Now that I’m back from Ireland, I have been watching a film which Joseph Walsh commissioned about Stone Vessel, which tells one a huge amount about the craft of making – church bells as well as building:-

The Glucksman was closed in between exhibitions, but I was still able to appreciate the beauty of its building, isolated in the parkland of University College, Cork, as if lost in the trees: the grandest form of tree house:-

I arrived in the central courtyard on a crisp November morning.  It’s a remarkably successful set of buildings, so coherent, all in brick, by de Blacam & Meagher.  Finished in 2004:-

This is the library building, a bit earlier, but also exceptionally impressive:-

I apologise to those readers who have not received images with my posts.  This is bad news.  WordPress, the platform on which the blog is published, must in some way have made changes to the way posts are transmitted because my readership has understandably plummeted. 

But unfortunately I don’t know how to rectify it.  I will investigate.

St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral is quite wonderful, so surprising, not enormous, but full of restrained power.  You approach along the river and there it is, at the side of a minor street, almost like a toy:-

The interior is wonderful too, so well preserved, full of rich detail, all of it designed by William Burges:-

This is a slightly surprising church to find on a small suburban shopping street driving in from Kinsale to Cork.  Commissioned in 1927 by the Bishop of Cork, it was designed by Barry Byrne who was based in Chicago and had worked for Frank Lloyd Wright:-

Another piece of pure form, not just a way of showing off the stonemasons’ art:-

Sketched by Tuomey + O’Donnell and then constructed in a free way by local craftsman, it is a building without a purpose, a primitive hut:-

I have come on a slightly mad trip to Cork to see two buildings which John Tuomey and Sheila O’Donnell showed in this year’s Robert Maxwell Lecture.  They are in the grounds of the Joseph Walsh Studio, so first I saw the work of the Studio:-

If you happen to have a subscription to the FT, you can read an article about Old Town’s sad demise – actually, a well-deserved retirement after a life well lived, making clothes to last.

I lament the fact that nobody has been able to take it on: all that loyalty; such consistent devotion to high quality; it’s hard, apparently impossible, to replicate.

I am one of those people who hopes I have enough corduroy trousers to last me out, plus I can always go back to the green moleskin suit in the cupboard.

The end of cult British brand Old Town – https://on.ft.com/3OodV1r via @FT