Editing John Rennie the Elder (section)

=== Custom House Docks and the CHQ Building, Dublin ===
One of John Rennie's last projects was the construction of the Custom House Docks in Dublin, along with its  locks and warehouses, including the [[CHQ Building]] where he pioneered the use of cast-iron in the early 19th century.<ref>{{Cite book|date=1 June 2006|title=Dublin: the city within the Grand and Royal Canals and the Circular Road with the Phoenix Park}}</ref> Rennie was first invited to work on the scheme in 1809 by [[John Foster, 1st Baron Oriel|John Foster]], the Irish Chancellor of the Exchequer. The first stone of the docks was laid in May 1817; they were formerly opened at the end of August 1821 in front of 'a most select company of Noblemen, Bishops, Ladies, &c.'  In 1824 the docks were placed on a long-term lease to Harry and John Scovell, and their nephew George. Harry and John were the younger brothers of [[George Scovell|Sir George Scovell]], the intelligence officer famed for cracking Bonaparte's secret codes during the Napoleonic Wars.

By March 1820, Rennie was seeking 33&nbsp;tons of structural cast-iron, along with a large quantity of wrought iron, for the purpose of building a "Tobacco Warehouse, with the Spirit Stores under it."<ref>{{Citation|chapter=Honors to Imperial Maritime Customs Commissioners (from IWSM:TC)|pages=24|publisher=Harvard University Asia Center|isbn=9781684171392|doi=10.2307/j.ctt1tfjbsn.17|title=Ch'ing Documents|year=1959}}</ref> The iron was supplied by the [[Butterley Company|Butterley Iron Company]] from Derbyshire.<ref name="Cunningham 1909">{{Cite book|title=Text-book of anatomy, ed. by D. J. Cunningham ... Illustrated with 936 wood engravings from original drawings, 406 of which are printed in colors.|last=Cunningham|first=D. J.|date=1909|publisher=W. Wood and company|location=New York|doi = 10.5962/bhl.title.44384|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/96373 }}</ref> However, an obituary of Shropshire-born engineer and iron founder [[William Hazledine|William Hazeldine]] from 1841 claimed that Hazeldine also supplied 'the Iron Roofs for the Dublin Custom House and Store Houses.'<ref>{{Citation|chapter=Ennis, Lawrence, (31 Aug. 1871–5 May 1938), Director of Dorman Long & Co. Ltd, Iron and Steel Manufacturers and Constructional Engineers, Middlesbrough|date=1 December 2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u209123|title=Who Was Who}}</ref> In 1821, John James Macgregor noted: 'The tobacco stores have been finished on the south side at the expense of £70,000. They are 500 feet long by 160 feet wide. The roof is of cast iron, and the building finished in the most permanent manner.'<ref>{{Citation|last=Crawfurd|first=John|chapter=Public Revenue|pages=45–74|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139507592|doi=10.1017/cbo9781139507592.003|title=History of the Indian Archipelago|year=2013}}</ref> In 1821, the Rev. George Newenham Wright, an Anglican clergyman, likewise noted: 
:To the east of the new basin is the tobacco store (500 feet by 160, and capable of containing 3,000 hogsheads), the plan of which was given by John Rennie, Esq. In this store, which is now completed and in use, there is not one particle of wood or other combustible matter. There are nine vaults beneath, which altogether afford perfect and convenient storage for 4,500 pipes of wine, allowing a walk behind the heads of the pipes as well as between them; these vaults are lighted by means of thick lenses set in iron plates in the floor of the tobacco store; but this is not sufficient to supersede the necessity of candle light. The interior of the tobacco store is extremely curious and interesting: the roof is supported by metal frame-work of an ingenious construction, and, at intervals, long lanterns are inserted, the sashes of which are also metal; the entire frame-work is supported by three rows of cylindrical metal pillars, 26 in each row; these rest upon others of granite, which are continued through the stone floor into the vaults beneath. All the iron-work was manufactured at the Butterley foundry in Derbyshire. The only inconvenience at present felt in this store is the excessive heat, which, in all probability, can be remedied by a proper system of ventilation.<ref name="Cunningham 1909"/>

Now known as the [[CHQ Building]], the tobacco store is home to various enterprises including [[EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum|EPIC – The Irish Emigration Museum]] and Dogpatch Laboratories.