G. & T. Crampton Photographs

G. & T. Crampton Photograph Archive

Scope and content: The G. & T. Crampton photographs cover most of the twentieth century and are a record of the building projects which the firm undertook. They were intended as a private record for the firm and they were never an archive in the formal sense of that word. Most of the G. & T. Crampton photographs were taken professionally and the images from the beginning of the twentieth century are particularly good. In most cases, the photographer is unknown. Some pictures were more in category of ‘snaps’ and this is reflected in the resolution of the images.

The photographs cover a wide range of building projects and include commercial buildings, shops, houses, hospitals and factories. Most are located in the Dublin region. The images were printed and stuck down into large format photo albums; there is no record of the negatives. The albums were loose leafed and, over the years, pages were removed and replaced out of order. Some pages are missing and it cannot be said to be a complete record. Despite being in excellent condition generally, the photographs have suffered from exposure to light, the effects of the glue used to mount them, and the gradual decay of the photographic paper as well as from the mechanical effects of rubbing against their neighbours. They were scanned for the purpose of being included in an analysis of the firm, written by Dr. Ruth McManus, St. Patrick’s College Geography Department.

Biographical/historical information: G. & T. Crampton Ltd. was one of Dublin’s best-known construction companies, founded by George J. Crampton in 1879. The name G. & T. Crampton dates to 1905, reflecting the founder’s partnership with his nephew Tom Crampton. It became a limited company in 1924. For most of its history, G. & T. Crampton was based in Ballsbridge, where it was responsible for numerous buildings including the former fire station, library, US Embassy, former Jury’s hotel and many office blocks. It earned an excellent reputation for quality, with its joinery works being particularly celebrated, and was also known as a ‘good’ employer.

Although long-associated with Dublin, G. & T. Crampton undertook work throughout Ireland and overseas, ranging from new builds to extensions, expansions and refurbishments. While its activities spanned all sectors, including commercial, industrial, residential, education and hospitality, G. & T. Crampton is perhaps most associated in the public mind with its private housing developments. The term ‘Crampton-built’ is frequently employed by estate agents to signify the high quality of its dwellings at Herbert Park, Booterstown and Clonskeagh.

Throughout the twentieth century, the company was also heavily involved in building public housing schemes for Dublin Corporation. At the heart of Dublin’s development for over a century, G. & T. Crampton was responsible for many iconic buildings, including the UCD building at Earlsfort Terrace (now the National Concert Hall), the St. Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre, and the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

Citation/reference: Information about the collection of photographs was provided by Assoc. Prof. Joseph Brady, UCD School of Geography. Dr. Ruth McManus, St. Patrick’s College Geography Department, provided background about the company. Additional information about some of the photographs has been taken from the publication “Crampton built” by Dr. Ruth McManus. The following sources were also used to research the buildings depicted in the photographs: the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, the Dictionary of Irish Architects, and paddi (planning architecture design database Ireland).

Ownership/custodial history: The original photographs are held by G. & T. Crampton. The photographs were digitised by Assoc. Prof. Joseph Brady, UCD School of Geography, with the permission of G. & T. Crampton. The digital versions of the photographs were given to UCD Digital Library by Assoc. Prof. Joseph Brady, UCD School of Geography, with the permission of G. & T. Crampton.

Names note: Where the name of a building has changed over time the most recent name of the building has been used as the subject heading while the title and abstract refer to the name of the building at the time of the photograph. Building names and other descriptive details about the buildings are based on information available at the time of cataloguing (2016).

Date details: The dates of the photographs are based on information provided by Assoc. Prof. Joseph Brady, UCD School of Geography. Where no date was provided the date is based on the dates of the works carried out by G. & T. Crampton, if known.

Organisation/arrangement note: The original photographs are contained in 7 albums. Each photograph in an album has been given a number and some photographs also have a sub number. A reference number has been created for each photograph in the collection based on these numbers, this number appears in the Source Identifier field. The first number in the reference indicates the album, the second the photograph number, and the third the sub number, for example the reference number 2/41/2 indicates album 2, photograph 41, sub number 2.

Numbering/sequence: In Album 1 there were no photographs numbered 43 to 48, 67 to 70, or 83 to 84. In Album 2 there were no photographs numbered 35 or 36. In Album 5 there was no photograph numbered 46. In Album 6 photograph number 24 was not included as it is a duplicate of number 26, photograph 28/2 was not included as it is a duplicate of number 28/1, and photograph 34 was not included as it a duplicate of number 32.

Cited/referenced by: “Crampton built”, McManus, Ruth. Dublin, Ireland: Gill & MacMillan/G. & T. Crampton, 2008.