Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697804928989.pdf (Ireland)
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44 ) COPY OF B E T W E E N T H E GOVERNORS AND GUARDIANS, T H E L O R D L IE U T E N A N T O F IR E L A N D .

AND TH E LORDS COM M ISSIONERS OF HER M AJESTY’S TREASURY.

IN R E F E R E N C E TO GRANTS OF PUBLIC MONEY IN AID OF THE GALLERY.

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Memorial to the Lord Lieutenant o f Ireland, o f 13 tli January, 1855.

To His E x c e lle n c y E d w a r d G r a n v i l l e , E a r l o f S t .

a n d General G e r m a n s , L o r d L i e u t e n a n t- G e n e r a l Governor of Ireland.
The Memorial of the Governors and Guardians of the National Gallery of Ireland, H u m b l y S h e w e t h , — That the arrangements contem­ plated by the promoters of a National Gallery in Ireland, before the passing of the Act of last Session, (17 and 18 Victoria, cap.

99,) were to erect the Building intended to accommodate the Gallery upon the north side of Leinster Lawn, and so as in its exterior elevation to correspond with the projected Museum of the Royal Dublin Society on the south side.
That a suitable plan for their Museum has been pre­ pared and presented to the Royal Dublin Society, which has been approved of by the Society; and that the esti­ mated cost of that Building is about £10,000.
4 That the Building proposed for the National Gallery (according to a plan also prepared, and which has been oVc^mitted to us) will be considerably larger than that of the Museum of the Society, and it is estimated that it may be completed for the sum of £11,000, including all the fit­ tings necessary for the purpose to which it is to be applied.
That the subscription alluded to in the Act as having been entered into to commemorate the public services of Mr. D a r g a n , amounts, as this Board is informed, to above £5,000; and by a public resolution of the Committee of Management of that fund it has been appropriated to the purpose of erecting a Building proper for a National Gallery, in the event of a sum sufficient to complete it being obtained.
That it is particularly desirable to complete, without delay, the proposed Building; because, until it be com­ pleted, the Board cannot invite, and cannot reasonably expect, any considerable donations in furtherance of the objects contemplated by the Act of Parliament.
That considering the public importance of the scheme sanctioned by the Act (including, as it does, the removal of a large Free Library to a more convenient part of the city, and its proper accommodation there, as well as the construction of a suitable Public Gallery of A rt), this Board deems it right to ask at once the co-operation of the Government in carrying out that scheme, by supplying out of the public funds the amount, in addition to the sum raised by the subscription hereinbefore mentioned, neces­ sary for its completion.
That the expenditure of the large sums yearly granted for the support of the London National Gallery, and those lately voted by the Legislature for that of Edinburgh, have established the recognition of the principle upon which such Institutions may properly claim the assistance of the State.
That it is in the original erection of the proper build­ 5 ings that that assistance may, in the first instance, be most effectively and appropriately given ; and that accordingly large sums have been granted for the erection of the National Gallery of Edinburgh.

That to enable this Board to proceed at once to make arrangements for the satisfactory erection of the proposed buildings, a sum of £6,000 will, in their opinion, be suf­ ficient, in addition to the Dargan fund above alluded to.
W e therefore pray your Excellency to submit this our application to Her Majesty’s Govern­ ment, and to express our hope that they will be pleased to sanction the grant of this sum, and to submit an estimate for the same to Parliament in the course of the approaching Session.

Signed on behalf of the Governors and Guardians of the National Gallery of Ireland, M AZIEKE BRADY, C., Chairman of a Meeting held on Saturday the 13th of January, 1855, at which the foregoing Memorial was agreed to.
Letter in reply from Colonel Tlios.

A .

Larcom, stating that the Treasury had sanctioned a Grant o f £6,000 towards erecting a National Gallery TSuilding.

Dublin Castle, 4tli June, 1855.
M y L o r d ,— The Memorial signed by your Lordship on behalf of the Governors and Guardians of the National Gallery of Ireland, praying that the Government would 6 sanction a grant of six thousand pounds towards the erection of a building suitable for a National Gallery, having been brought under the consideration of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, I am directed by the Lord Lieutenaut to acquaint your Lordship, for the information of the Governors and Guardians of the National Gallery, that their Lordships will propose a grant of £3,000 in the present Session of Parliament, for the erection of the proposed building, and a second grant of equal amount in that of next year.
1 have the honor to be, My Lord, Your Lordship’s obedient humble servant, TH O S. A. LARCOM .

The Right Honorable T h e L o r d C h a n c e l l o r o f I r e l a n d .

