Hi, I’m John Andrew Murray (the JAM in JAM Travelogue).

I qualified as an architect and worked both in Ireland and in the United Kingdom.

I’m originally from Belfast in Northern Ireland, but currently live and work in Dublin, Ireland.

I grew up in west Belfast through the period of civil unrest known as the ‘Troubles’ often climbing barricades to get to school or work.

I joined a running club called Beechmount Harriers at the age of 14 and the daily training allowed me to escape the madness of the Troubles (physically and mentally) as I entered races all over Ireland.

I completed the Derry and Dublin Marathons at the age of 14 and again a year later. I always had disastrous marathons, getting injured with shinsplints 3 weeks before my first marathon but managed to complete all 4 marathons. My best time was at the the Dublin Marathon in 1983, finishing with a time of 3 hrs 34 minutes at the age of 15.

I always enjoyed drawing and would draw after school using pencil and pastels, in-between putting up posters of Debbie Harry on my bedroom wall or listening to Rush and the Beatles or calling-out to Jim to turn off the bedroom light as he lay reading on the bottom bunk!

I have included some drawings for sale in my travelogue store - please use this link to get to the store;

https://jamtravelogue.com/jam-travelogue-store/wall-art

I shared a bedroom with my two brothers, Jim and Stephen. My younger sister , Mary, had the box-room in a small 3 bedroom terrace house.

My father worked on building sites and my mother raised 4 children as well as taking cleaning jobs. Despite the civil unrest, I had a happy childhood in a loving home and for that I am eternally grateful. My father was my best friend and my mother was the beautiful beating heart of my close family. Their struggle, bringing up a family through the troubles and working class west Belfast, is nothing short of astounding and inspirational.

I was very lucky to get a job as a trainee architectural technician in an architect’s office in Belfast when I left school at the age of 17. I took night classes in Building Technology and worked on schools, churches and colleges. I enjoyed the satisfaction of drawing in pencil, pen and ink in the days before Computer Aided Design (CAD). It was customary to use razor blades to scrape out the ink drawings before making changes or correcting mistakes!

My parents passed-away a number of years ago and my little sister passed-away tragically in 2021. I miss them more than I can express and will love them forever xx

I moved to England when I was 20 years old, taking a job in Leicester City. I completed the Building Technology course, taking the train to Nottingham one day a week and studied art in the evenings the following year. I remember missing the last train back to Leicester, getting kicked-out of the station at midnight and sleeping on a park bench before trying to explain to the police that I wasn’t a criminal!

I enrolled at De Montfort University studying Architecture (as a part-time student which included a day in college once a week). I worked all the way through college so my coursework and studies were completed in the evenings and at weekends.

I completed my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Architecture in Leicester before finishing a post-graduate Diploma in Architecture at the University of Central England in Birmingham, where I also completed my part III course before being accepted into the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and registering with the Architect’s Registration Board (ARB).

I always had a love for urbanism and relished a walk through city streets rather than spending a lazy afternoon on a beach lounger. I remember, vividly, seeing Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art for the first time and criss-crossing London to see the Lloyds Bank building designed by Richard Rodgers which gave me more of a buzz than any of the normal tourist attractions.

My drawings skills have helped me produce my hand drawn maps for sale - please visit;

https://jamtravelogue.com/jam-travelogue-store/wall-art

I took a job in an architect’s office in Dublin working on the Croke Park GAA Stadium. I then moved on to work for a small multi-disciplined development company where I ran the architecture department.

I married my childhood sweetheart, Patricia, in 2003 and traveled to Australia on honeymoon. We met when I was only 15 and literally dodged bullets crossing the Falls Road to see each-other each evening. We were as close as a couple could be and helped each-other through college, work and fighting bank overdrafts through our twenties and thirties!

I have designed and completed a wide range of buildings including housing, offices, apartments, hotels and nursing homes.

See more on my JAM Architecture website;

https://jamarchitecture.ie/

I’ve traveled around many cities in Europe, USA and Australia and prefer spending time walking streets on short city breaks rather than spending weeks lounging on the beach.

I have always enjoyed planning a trip and would often map out the mornings and afternoons to ensure I got to see all of the historical buildings as well as modern or unusual ‘gems’ often off the beaten track.

When the recession hit in 2008, I formed a property management company with some colleagues and managed a wide range of properties in Dublin and across Ireland. I decided to re-engage with architecture and formed JAM Architecture in 2016;

https://jamarchitecture.ie/

After a long illness, Patricia passed away in late 2020 turning my world upside down. Heartbroken and drowning in grief, I decided to give myself the time to re-adjust and return to my passion for city exploration, drawing and writing.

I always enjoyed writing poetry and short stories as well as my artwork. I have completed my debut novel and hope to have an agent and publisher soon.

I started JAM Travelogue as a creative hub for all of my interests. It is a vehicle to reach out to everyone who have similar interests in cities, buildings and exploration. I’m not an expert or architectural historian but love all forms of buildings, streetscapes and vistas. I enjoy the leftover spaces which form our squares and avenues – the places where people meet and bump into strangers.

I love looking for the detail and the language of architecture and want to share my experiences with you and take you on my journey through some of the greatest cities in the world. Architecture is the ultimate form of Art, there to be enjoyed or ridiculed by every single one of us. I make city walking videos and provide them for free through my YouTube channel;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkKwPgpnR-k

I also provide complimentary (downloadable) maps outlining the route and listing the magical buildings along the way; https://jamtravelogue.com/maps

Why don’t you walk in my shoes for a day. See what I see and find your own hidden gems. Let’s find out where the streets take us. Let’s become part of our own history and enjoy what hundreds of generations before us have built from the rubble. Let’s walk where many have trodden, yet few have ventured.

Please follow my blog for useful information on where I have stayed, eaten and walked! https://jamtravelogue.com/bloghttps://jamtravelogue.com/blog

I look forward to exploring more cities as time and health allows. I'm also happily tapping away on book no. 2.