Maurice James Waldron Craig (25 October 1919 – 11 May 2011) was an Irish

architectural historian An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it. Professional requirements As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...

, the author of several books on the architectural heritage of Ireland and other subjects, and a conservation activist.

Life

He was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

in 1919, in a prosperous

presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

family, though he later rejected his unionist background in favour of socialism and atheism and respect for Irish culture. He attended Castle Park School in Dalkey, Dublin,

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by royal charter, to replace the town's Saxon collegiate foundations which were disestablished in the sixteenth century, Shrewsb ...

in England,

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, then returned to Ireland where, persuaded by poet

Patrick Kavanagh Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 – 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet and novelist. His best-known works include the novel ''Tarry Flynn'', and the poems "On Raglan Road" and "The Great Hunger". He is known for his accounts of Irish life th ...

, he completed a doctorate at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

on the works of the early 19th-century English poet

Walter Savage Landor Walter Savage Landor (30 January 177517 September 1864) was an English writer, poet, and activist. His best known works were the prose ''Imaginary Conversations,'' and the poem "Rose Aylmer," but the critical acclaim he received from contempora ...

. Craig became active in Dublin architecture conservation in the 1940s. From 1952, he worked in London in the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments, but left in 1970 to join

An Taisce An Taisce – The National Trust for Ireland (; "An Taisce" meaning "the store" or "the treasury"), established on a provisional basis in September 1946, and incorporated as a company based on an “association not for profit” in June 1948, is ...

in Dublin as its full-time executive secretary. Craig was a prolific photographer of buildings. He donated his large collection to the

Irish Architectural Archive The Irish Architectural Archive was established in 1976 by Dr Edward McParland and Nicholas Robinson as the National Trust Archive. Its objective is to collect and preserve material of every kind relating to the architecture of Ireland, and mak ...

in 2001, and anthologies of his photos have been published in book form. Craig was married three times. His first marriage was to Beatrix Hurst, from which he had two children, and the second was to Jeanne Edwards. His third wife was actress and singer Agnes Bernelle, with whom he lived in

Sandymount Sandymount () is a coastal suburb in the Dublin 4 district on the Southside, Dublin, Southside of Dublin in Ireland. Etymology An early name for the area was Scal'd Hill or Scald Hill.

, Dublin, until her death in 1999.

Bibliography

His books include: * ''The Volunteer Earl'' (1948) – a biography of

James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont Order of St Patrick, KP Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire) (18 August 1728 – 4 August 1799), was an Irish politician, statesman. Life Early life The son of James Caulfeild, 3rd Viscount Charlemont ...

*''Dublin 1660–1860: The Shaping of a City'' (1952, 1969) – an influential work at a time of crisis for Dublin's colonial architecture *''Irish Bookbindings 1600–1800'' (1954) – a history of Irish

bookbinding Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...

* ''Ireland Observed'' (1970, 1980, with Desmond FitzGerald) - a survey of Irish buildings * ''Classic Irish Houses of the Middle Size'' (1976) – a survey of 17th/18th/19th-century houses of the minor gentry * ''The Architecture of Ireland from the Earliest Times to 1880'' (1982) * ''The Elephant and the Polish Question'' (1990) - a varied collection of essays * ''Cats and their Poets: An Anthology'' (2002) - a collection of ancient and modern poems about cats * ''Mausolea Hibernica'' (2009) - a survey of

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

s in Ireland * ''Poems'' - a collection of poetry * ''Photographs'' (2011) - a collection of architectural photographs taken by Craig around Ireland

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Maurice 1919 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Irish historians 21st-century Irish historians Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Irish architectural historians 20th-century Irish photographers Writers from Belfast Male non-fiction writers from Northern Ireland 20th-century Irish male writers 21st-century Irish male writers Writers from Dublin (city)