Subsequently the Governors.

applied for a Grant o f £10,000, to purchase Pictures fo r the Gallery when com­ pleted, to which application they received the following Letter from G. Arbuthnot, Esq., stating that the Lords o f the Treasury could not propose a vote fo r Pictures for the National Gallery.
Treasury Chambers, 16th September, 1856.
G e n t l e m e n , — W ith reference to your Memorial to the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, praying for a grant of public money in aid of the National Gallery of Ireland, I am desired by my Lords to inform you that when my Lords consented to make an advance of public money to aid the building of the Gallery, they did the 7 utmost which has ever been done for any similar Institu­ tion ; and they regret that they are unable to comply with the request contained in your Memorial, to propose a vote I am further desired to for the purchase of Pictures.
state, that with regard to the Gallery in Scotland, no grant of public money has been made for the purpose of supply­ ing it with Pictures or Works of A rt; while as regards the Gallery in London, it is of such general and national interest as properly to be considered an exception to other Institutions ; and in that light it has always been regarded by Parliament.
I am, Gentlemen, Your obedient servant, G. A RBU TH N O T. T h e G o v ern o rs a n d G u a r d ia n s of t h e N a t io n a l G a l l e r y , I r e l a n d .

To which Letter the Governors replied, and asked a re-consideration o f the application, when the following answer was received Jrom Sir C'• L .

Trevelyan, stating that the Lords of the Treasury could not recommend a to purchase Pictures for the Grant of public money National Gallery o f Ireland.

Treasury Chambers, 28th November, 1856.
M y L o r d s a n d G e n t l e m e n , —W ith reference to your Memorial of 6th ultimo, requesting a reconsideration of your former Memorial, praying for a grant of public money for the purpose of purchasing Paintings, Sculpture, etc., I am commanded by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury to inform you, that they have very carefully re-considered the decision at which they arrived 8 in respect to the former application for a Parliamentary grant for the purchase of Pictures for the National G al­ lery in Dublin, as well as the present application, which, though put in a different shape, is really and substantially the same, and they extremely regret that they see no reason which would justify them in changing their views, as expressed in the letter from this Board of 16th Sep­ tember last.
I am, My Lords and Gentlemen, Your obedient Servant, C. E. T R E V E L Y A N .

T ii io n a l G a l l e r y , D u b l i n .

Memorial o f the 20th Aprils 1857, fo r a fu rther Grant towards the erection o f the National G allery.

