James Franklin Fuller (1835–1924) was an Irish actor, architect and novelist.
Life Fuller was born at Nedanone,James Franklin Fuller: Omniana: the autobiography of an Irish octogenarian. London, Smith, Elder & Co (1916) County Kerry, the only son of Thomas Harnett Fuller of Glashnacree, County Kerry, by his first wife, Frances Diana, a daughter of Francis Christopher Bland of Derryquin Castle. He was educated in Blackrock, County Cork, and Dublin.
In 1850 he went to London where he qualified as an architect, and later moved to Manchester.
In 1862 he became a district architect under the Board of Ecclesiastical Commissioners in Ireland. In 1869, after the Church of Ireland was disestablished, he set up his own practice in Dublin. Two years later he became architect to the Representative Church Body and shortly afterwards was appointed architect to St. Patrick's Cathedral, as well as to a number of other institutions.
He ran a busy, though, according to his memoirs, unconventional, practice, not keeping ledgers or books and disdaining keeping financial records. As well as his ecclesiastical projects and public building works, he designed a number of large houses around County Kerry and County Mayo. He designed Kylemore Abbey, Connemara, in the 1860s and a few years later the neighbouring neo-Gothic church, a building of international significance. He also designed Mount Falcon (1876), a 9-bedroom Victorian manor estate house which is today a hotel on 100-acres of the original Knox family estate near Ballina.
During the 1890s, he took on George F. Beckett as a pupil and then junior assistant.
He wrote works of fiction, including Culmshire Folk (Cassell, 1873) and John Orlebar, Clerk (Cassell, 1878) and many articles of a historical and genealogical nature.
He was a great-grandfather of actress Peggy Cummins.
Works Some of his more prominent projects include:
ProjectYear CompletedLocationNotesImage Kylemore Castle 1868–1875, 1878–1884 Connemara, County Galway, Ireland The castle was designed by James Franklin Fuller, initially together with Ussher Roberts, in a neo-Gothic style. Derreen House and Gardens 1871–1873 Near Kenmare, County Kerry, Ireland. Originally built in the first half of the eighteenth century, the house was remodeled by James Franklin Fuller. Ashford Castle 1875–1881 Near Cong, County Galway, Ireland Victorian rebuilding (in the baronial style) of a medieval castle from the 13th century. Mount Falcon1876Near Ballina, County Mayo, IrelandBaronial manor house built for Utred Augustus Knox. Farmleigh House 1881–1884 Castleknock, Dublin, Ireland Once a small Georgian house built in the 18th century, it was subject to a major renovation programme between 1881 and 1884 by James Franklin Fuller. St Catherine's Church 1885 Thomas Street, Dublin, Ireland Reordering of interior, including the removal of box-pews and two East bays of gallery, relocation of the pulpit to North side of chancel arch. Dromquinna House Around 1890 Templenoe, County Kerry, Ireland Built manor house for John Colomb. Kenmare Hotel (Park Hotel Kenmare today) 1894 Kenmare, County Kerry, Ireland Built the hotel for the Great Southern and Western Railway. Parknasilla Hotel 1894 Sneem, County Kerry, Ireland Built the hotel for the Great Southern and Western Railway.
Arms
References
External links Irish Architectural Archive - Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720-1940 - Fuller, James Franklin