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Joy's delight at
exhibition coming 'home'
01.07.08
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THE wife of the late
architect Liam McCormick has said her husband would
be very happy a major exhibition of his life's work
was coming 'home' to Donegal.
'North by North West' will take place at the
Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny from July 12
until the end of August.
Nobel laureate John Hume, a good friend of the late
architect, will again perform the official opening
of the exhibition as he did for the Dublin launch in
April.
"As an Inishowen man, Liam would have been so
pleased that the exhibition of his life's work will
be seen by the people of his own county. That would
have been very important to him," Joy said
yesterday. |
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Meanwhile, 'North by
North West', the book, is a 300-page tome co-written
by awarding winning architect and critic, Shane
O'Toole from Dublin and Paul Larmour, Northern
Ireland's leading architectural historian and Reader
at Queen's University Belfast.
The exhibition and accompanying book both chronicle
the work |
of the man described as
the "father of modern church architecture in
Ireland". Born in Derry in 1916 to a political and
seafaring family, McCormick grew up in his beloved
Greencastle. He was one of only a handful of Irish
architects to attract an international reputation.
During his long career he built more 30 churches
including his most iconic, St Aengus Church at Burt.
He also designed residential properties including a
seaside retreat for John Hume and his family.
As part of the Donegal launch, Shane O'Toole will
host a seminar kicking off at 2pm on July 12. The
exhibition will be unveiled shortly after 5pm.
"Liam McCormick was a romantic at heart. He believed
that architecture is an emotional art and he was not
wrong about this. People respond emotionally to his
buildings, which is the rarest and highest praise
any architect can receive," said Shane O'Toole.
Paul Larmour adds: "Beginning in the 1950s, Liam
McCormick's patronage of artists led to the creation
of a whole new school of Irish church art and a
flowering of native creativity and artistry that
calls to mind in its focus and range both the golden
age of early Christian art in Ireland and the heyday
of the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement in the early
20th century."
People who attend the free exhibition will be
treated to a wide range of material charting
McCormick's life in Greencastle, his love of sailing
and his time as the High Sheriff of Derry in 1970.
He was only the second Catholic to hold the position
since the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th Century.
McCormick's office in The Diamond in Derry was
firebombed in 1972 and almost all of his drawings
and records were lost. This fact makes the new
exhibition and book all the more significant. |
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