To the ’s T r e a s u r y .
The Memorial of the Governors and Guardians of the National Gallery of Ireland, H u m b l y S h e w e t h ,— T hat the Governors and Guar­ dians of the National Gallery of Ireland find themselves unexpectedly compelled to solicit the sanction of the Lords Commissioners of H er M ajesty’s Treasury to their obtain­ ing a further grant from Parliam ent of funds to enable the Building Trustees of the Gallery to proceed in its erection.
lh a t the sum already voted for this purpose has only been £(>,000 ; this sum was applied for by the Governors in the confident belief, founded on representations made to 9 them of the probable cost of a suitable building, that with the aid of £5,000 to be contributed from the fund sub­ scribed towards the Dargan Institute, making £11,000 in the whole, such a building could be completed, corres­ ponding in exterior architectural design with the new Museum building of the Royal Dublin Society, it having- been arranged, as contemplated by the first Act of Pai - liament, that the National Gallery should be also erected in Leinster Lawn, on the site opposite to the Museum, and the contract for the latter having been originally made for the sum of £8,000.
That in the progress of the Museum building some expen­ sive external additions of a decorative character have been introduced ; and in the consideration of the plans for the interior of the Gallery building, which is to comprise a Public Library and a Hall for the exhibition of Sculpture; it has been deemed essentially necessary that a space should be allotted for a centre Hall of Entrance, with a suitable staircase.
It is also necessary, having regard to the position of the respective buildings, and to bring them to uniformity of range with the Merrion-square front of the lawn, that the Gallery building should be forty-two feet longer than the Museum ; and considerable addition must be made in the foundation works of the Gallery in consequence of the inequality of the surface of the lawn at the side where it is to be erected, there being at that side a fall of several feet.
That it was still hoped, however, that by inviting com­ petition by tenders for the erection of the building, the entire cost, though it was anticipated that it would, from the foregoing causes, exceed that of the Museum, would still be fbund to be but little above the sum at the disposal of the Trustees, and that the excess would not be so con­ siderable as to prevent their commencing the work, and at least carrying it on to the extent of its being practically available to its destined purposes, although it should 10 remain incomplete in some parts, which m ight safely be postponed to a future period.
That the report now made to them by the Building Trustees of the results of this competition, a copy of which accompanies this Memorial, shews, unfortunately, that these expectations cannot be realized ; and that even deducting every item of expenditure in the structure itself that could safely be omitted for a time, the most eligible tender would exceed by more than £7,000 the entire sum at their disposal, and this independent of the necessary cost of internal fittings of the Library and Galleries.
The letter of Mr. Lanyon, the A rchitect employed by the is also herewith sent, Trustees, and a copy of which explains in detail the causes of the excess in expense of* the Gallery building over that of the Museum ; and the Governors are unable to suggest any mode in which the expense could be further reduced, obliged, as they are, by the arrangements made in reference to the site of the building, to conform in all points, as far as may be practi­ cable, to the plan and external architecture of that of the Museum.
W ere they not so bound as to the site it might be possible to dispense with a great part of the most expensive portion of the building—the cut-stone frontage ; but as they are circumstanced, they have no such alter­ native.
That they are therefore obliged, most reluctantly, to seek further Parliamentary aid for the erection of this national building, and they think it would not be prudent in the Trustees to enter on the work without the support of a new grant of at least £12,000 ; half to be provided for this year and half in the year 1858.
I hat the Governors cannot think it necessary in this Memorial to do more than refer generally to the large sums voted for the National Gallery of London, and to the expenditure contemplated in the probable change of site of that establishment ; they submit that the National Gallery 11 of Ireland has been already so recognized by the Imperial Parliament and by your Lordships as to entitle it to be considered also as an object of national interest, and they cannot doubt the success of any application to the Legis­ lature which your Lordships may sanction, for the purpose of giving to the Trustees that public assistance without the which, the Governors are concerned to state, that establishment of a work of so much importance in the Irish Metropolis must be indefinitely abandoned.
That in making the present application, the Governors are of necessity constrained to postpone any renewal of their recent appeals for public aid towards the purchase of works of art, but they take leave to remind your Lord­ ships that although objections were made to such grants, in the letters which they received from the Secretaries of the Treasury, the principle of grants towards the erection of suitable buildings was fully recognized ; and the Go­ vernors rely on the successive grants for the erection of the National Gallery of Edinburgh, as enumerated at foot of this Memorial, as affording the most satisfactory pre­ cedents for the concession of the support which they now solicit on behalf of the National Gallery of Ireland.
Grants for the erection of the National Gallery of Scotland, at Edinburgh :— 1850 1851 1852 1855 .............................£10,000 ............................. ............................. ................ .,4 5,000 5,000 Signed on behalf of the Governors and Guardians 10,000 of the National Gallery of Ireland, M A ZIERE BRADY, C. Chairman of a Meeting held on Monday the 20th day of April, 1857, at which the foregoing Memorial was to agreed.
12 Report o f the Building Trustees, declining to enter into any Contract fo r the proposed building until an addi­ tional sum o f £ 1 2 ,0 0 0 was provided.

R e p o r t o f t h e B u i l d i n g T r u s t e e s .
The Building Trustees met, pursuant to summons, in the Council Room, at Dublin Castle, on W ednesday, the the purpose of opening several 18th March, 1857, for tenders received from parties willing to undertake the erection of the National Gallery, according to the approved design of M r. Charles Lanyon, Architect, of Belfast, modified by him with a view to reduce the expense as far as is compatible with the objects proposed.
Tenders were received from six parties, resident in Dublin, all of whom are experienced practical builders, who have already executed large architectural works in a satisfactory manner.

The two lowest of the tenders, viz., that received from Messrs. R. and J .

Carolin, and that from Messrs. Gilbert Cockburn & Son, came within £54 of each other, the lowest being £17,627 125.
5d., a sum which considerably exceeds that which the Trustees had anticipated ; and as it is not probable, were the Trustees to re-open the compe­ tition, by calling on other parties to offer for the work, they should receive any tenders materially differing from the above, they do not think it advisable to do so.
A s the total amount at present available for the erection of the proposed Gallery and Library is £ l 1,000, and as, in addition to the works comprehended in the tenders for the modified design, a sum of’ at least £5,000 would be re-* to complete the fitments for the Library and quired Gallery, and defray numerous contingent expenses, the lrustees are of opinion that before entering into any con­ tract it will be necessary that an additional sum of about 13 £12,000 sterling should be provided, so as to insure the completion of a building to suit the combined purposes for which it is intended.
R IC H A R D G R IF F IT H , Chairman.

19 th March, 1857.

