2016
CLAIR MC DONALD
Clair obtained a BSc (landscape design) from Writtle University College, Essex (UK), in 2003. She was project landscape architect with Ballymun Regeneration, Ferguson McIlveen, and Murray and Associates during the noughties where she engaged with many urban and rural design and assessment projects of varying scales and typologies. During the economic recession commencing in 2008, she took a departure from design to delve a little deeper into landscape from the perspectives of history and geography, obtaining a BA in heritage studies from GMIT in 2011, an MA in historic house studies from Maynooth University in 2013, and MRes from WIT in 2017 (thesis title: Assessing historic woodlands on Gurteen demesne, Co. Waterford using an interdisciplinary approach developed from theory in landscape ecology, historical geography and landscape architecture). In 2023, Clair was awarded a PhD in historical geography from DCU for her thesis, Colonial geographies of Stradbally, Co. Laois: landholding, society, and landscape on the Cosby and Walsh-Kemmis landed estates, c. 1640- c.1850. Since 2013, Clair has consulted on a range of projects with field.scale.studio involving her expertise in landscape design, historic landscape assessment, landscape character and visual impact assessment, and conservation management plans. She teaches with the Garden Design Academy of Ireland, Dublin City University, and Maynooth University in the areas of garden design, human geography, historical geography, urban nature and landscape conservation.
Interests: landscape architecture; geography, GIS; teaching and researching landscape; archives; historic landscapes; site specificity; heritage interpretation; climate and societal challenges in contemporary landscape design; gardens; colonialism and post-colonialism; nature and ecology.
Collaborations:
7L Architects
ACP Group (Architectural Conservation Professionals)
Kilgallen & Partners
Independent Tree Surveys
Past Employment
Project Landscape Architect
Murray & Associates
Ferguson McIlveen/ScottWilson
Assistant Landscape Architect
Ballymun Regeneration Limited
Projects:
Historic Landscape Assessment
Conservation and Management Plans
Heritage Interpretation and Tourism
Urban Design Strategy
Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment
Landscape Design
Tender Documents/Contract Administration
Landscape Masterplan/Construction Detail/Planting Plan
Education
2023:PhD (DCU)
2018: MSc by research (WIT)
2013: MA Historic House Studies (Maynooth University)
2011: BA Heritage Studies (GMIT)
2003: BSc Garden & Landscape Design (Writtle University College)
1999: Diploma Horticulture (Teagasc)
Publications
BOOK
McDonald, C. (2017) The eighteenth-century landscape of Stradbally Hall, Co. Laois (Dublin: Four Courts Press).
CONFERENCE PAPERS
McDonald, C. (2024) 'The town as cordon sanitaire: Stradbally, Co. Laois in the eighteenth century; 22nd Annual Historic Houses International Conference, Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates.
McDonald, C. (2022) ‘The building blocks of colonialism: state archives from the mid-17th century in Ireland; American Association of Geographers.
McDonald, C. (2021) ‘Warders of a colony? Stradbally, Co. Laois, in 1641.
McDonald, C. (2021) ‘Probing the social borders of a mixed-settlement colony: Stradbally in 1641’; Conference of Irish Geographers.
McDonald, C. (2019) ‘Landed estate archives: creation and significance in an historical geography of landlordism’; Royal Geographic Society conference.
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
McDonald, C. (2016) ‘Cultural landscapes and ecological values: a methodology for determining significance at the landscape of the former landed estate, Gurteen, Co. Waterford’. In Collins T., Kindermann, G., Newman, C., Cronin, C. (eds.), Landscape values: place and praxis, NUIG, Galway, pp 196-200.
McDonald, C. (2016) ‘Historic landscape evaluation to inform future policy objectives’, Lisbon: Green Lines Institute for Sustainable Development. In Amoêda, R., Lira, S., Pinheiro, C. (eds.) Heritage 2016: 5th international conference on heritage and sustainable development, Green Lines Institute for Sustainable Development, Barcelos, pp 561-70.