Ireland's architecture has taken place over the last few years, with a major move from one- and two-story buildings to four-, five-, and six-story apartment and office blocks. There are currently three buildings in planning that would eclipse the island's current tallest building record – held by St John's Cathedral in Limerick – these include the U2 Building, Players Mill and The Tall Building, all of them in Dublin. Vernacular architecture The thatched roof cottage and blackhouse have a tradition dating back 9,000 years. Now considered quaint, thatched cottages are often rented out for tourists on holidays. A characteristically exuberant vernacular expression is often found in shopfronts throughout Ireland. Patrick O'Donovan has observed that in the nineteenth century there was "a brilliant explosion" of domestic architecture borne of the opportunities that plate glass, Art Nouveau and classical and gothic themes all offered up at the time. "In Ireland", he wrote, "the villages were not the places where people lived, but where they came for supplies and, most regularly, to attend church. Yet the shops did almost everything that the Church could not do, and offered an alternative, perhaps, to the latter's solemnity." See also Architecture of Limerick Georgian Dublin Irish Architectural Archive List of Irish towns with a Market House Listed buildings in Northern Ireland Pebbledash Sheela na gig an architectural grotesque which adorns numerous ancient buildings. Notes and references Bibliography Becker, Annette, and Wilfried Wang. 20th-century Architecture: Ireland. Prestel: 1997. . Craig, Maurice. Dublin 1660–1860. Allen Figgis: 1980. . McParland, Edward. A New Way of Building: Public Architecture in Ireland, 1680–1760. Yale University Press: 2001. . Dennison, Gabriel, and Baibre Ni Fhloinn. Traditional Architecture in Ireland. Royal Irish Academy: 1994. . McCullough, Niall. A Lost Tradition: The Nature of Architecture in Ireland. Gandon Editions: 1987. . External links Archiseek, Irish Architecture Online Ireland at the first Lisbon Architectural Triennale (2007) Details of Arts Council support for architecture in Ireland Architectural Association of Ireland Dictionary of Irish Architects Irish Architecture Foundation Loving Architecture Festival Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland Civic and Ecclesiastical Architecture of Georgian Dublin Collection. A UCD Digital Library Collection. Domestic Architecture of Georgian Dublin Collection. A UCD Digital Library Collection. The Irish Architectural Archive Urban Design Ireland The Irish Georgian Society Ireland at the 10th International Architecture Venice Biennale (2007) National Inventory of Architectural Heritage – NIAH The Archaeology of Ancient Ireland (Michael Sundermeier) Dublin