Letter from Chas, Lanyon, Esq., with details o f the expense o f erecting the proposed National Gallery o f Ireland.
the D e a r S i r , — Having examined tender of the Messrs. Cockburn for the work proposed to be done in building the National Gallery in Dublin, and having com­ pared it with the cost of the corresponding building for the Museum, I beg to submit for your information the following analysis of the amount, by which you will observe that the cost of the two buildings is comparatively very similar, if we take into consideration the cost of those works included in the National Gallery, which are extra to those included in the Museum building.
On comparing the dimensions of the two buildings, the cubical contents stand thus, viz.

: as 807,000 to 592,000.

Taking the cost of the Museum building at £11,000, the relative cost of the National Gallery should be £15,000, or £4,000 more than the former.
The extra work consequent upon the increased depth of foundations rendered necessary by the slope of the ground, and the finishing of the basement story, will be £900 ; this extra depth of the foundations and the basement story is not included in the measurement of the extra cubical contents.
14 The cost of the screen wall next Merrion- square will be The lining of the walls with hollow brick­ work causes an increased expenditure of The finishing of the inside plastering work amounts to at least ... more than that of the Museum.

E xtra length of main cornice, consequent upon the rere being seen from Merrion- square £375 0 1255 0 0 0 1000 0 0 274 0 0 Inside stone-work in Vestibule, Sculpture ... 1200 0 0 Gallery, Lobby, &c. The foregoing particulars will give the following gross amount viz.
:— Probable cost of building, same dimensions as the Museum, say... Additional cost for increased size Extra depth of foundations Screen wall Lining walls with hollow brick ...

Inside plastering Extra length of main cornice Cost of internal cut stone-work ... £11000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4000 0 0 900 375 0 1255 0 1000 0 274 0 1200 Total probable cost Amount of Messrs. Cockburn’s tender £20004 0 .

19464 0 0 0 From this statement it appears that the relative cost of the two buildings is very nearly alike.
Having considered also what deductions could be made m the building, in order to reduce the present expendi­ ture, I do not see what can be taken off, without very seriously affecting the character of the building, except the following, viz.
:_ 15 Lining of Sculpture Gallery and Library with hollow brick-work ... ... £650 0 0 ... 338 0 £988 0 ture Gallery and Staircase Substituting plain screen wall between Pic­ ... 0 0 I have deducted only the cost of the brick lining for the Sculpture Gallery and Library, as I could by no means recommend that it should be dispensed with in the Picture Gallery, as, if the walls were finished altogether of rubble work, it would take a considerable length of time before I think it a they would be ready to receive Paintings.
matter of necessity either to have hollow brick lining or battened walls for the Picture Gallery.

The necessary gross expenditure for the building will stand thus, viz.

:— Amount of Messrs. Cockburn’s tender for furnishing the building ...

Deduct as above ...
Deduct as above ...

Probable estimate for furnishing the fittings of Library and for improving staircaise, building board room, erecting heating ... apparatus, &c. ... Funds in hands of the Trustees, say Required to complete, say ... £19464 0 0 ... £18476 0 0 988 0 0 ... £23476 5000 0 0 0 0 ... 11000 0 0 0 0 £12476 ...12500 0 0 I am, dear Sir, Yours faithfully, CH A RLES LANYON.

28th March, 1857.

T o R i c h a r d G r i f f i t h , Esq., LL.D.


16 Treasury Reply to Memorial for increased Grant for Building, Treasury Chambers, 2Gth August, 1858.
M y L o r d s a n d G e n t l e m e n ,—'With reference to your Memorial praying for a further grant of money from Par­ liament in aid of the building for the National Gallery of Ireland, I am commanded by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury to inform you, that as the grant of £6,000 for that Institution was made on the distinct understanding that it would be final, my Lords regret that they have not felt themselves warranted in applying to Parliament for a further grant on account of the large to make to the original addition that it is proposed estimate.
I am, My Lords and Gentlemen, 1 our obedient Servant, JA M E S W IL SO N .

T h e G o v e r n o r s a n d G u a r d ia n s o f t h e N a t io n a l G a l l e r y , I r e l a n d .

