Maurice Craig has been fairly described as the father of Irish architectural history. He was born in Belfast in 1919 and was educated at Castle Park, Dalkey and Shrewsbury before going on to Magdalene College, Cambridge and Trinity College, Dublin.

He has written on subjects as diverse as Irish bookbindings, poetry, and topography, but it is for his many books on  architectural subjects that he is best known, Dublin 1660 – 1860 London, 1952, Classic Irish Houses of the middle size, London 1976 and The Architecture of Ireland from the earliest times to 1880  London, 1982  However he has also been quietly taking photographs of Irish architecture for some sixty years and it is this aspect of his life which is the subject of this exhibition.

Since first taking up the subject in the 1940’s Maurice has recorded buildings of all types and periods, demonstrating his instinctive ability to observe that which is important for one reason or another, be it unique, quirky or vulnerable.

Many of the buildings he recorded have since been demolished, mutilated or have had their settings destroyed. One has only to look at his streetscapes many of which are represented in the current exhibition, to notice how free they are from the clutter of modern life such as signs, cars etc., which would now make  photography of the same scenes even if still surviving virtually impossible.

In 2001 recognizing its importance Maurice kindly placed his photograph collection on deposit at the Irish Architectural Archive an institution with which he has been actively involved since its foundation in 1976.

It is to be hoped that this small selection personally chosen from many thousand images will serve to bring this pioneering record to a wider audience and by doing so may it is hoped, encourage those who visit it to follow Maurice’s example in observing and appreciating the buildings around them.