An Image in my head
As the town changes and my own perceptions and values alter, the visual image of Tullamore that I hold in my head is continually refined.
Little by little I have begun to realise that buildings which I dismissed as mundane are more important than I had first considered, while others which I once revered are now probably not all that good after all. There is also the fear that several much-loved landmarks I believed timeless may soon disappear.
My visits to the town have become more infrequent and I find that when I try to summon up its civic character in my mind in order to make a drawing, it tends to coalesce into an amalgam in which some buildings and landscapes take centre stage while others recede. In this capriccio I have tried to corral my memories into an ensemble which has some underlying unity, but inevitably selection distorts scale and some of the juxtapositions may seem overly bizarre.
Of late, three particular parts of the town have begun to take a hold of my imagination – two real and one imaginary. The stretch of Cormac Street from the railway station to O’Moore Street gets better on each revisit while O’Connor Square is at last beginning to reveal its potential to be one of the finest urban spaces in the country. On the other hand, the Harbour is as inaccessible and decaying as it ever was. Its unknowable future has always fascinated me – as I’m sure it does many.
So, I have tried to put together a capriccio which reflects not just the quality of several important buildings but to suggest that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Tullamore has its own unique architectural character which should be protected and enhanced because of its inherent worth.
‘Capriccio’ (Kahpritsio)
A composition of imaginary or real architecture in a picturesque or dramatic fictive setting which encourages a reappraisal of its qualities.
A fictionalized assemblage of archaeological and architectural bits and pieces, a luxury image of cultural plenty
Top to Bottom
Starting from the top, there is no doubt that, just as the Basilicas of Montmartre, Turin and Marseilles stand on their hills and dominate the cities below, St Catherine’s atop Hop Hill is the most memorable architectural feature of the town and, as it has been for almost two-hundred years, is still its outstanding landmark.
In my drawing this distinctive work of Francis Johnston is flanked by those other two historic vertical accents which define the skyline of the town and its surroundings; the spire of the Church of the Assumption and the tower of Charleville Castle.
For the visitor arriving by train the first impression on entering Tullamore is of the width and elegance of Cormac Street, its charming terraces and the greenery of the Lloyd Town Park These contrast with the intimidating duo of the Gaol and Courthouse whose stern facades are now being challenged by the shining white Acres Tower on the hill opposite.
Underneath are the three great gables of the town- the Methodist and Presbyterian chapels and the Grand Central Cinema; my ‘Cinema Paradiso’. They make a wonderful grouping and adjoin the substantial housing stock of the town which ranges from elegant 18th-century mansions to the best of mid-20th century local authority terraces. Frank Gibney’s distinctive line of French style canalside planting completes the scene.
The centre ground of the drawing is occupied by the more important shops, banks and businesses of the town centre and is dominated by Pentland’s elegant Market House. The ‘Step House’ is included to represent the many smaller traditional shops which are sadly disappearing.
Below these, the architectural beauty and symmetry of Scott and Good’s County Hospital is displayed and reminds us that a distinctive feature of the Market House and the 19th— century houses of Tullamore are semi-circular arches executed in local Ballyduff limestone. These are reflected in the ground floor of the Hospital and the motif is repeated in the portico of the Courthouse and Gibney’s Clontarf Road terrace.
It probably stretches things a bit, but some may note the visual connection between the duality of the twin fortress like towers of the Gaol and those of Mucklagh Gate and how they bring to mind the long-vanished twin spires of the Church of the Assumption and the cooling towers of the Lumcloon Power Station.
While many of the streets and lanes of Tullamore (Chapel Street and Church Street in particular) have delightful painting schemes, some parts are not so tasteful. I have taken the liberty of colouring several buildings in more playful tones than they present in reality and there is no doubt that a coordinated scheme for selected streets would work wonders for the visual appearance of parts of the town.
A Venetian Tullamore
Tullamore and Venice are situated on the Grand Canal – and there any comparison ends.
Nevertheless I have explored that fantasy by providing a quayside frontage for the finest buildings of the town and J. B. Keane’s Courthouse and the great High Street Palazzo designed by Richard Castle would look so impressive were they to be reflected in water. These magnificent compositions in the Classical manner are linked by the Ponte Dei Pugni from Venice- or might it be Kilbeggan Bridge? This elegant structure was designed in the 1930s by County Engineer Tom Duggan and spans the link to Tullamore’s mysterious harbour which legitimately bears comparison with Venice’s Arsenale.
The Arsenale is the once forbidden harbour within the heart of the city, which, like our own harbour, was for many years hidden from the eyes of the citizens until recently when it was used as the site for the Biennial Exhibition of Art and Architecture. The most successful of these was the 2018 show curated by Yvonne Farrell of Grafton Architects who is now fittingly tasked with reimagining and opening up her home town’s very own Arsenale.
To stretch the absurd Venetian analogy even further, is it possible to imagine that one day O’Connor Square will be entirely freed of its intrusive parked cars and traffic and like St Mark’s Square be an entirely open and pleasant space of market stalls, food vans, children’s play areas, seating and public art? The excellent County Library and the south facing cafes have begun to hint at this ultimate possibility.
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A New Era
As I write, the first serious civic design plans for the town centre and harbour are being drawn up and will soon be revealed. A lot now rides on the skill and creativity of the architects, planners, property experts and civic designers who have taken on the task of adding to the prestige and attractiveness of the County capital.
Whilst we might at last entertain hopes for a better future for the urban heritage of Tullamore, historical neglect has determined the inevitable disappearance within the next twenty years of at least two of the buildings I have shown and possibly more.
Hopefully, a new era is about to dawn and this time we may get it right, but over the horizon a hot air balloon floats ominously in.
‘A Tullamore Capriccio’ will be exhibited as part of this year’s Watercolour Society of Ireland’s exhibition in Farmleigh in the Phoenix Park, Dublin from the 1st October.
Our thanks to Fergal MacCabe for this thoughtful piece. Dare to imagine
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