Reply to Treasury Letter o f 26th August last, declining to sanction an additional Grant fo r the National Gallery.
N a t io n a l G a l l e r y o f I r e l a n d , Office, 81, Lower Baggot-street, Dublin, 9th December, 1857. of Sthe T Í ° r d by the Gov™ and Guardians of the National Gallery of Ireland, to acknowledge the 17 receipt of your letter of the 20th August last, in reference to their Memorial to the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, praying for a further grant of money from Parliament, in aid of the building for the Gallery, and to express their very great concern that their Lordships have not felt themselves warranted in applying to Parlia­ ment for such grant.
The Governors and Guardians are sensible that the sum which they have solicited would be that contemplated in the original a large addition to estimate.
last Memorial—and they had hoped successfully—to explain the circumstances under which they felt compelled to make application for the increase ; and they think it right to apprise their Lordships, that without such aid as they have so applied for, the Building Trustees of the Gallery will be unable to enter into any contract for the execution of the work, the commencement of which will in conse­ quence be indefinitely delayed, and the entire plan most probably altogether defeated.
They endeavoured, however, their in As your letter purports to rest the decision of their Lordships on the statement that the grant of £6,000 was made on the distinct understanding that it would be final, the Governors and Guardians admit that at the time it was applied for they were under the belief, that with the sum of £5,000 to be contributed by the Dargan Committee, a suitable building for the purposes of the Gallery could have been erected, and they accordingly limited their application to that sum ; but they cannot find that any statement was made or authorised by them, that in no event would they ever make application to Parliament for a further grant.
In their first Memorial to Lord St. Germans, when Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in January, 1855, they state that the building then proposed would be larger than that of the Museum of the Royal Dublin Society, and that it was estimated that it might be com­ pleted for the sum of £11,000, including all the necessary 18 their own statements fittings.
The Memorial then proceeded to ask the co­ operation of the Government, by supplying out of the public funds the amount, in addition to the Dargan sub­ scription, necessary for its completion; and further stated that to enable the Board to proceed at once to make ar­ rangements for the satisfactory erection of the proposed buildings, a sum of £6,000 would, in their opinion, be sufficient, in addition to that subscription, and prayed a grant of that sum accordingly.
To this application the Lords Commissioners of Her M ajesty’s Treasury were pleased to accede ; but the Governors were not apprised that the assent of their Lordships was given on any con­ dition or understanding that this grant was to be final, in the sense that no further application was in any event the ever to be made ; and Memorial referred to were plainly made as matters of pro­ bable estimate and opinion.
Adm itting, however, as I have already stated, that it was at the time their belief, that the sum applied for would have been sufficient, they have thought it right to guard by this communication against their being supposed to concur in opinion with their Lord­ ships, as to the absolute finality of the grant, at least in the sense above alluded to; and they do not believe that Parliament would have refused to assent to a grant of the whole amount now required, had it been applied for in the first instance.
T hat a like favourable reception would be given to an application for the increased sum now required, they very confidently believe; and they hope, that on full consideration of the whole subject, their Lordships will give to them in the next Session of Parliament, that assist­ ance for the accomplishment of this im portant public work, without which all that has hitherto been done may be wholly useless.

.
.

The ere.ction of the Proposed Gallery is a national ob­ ject, sanctioned and approved of by the Legislature ; the in 19 Governors and Guardians are but public Trustees for the establishment of it.
They are exceedingly desirous to carry out a work which they are convinced would be one of great advantage to the progress of A rt in Ireland, and to the social condition and improvement of the people; but they have no other interest in the m atter; and to them it appears plain, that such a work ought to be one of national concern and legislative provision, to the fullest extent that the exigencies of the occasion may require.
They therefore very respectfully submit to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, and through them to Her Majesty’s Government, that this great public Institution should not be prejudiced by any mistake or miscalculation they may have made in their first opinion, as to the pro­ bable amount of the required expenditure.

1 am, Sir, Your obedient servant, G EO EG E F. M ULVANY, Hon.

Sec., pro.

tem.

J a m e s W i l s o n , Esq., M.P., Secretary, Her Majesty’s Treasury.
Wer from James Wilson, Esq., M .P., Secretary o f „ Treasury, stating the reason o f refusing an additional grant for the National Gallery.

Treasury Chambers, 17th December, 1857.
My L o r d s a n d G e n t l e m e n ,—W ith reference to Mr. Mulvany’s letter of the 9th instant, on the subject of the application of the Governors and Guardians of the National 20 Gallery of Ireland for an additional grant in aid of the building for that Institution, I am directed by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to acquaint you, that, in stating that the grant of £6,000 was obtained on the distinct understanding that it should be final, their Lordships referred to the understanding on which they proposed the vote to Parliament, and which was founded on communication with the Chief Secretary for Iieland, and on the' representation contained in the Memorial of the Governors of the 13th January, 1855, to the effect that “ to enable the Board to proceed at once to make arrangements for the satisfactory erection of the proposed buildings, a sum of £6,000 would, in their opinion, be sufficient in addition to the Dargan Fund.” I am, My Lords and Gentlemen, Your obedient Servant, JA M E S W IL SO N .
T h e G o v e r n o r s a n d G u a r d ia n s o f t h e N a t io n a l G a l l e r y o f I r e l a n d , 81, Lower Baggot-street, Dublin.

Browne & Nolan, Printers, 21, Nassau street, Dublin.