Delegates viewing the Francis Johnston Exhibition in the Billard Room. On loan for the day were original portraits of the Townley Balfour family spanning three centuries.
Many thanks to all the speakers, organisers and some ninety delegates for making the first Townley Hall Open Day a great success on 7th June. The one day symposium was an exploration of the architectural and social history of Townley Hall and aspects of the work of its architect, Francis Johnston (1760 to 1829).
The symposium venue was Townley Hall, built between 1794 and 1798 for Blayney Townley Balfour III and his family. The house is widely considered to be Francis Johnston’s domestic masterpiece and has been described as the perfect neo-classical house.
There were five talks, a Francis Johnston exhibition, guided tours of the house as well as a music event.
The speakers were the Very Reverend Robert Townley, Armagh, Professor Mark Bailey, Director Armagh Observatory, Judith Hill MA History of Art (Cantab.), Dip. Arch. (RIBA), Livia Hurley Dip.Arch B.arch Sc MLitt and Mark Price B.Arch MRIAI.
On display was an exhibition exploring a selection of Francis Johnston’s most significant projects through drawings, engravings and archive photographs. The material for the exhibition was drawn from the collections of the Irish Architectural Archive, The National Library of Ireland, The Ulster Museum, The Royal Society of Antiquaries Ireland, An Post GPO Museum, The Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland as well as the Country Life Photographic Library.
A special word of thanks to the The School of Philosophy and Economic Science who hosted the event.
