McCormick, Liam (1916–96), architect, was born William Henry Dunleavy McCormick on 24 October 1916 at 25 Clarendon St., Derry city, son of Hugh McCormick, a prosperous dentist, and Mary Christina McCormick (née Breslin). His parents came from prominent, prosperous catholic families: both grandfathers were aldermen of Derry corporation, and one, Patrick Breslin, was elected high sheriff of Derry city in 1901, the first catholic to hold the post since the reign of James II (qv). A great-uncle, James Dunleavy, chaired Donegal council for twenty years and was a Parnellite member of the 1917 convention. Liam was educated in Greencastle, Donegal (where his family had a large holiday house); at St Columb's College, Derry; and at the Liverpool School of Architecture. In 1945 he became architect-planner to Ballymena UDC and designed the first post-war housing scheme at Farm Lodge, Ballymena, but he then caught TB and was unable to work for three years. While recuperating he and a contemporary, Frank Corr, entered and won a competition in 1948 to design a church at Ennistymon, Co. Clare. Although conservative in design compared to their later churches, the building was not completed until 1953, due to the opposition of the bishop. In the intervening period they went into partnership in Derry and designed for Mgr Moloney in 1950 a demountable and transportable church on the Ennis Road, Limerick. Corr and McCormick ran a general practice but are best known for their churches. In 1963 the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) commended St Peter's church, Milford, Donegal. In 1971 the church of St Aengus, Burt, Co. Donegal, received the RIAI's gold medal for best new building designed in the period 1965–7. ‘My pagan building’ was how McCormick referred to this most famous of his churches, whose circular shape was inspired by the nearby bronze-age Grianán of Aileach hill-fort. It represented a radical departure for church architecture in Ireland and critics have seen the second Vatican council as responsible for freeing McCormick's design; his churches are often divided into pre- and post-Vatican II. He kept the support of the church authorities for his daring designs by his close attention to the liturgical and devotional elements. He was appointed a member of the liturgical advisory group on churches following Vatican II.
In 1968 he formed a new partnership with J. J. Tracey and T. C. Mullarkey. While living in his old family home at Greencastle, Donegal, he worked in Derry city, two doors up from the house where he was born. His most notable churches of the next few years included St Michael's at Creeslough, Donegal (1971), whose contour echoes the surrounding hills. McCormick placed great importance on shaping churches to their landscapes, and one of his innovations was plain glass ‘picture windows’ through which the congregation could view nature. St Conal's at Glenties, Donegal (1976), is built on straight lines with a steeply pitched roof and doors designed by Imogen Stuart. McCormick frequently showcased the work of Irish artists such as John Behan, Oisín Kelly (qv), and Ruth Brandt (qv) in his churches. However, he took pains to keep costs low, believing that churches should be neither extravagant nor vulgar but in keeping with the economy of the community.
He was civic-minded and saw his churches as contributing to the stability of the catholic community. The Stormont government's refusal of a university for Derry in the 1960s helped radicalise his politics and he marched in the civil rights rally in 1968. Shortly afterwards he was asked, like his grandfather seventy years earlier, to stand as lord high sheriff. He served 1970–71, and used the office to state the aspirations of the minority. His term ended shortly before the introduction of internment, against which he spoke out.
Aside from work, his passion was sailing. He described a 1950s two-man sailing trip across the North Sea to Scandinavia – whose architecture he greatly admired – as the most character-forming experience of his life, and he was the recipient of numerous awards from the Irish Cruising Club, of which he was a flag officer. He retired in the 1980s and continued living in Greencastle, where he suffered a stroke in early 1996; he died 28 August 1996 in Newtownstewart nursing home.
He was survived by his wife and children. A practising catholic, he married (1965) Joy Teleford, daughter of the Church of Ireland rector of Moville, Co. Donegal; their two adopted children were brought up as catholics.
McCormick designed houses, schools, and public buildings, including the Meteorological Service headquarters in Glasnevin, Dublin, but his name will always be associated with the twenty-seven churches he built round Ireland, predominantly in the north-west. He was described by Maurice Craig as the most original church architect of his time.