Morrison

Dynasty of Irish architects, spanning four generations in the 18th and 19th centuries. Its most eminent members were the Neo-Gothic architect Richard Morrison (1767–1849), author of the influential Useful and Ornamental Designs in Architecture (1793), and his son, William Vitruvius Morrison (1794–1838). Designers of numerous country houses, together they created one of the most significant architectural alliances in Ireland during the early 19th century.

Richard Morrison was a student at Dublin Society's School of Architectural Drawing, where he reputedly studied under the Classical architect James Gandon, before starting a practice in Clonmel. His career was launched with Useful and Ornamental Designs in Architecture, copies of which penetrated as far as Philadelphia, USA, by the end of the 18th century. In the early 1800s Morrison introduced the Neo-Gothic style of English architect James Wyatt to Irish architecture, which was still being built in the Classical Gandonian manner, and built his reputation redesigning country houses outside Dublin. These included the houses of Carton and Lyons in County Kildare, and Pakenham Hall, County Westmeath.

Richard's son, William Morrison, trained as an architect and spent time in Europe. After entering partnership with his father, their joint projects included Ballyfin, County Leix; Fota House, County Cork; Borris House, County Carlow; and Templemore Priory, County Tipperary.