Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cooley, Thomas
COOLEY, THOMAS (1740–1784), architect, was born in 1740 in England, and originally apprenticed to a carpenter. He obtained a premium at the Society of Arts in 1753, and in 1769 was the successful competitor for building the Royal Exchange in Dublin, which he completed in 1779, and continued to reside in Dublin. He also erected a tower to Armagh Cathedral, and the Newgate prison in Dublin; neither of these was a successful work. He was employed on several other public buildings in Dublin, but died in 1784 while engaged on the Four Courts, having only completed the western wing. From 1765 to 1768 he contributed architectural designs to the exhibitions of the Free Society of Artists.
[Redgrave's Dict. of English Artists; Graves's Dict. of Artists, 1760–1880; Pasquin's Artists of Ireland; Catalogues of the Free Society of Artists.]