Shane de Blacam and John Meagher are partners in the architectural practice of de Blacam and Meagher Architects. The practice has built houses and places of work, commerce, education and worship; and they design and supervise all drawings and details of their buildings from a studio office in Dublin. They are enthusiastically dedicated to service of clients and to complete their significant buildings. The practice is primarily concerned with the making of simple buildings and with the employment of beautiful materials: oak, white limestone, black fossil limestone, granite, slate, stainless steel, glass, naturally pigmented paints, goldleaf, wool, linen and silk to give quality, permanence and significance to the work; it possesses particular other expertise in restoration and conservation work, interior, furniture design, exhibition design, and the design of excellent new buildings.

Some of the practice’s best-known buildings in Ireland include Cork Institute of Technology, Chapel of Reconciliation at the Catholic shrine at Knock, Co. Mayo, the Samuel Beckett Theatre Dublin and the restoration of the Dining Hall and Atrium in Trinity College Dublin for the University's 400th anniversary celebrations.

This exhibition will seek to develop an understanding of the cultural landscape of Ireland through the work of de Blacam and Meagher Architects. Formed in 1976, the quality of the practice’s work has been recognised both in Ireland and Internationally, and the book Architects Today refers to them as "the godfathers of contemporary Irish architecture". The influence of de Blacam and Meagher’s practice has undoubtedly permeated the many facets of Irish life with a distinct cultural presence.

Shane de Blacam

Born in Dublin October 1945. Educated at University College Dublin and the University of Pennsylvania. Worked in London with Chamberlain, Powell and Bon, and with Louis I. Kahn in Philadelphia. He returned to Ireland as first year master at the School of Architecture, University College Dublin. He has won the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. He is a member of Aosdána.

John Meagher

Born in Dublin May 1947. Educated at the School of Architecture, College of Technology, Dublin, and Helsinki University of Technology, "School of Architecture", Otaniemi, Finland. Worked in Dublin, Germany and USA. Taught at School of Architecture University College Dublin. He has been a Director of the ROSC International Exhibition of Modern Art. He has been a Board member of The Irish Museum of Modern Art and Hugh Lane Dublin City Gallery.