp?txtKeywords=haywood+ireland&lstContext=&lstResourceType=&lstExhibitionType=&chkPurchaseVisible=&rbAlphabeticalRecent=1&txtDateFrom=&txtDateTo=&originator=%2Fengine%2Fsearch%2Fdefault%5Fhndlr%2Easp&page=&records=&direction=&pointer=2754&text=0&resource=1398|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Nikolaus Pevsner, when writing about Catholic churches in Staffordshire praised Joseph Ireland writing, "The finest Catholic churches are Late Georgian Classical. They are the churches of Wolverhampton and Walsall, both of 1825-7 ... both by Ireland."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nicklaus |title=Staffordshire |date=1974 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven and London |isbn=0300096461 |page=35 |edition=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=08SJUdI3uFEC |access-date=23 June 2022}}</ref>
==Churches== <gallery> File:St John the Baptist Catholic Church, Great Haywood - geograph.org.uk - 60582.jpg|St John the Baptist Church, Great Haywood File:Hassop - All Saints Catholic Church - geograph.org.uk - 977884.jpg|All Saints Church, Hassop St Austin's Catholic Church - Wentworth Terrace - geograph.org.uk - 654095.jpg|St Austin's Church, Wakefield St Mary's the Mount - geograph.org.uk - 1032947.jpg|St Mary the Mount Church, Walsall Wolverhampton Catholic Church of St Peter and St Paul.JPG|St Peter and St Paul Church, Wolverhampton </gallery> *Grace Congregatiobal Church of Harlem, formerly a Presbyterian Church built in 1892
==See also== * Joseph John Scoles * John Milner
==References== <references/>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ireland, Joseph}} Category:English ecclesiastical architects Category:Romanesque Revival architects Category:1780s births Category:1841 deaths Ireland, Joseph