Dr. Melanie Hayes

Dr Melanie Hayes Irish Research Council Advanced Laureate Project Fellow, CRAFTVALUE I am an architectural historian, specialising in Ireland's eighteenth-century architectural and social history. My doctoral research focused on the inter-relationships between British and Irish architectural culture and practice in the first half of the eighteenth century and I have written and spoken widely on these topics. My book The Best Address in Town, Henrietta Street Dublin and Its First Residents (1720-1780), was published by Four Courts Press in 2020. I currently work as a post-doctoral research fellow, on an Irish Research Council advanced laureate project, CRAFTVALUE, at Trinity College Dublin, exploring a new skills-based perspective on the architecture of Britain and Ireland (1680-1780). Recent publications include: Enriching Architecture: Craft and its conservation in Anglo-Irish building production, 1660-1760. Edited by Christine Casey and Melanie Hayes, foreword by Glenn Adamson. UCL Press, 2023. Open Access PDF, 396 Pages, 247 colour illustrations ISBN: 9781800083547 DOI: 10.14324/111.9781800083547 Free open access download: www.uclpress.co.uk/EnrichingArchitecture Press & Media Featured in a series of videos that takes a look at some of the key historical research, conservation and restoration work that went in to creating 14 Henrietta Street14 Henrietta Street: Making a Museum Meeting- meet the authors, Dr Melanie Hayes, eps. 1- 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFluM2wFYjA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9pjm4mwA9Q&t=7s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLFP3iLxXTw&t=4s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qedwfjC8dWQ&t=14s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T5wivHNE7g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfXZFkU4KkA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YywZWctNkPY&t=2s Featured in Olivia Kelly, 'Lipstick on a pig? Why Dublin has failed to pretty-up O'Connell Street' The Irish Times, 5th May. 2019. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/lipstick-on-a-pig-why-dublin-has-failed-to-pretty-up-o-connell-street-1.3881825 Featured in Olivia Kelly, 'Last Georgian house on Dublin's O'Connell Street is at risk from neglect' The Irish Times, 7th Feb. 2019. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/last-georgian-house-on-dublin-s-o-connell-street-is-at-risk-from-neglect-1.3784304 Featured in 'Henrietta Street museum', RTE Nationwide, RTE One, 7pm, October 13, 2017. https://twitter.com/rtenationwide/status/918775837813551105?lang=en

  Architecture and Urbanism   Architecture History   History of Architecture   Irish architecture, 18th and 19th centuries

My research focuses largely on Anglo-Irish eighteenth-century architectural history, with a specific interest in the transnational development of architectural culture and practice in the early Georgian period. I am particularly concerned with the people who populate this building history, and the broader socio-political landscape which informs the formal narrative. My recent research output has continued to build upon this approach, seeking to disseminate wide-ranging inter-disciplinary findings and methodology in both an academic context and at a wider public interface. My work on the research project surrounding the conservation and presentation of the museum at 14 Henrietta Street, Dublin involved collaborative engagement with public bodies and community stakeholders in bringing new research of societal importance to the wider public. This work utilised a range of innovative delivery platforms and dissemination tools including the production of multi-media digital content, public symposia and interactive workshops, and the upcoming publication of a significant volume on eighteenth century architectural and social history: The Best Address in Town: Henrietta Street, Dublin and its first residents, 1720-80 My current role as an Irish Research Council Advanced Laureate Project Fellow on CRAFTVALUE adopts a similarly wide-ranging and rigorously investigative approach in seeking to challenge the traditional focus on the individual designer and patron to create a new skills-based perspective on the architecture of Britain and Ireland in the long eighteenth century. https://craftvalue.org/research-team/