Francis Johnston (architect)

Francis Johnston
Francis Johnston Irish architect
Born	circa 1760 Armagh, Ireland
Died	14 March 1829(1829-03-14) (aged 69) 64 Eccles Street, Dublin, Ireland
Resting place	St. George's Church, Dublin, Ireland
Occupation	Architect
Known for	Architect of GPO and Nelson's Pillar in Dublin

Francis Johnston (1760 – 14 March 1829) was an Irish architect, best known for building the General Post Office (GPO) on O'Connell Street, Dublin.

Johnston was born in Armagh, Ireland, son of William Johnston, also an architect. He studied architecture and practised in Armagh for some years before moving to Dublin about 1793. In 1805 he was appointed to the Board of Works as an architect. In 1824 he was made president of the Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts which had been founded the previous year, and he provided headquarters for the Academy in Lower Abbey Street at his own expense.

Two early projects were the completion of Rokeby Hall and Ballymakenny Church, Co. Louth, to the designs of Thomas Cooley in whose office he first trained. In 1789 he was commissioned by Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby, and Archbishop of Armagh to design the Armagh Observatory and in 1790 he designed a new club house for Daly's Club on College Green, close to the Irish Houses of Parliament.Townley Hall, 5 km west of Drogheda, built between 1794 and 1798, is considered his finest work. He was responsible for the design of Armagh Courthouse built between 1806 and 1809.

At a time of huge rebuilding in Georgian Dublin, Johnston was one of the architects responsible for Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street). The great Pillar and Post Office were designed to harmonise with each other in the street adding grandeur and elegance to the boulevard.

His work is interesting from an architectural point of view, in that it spans both the Neo-Classical and Neo-Gothic styles. His Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle (1807–1814) is a fine example of an early Gothic revival church in Dublin. On this project (as on many others) he worked closely with the stuccodore George Stapleton, son of the better-known Michael Stapleton. The chapel proved a seminal building for later Gothic revival architects in Ireland, with the Cork architect Thomas Deane using the detailing from the windows as a model for those of the Aula Maxima of University College Cork, formerly known as Queens College Cork.