Richard Gailey, Sr. was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

-born Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n architect.

Gailey was born in Donegal

Donegal

Donegal or Donegal Town is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. Its name, which was historically written in English as Dunnagall or Dunagall, translates from Irish as "stronghold of the foreigners" ....

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and emigrated to Australia in 1864, becoming an influential and prolific architect in colonial-era Brisbane. He died in Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

.

Body of work

His substantial body of work includes many commercial and residential buildings in Brisbane that today are considered colonial treasures. Some of these include:

• Brisbane Girl's Grammar School at Spring Hill
• Moorlands at Auchenflower (home of the Mayne family)
• Regatta Hotel (1886) at Toowong
• the Prince Consort Hotel
  John Daniel Heal
  John Daniel Heal was an alderman and mayor of Brisbane, Australia.- Private life :John Daniel Heal was born in Turleigh near Bradford-on-Avon, England on 18 January 1825, he was baptised in St Nicholas' Winsley on 17 April 1825.Toowong Cemetery Monumental Inscriptions - Queensland Family History...
  
   (1888) in Fortitude Valley, now known as the "Elephant and Wheelbarrow"
• Empire Hotel in Fortitude Valley
• Orient Hotel in Queen Street (formerly the Excelsior)
• Oddfellows Hall at Fortitude Valley
• Baroona Labor Hall in Caxton Street
• Musgrave House at Shorncliffe
• Masonic Hall at Toowong

Characteristics of Gailey's work

Gailey's work combines the practical value in a sub-tropical environment of high-thermal mass masonry walls with the aesthetic value of finely detailed arches creating a wide veranda to shade the load-bearing walls from the sun during the hottest part of the day. This is best seen in the Brisbane Girls Grammar School.
A cost-reducing alternative to masonry arches is seen in commercial buildings like the Regatta Hotel

Regatta Hotel, Brisbane

The Regatta Hotel is an historic hotel located on the corner of Coronation Drive and Sylvan Road in Brisbane, Australia. It is located in the suburb of Toowong and faces the Brisbane River. The three-storey hotel contained accommodation on the upper two floors and a public bar and lounge area on...

. The wrought-iron filigree lacework replaces the masonry arches of the outer veranda. This elegant and practical approach has become known as Queenslander

Queenslander (architecture)

Queenslander architecture is a modern term for the vernacular type of architecture of Queensland, Australia. It is also found in the northern parts of the adjacent state of New South Wales and shares many traits with architecture in other states of Australia but is distinct and unique...

 architecture. Its use became widespread in early Queensland residential properties of substance.

Gailey Road, Taringa

Richard Gailey owned property in the area that came to known as Taringa

Taringa, Queensland

Taringa is a suburb of Brisbane, Australia located 5 km south-west of the Brisbane CBD. Taringa is mostly residential, except for a small number of commercial buildings mostly clustered along Moggill Road...

. His name is commemorated in Gailey Road.