Sir Edward Lovett Pearce (1699 – 7 December 1733) was an Irish architect, and the chief exponent of Palladianism in Ireland. He is thought to have initially studied as an architect under his father's first cousin, Sir John Vanbrugh. He is best known for the Irish Houses of Parliament in Dublin, and his work on Castletown House. The architectural concepts he employed on both civic and private buildings were to change the face of architecture in Ireland. He could be described as the father of Irish Palladian architecture and Georgian Dublin.
Early life
Edward Lovett Pearce was born about 1699 in County Meath and was the only child of General Edward Pearce, a first cousin of the architect Sir John Vanbrugh, and Frances, daughter of Christopher Lovett, Lord Mayor of Dublin 1676–77 and previously a merchant in Turkey. In that same year Vanbrugh was beginning work on his first great architectural commission of Castle Howard which was the first truly baroque house in England, ironically Vanbrugh's new cousin was to be one of the leading architects whose designs were to overthrow the baroque fashion less than 28 years later.
In 1715 following the death of his father, Pearce became a pupil of his eminent architect cousin, it is therefore likely that Pearce would have had the opportunity to see first hand and study the plans and building of Blenheim Palace, where work, following the death of Queen Anne, had just restarted, and was midway through its fraught and frequently interrupted construction. It seems though, that at this age Pearce was still uncertain if he wanted an architectural career, as aged 17 he joined the army serving as a cornet in the dragoons under the command of a Colonel Morris.
Following his time in the army, he decided circa 1722, to return to his first career and again began to study architecture, he did this by studying the architectural masterpieces of France and Italy. However it was in the Veneto that he found the style of architecture which was to influence him most. He made detailed drawings of many of the great villas designed by Palladio which were to serve as the inspiration for his later work. He met in Italy the Florentine architect Alessandro Galilei, who was working from afar on a vast grandiose mansion near Dublin – Castletown.
About 1725 Edward married Ann, his own first-cousin, daughter of General Thomas Pearce and Mary Hewes. They were to have four daughters who inherited great-grandfather Pearce's manor of Whitlingham by Norwich, Norfolk. They were: Mary, Mrs Lewis Thomas then Mrs James Slator but mother of Major-General Lewis Thomas; Anne, Mrs Chambre Hallowes; Frances, Mrs Benjamin Lake; and Henrietta, Mrs Charles Willington. He remained a Captain in Colonel Clement Neville's Dragoons.
Architectural career
By 1724, Pearce had returned to Ireland to become a practising architect in Dublin, It would appear that as the only Irish architect, at the time, to have studied in Italy, his classical concepts were to win him instant recognition, his architectural success seems to have been almost instantaneous; no doubt helped by his contacts and position in Irish society and even more undoubtedly by his association with William Conolly and Castletown.
During the 1730s Lovett Pearce employed William Halfpenny as an assistant and he used the alias Michael Hoare while travelling throughout Ireland.
Castletown
Castletown House is the largest and one of the most important country houses in Ireland, it also claims to be the house which introduced Palladianism to Ireland. The mansion was commissioned by William Conolly (1662–1729), a self-made man who had risen from humble origins through astute property dealings to become one of the wealthiest and influential men in Ireland. The original plans were drawn by Alessandro Galilei circa 1718, the new mansion was intended to reflect Conolly's political power as Lord Justice of Ireland. Galilei though returned to Italy in 1719, having drawn the plans, but not waiting to see building on the Castletown site commence. In fact work was not to start until 1722. For two years, the project seems to have continued unsupervised, until in 1724, it was taken over by the twenty-five-year-old Edward Lovett Pearce. Just returned to Ireland from Italy, it is likely that Pearce had been working on the plans with Galilei there. Hence Pierce's connection with Castletown probably predates his return to Ireland. It is possible that it was to oversee the building of Castletown that provided Pearce with the impetus to return home to Ireland. Building at Castletown was to continue for the rest of Pearce's life.