Mansion House, Dublin
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The Mansion House on Dawson Street, Dublin, is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin and has been since 1715. Its most famous features include:
- The Round Room of the House where the First Dáil assembled on January 21, 1919 to proclaim the Irish Declaration of Independence. On January 21, 1969 a special fiftieth anniversary joint session of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann assembled there and was addressed by the President of Ireland, Eamon de Valera.
- Its distinctive metal portico over the main door, erected for the visit of Queen Victoria in 1900;
- The large dining room, where the cabinet of the Irish Republic met on occasion under President de Valera
Its most famous occupants included Lords Mayor
- Daniel O'Connell nineteenth century nationalist leader
- Alfie Byrne (1930s) longest serving Lord Mayor in the 800 year history of the office
- Jim Mitchell (1976-77) the youngest Lord Mayor of Dublin, aged 29, in the history of the office
Famous visitors to the mayoral residence include:
- Queen Victoria
- Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace of Monaco
- Pope John Paul II
In the 1930s and 1940s, plans were made to demolish the building, and all other buildings on the block on which it is located (which covered an area on Dawson Street, Molesworth Street., Kildare Street and the North side of St. Stephen's Green), to enable the building of a new Dublin City Hall. However the decision of the Irish Government to erect a new Department of Industry and Commerce on a site on the block, on Kildare Street, led to the abandonment of the plans.
In August 2006, the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force claimed they had planted a bomb in the Mansion House in 1981, in an attempt to wipe out the Sinn Féin leadership at their party conference of that year. [1] The claim led to a security alert at the house, as police and army searched for the 25-year-old bomb. [2]
[edit] External link
[edit] References
- ^ UVF Sinn Fein massacre plot — The Belfast Telegraph newspaper article, 31 August 2006
- ^ Search under way at Mansion House — RTÉ News, 31 August 2006
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Chichester House 1600s–early 1700s |
