Joseph Vincent Downes studied at University College Dublin and as an apprentice with Callaghan & Webb, graduating 1920. Worked in London with Herbert Baker, Robert Atkinson - acting as site architect for the Gresham Hotel, O'Connell Street, Dublin - and in Dublin as a partner in McDonnell & Dixon (1927-35). Practised privately in Dublin (1935-44) before establishing Downes Meehan with F. Bernard Meehan (1944) and Downes Meehan Robson with Harold S. Robson (1949). Served as Professor of Architecture at University College Dublin (1943-51), established a remarkable library of architectural slides and was a leading spokesman on behalf of the modern movement in Ireland.