The City Hall, Dublin (), originally the Royal Exchange, is a civic building in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It was built between 1769 and 1779, to the designs of architect Thomas Cooley, and is a notable example of 18th-century

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

in the city. Originally used by the merchants of the city, it is today the formal seat of

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the council wa ...

Location

City Hall is located on a slope on Dame Street, at the southern end of Parliament Street, on Dublin's southern side. It stands in front of part of

Dublin Castle Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin. Until 1922 it was the se ...

, the centre of British government in Ireland until 1922.

History

Image Floor Mosaic of City Hall of Dublin

The building occupied the site of what was formerly Cork House, the home of the

Earl of Cork Earl of Cork is a title in the Peerage of Ireland, held in conjunction with the Earldom of Orrery since 1753. It was created in 1620 for Richard Boyle, 1st Baron Boyle. He had already been created Lord Boyle, Baron of Youghal, in the County ...

until his death in 1643, as well as Lucas’s Coffee-House. Parliament Street had been laid-out in 1753, providing a continuation of Capel Street on the north bank of the Liffey, across the newly widened Essex Bridge. Originally built as the ''Royal Exchange'', the structure was designed by Thomas Cooley, who had won a design competition run for the project between 1768 and 1769. The function of the building was to act as a form of

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for th ...

and to provide a meeting place for Dublin's businessmen. It was also close to the

old Custom House Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

making it convenient for overseas merchants. The cost of building the exchange was met by the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chamb ...

, and this is reflected by the initials "SPQH", standing for "Senatus PopulusQue Hibernicus", meaning "The senate and people of Ireland" (an Irish version of

SPQR SPQR, an abbreviation for (; en, "The Roman Senate and People"; or more freely "The Senate and People of Rome"), is an emblematic abbreviated phrase referring to the government of the ancient Roman Republic. It appears on Roman currency, at ...

). The city government had originally been located in the mediæval

Tholsel Tholsel was a name traditionally used for a local municipal and administrative building used to collect tolls and taxes and to administer trade and other documents in Irish towns and cities. It was at one stage one of the most important secular bu ...

at the corner of Nicholas Street and Christchurch Place, approximately 300 metres to the west (where the '

Peace Park A transboundary protected area (TBPA) is an ecological protected area that spans boundaries of more than one country or sub-national entity. Such areas are also known as transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs) or peace parks. TBPAs exist in many ...

' is today), and before that on the '' Thingmount'', where Suffolk Street now runs. In the 18th century, meetings were held in South William Street (at the current headquarters of the

Irish Georgian Society The Irish Georgian Society is an architectural heritage and preservation organisation which promotes and aims to encourage an interest in the conservation of distinguished examples of architecture and the allied arts of all periods across Ire ...

, formerly Dublin's Civic Museum). In 1815 the metal balustrade of the exchange fell, owing to the pressure against it by a crowd, which led to the death of nine people, with much more injured. This led to crowd restrictions in the building. In the 1850s,

Dublin Corporation Dublin Corporation (), known by generations of Dubliners simply as ''The Corpo'', is the former name of the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin since the 1100s. Significantly re-structured in 1660-1661, even more sign ...

bought the Royal Exchange and converted it for use by the city government. The changes included construction of partitions around the ambulatory, the addition of a new staircase from the rotunda to the upper floors, and the sub-division of the vaults for storage. On 30 September 1852, the Royal Exchange was renamed ''City Hall'' at the first meeting of Dublin City Council held there. (The

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

name "Royal Exchange" was retained, corresponding to the current

electoral division An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

s of Royal Exchange A and B.) A series of

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

s were later added, representing the regions of Ireland. During the

1916 Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

, the City Hall was used as a

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

for the

Irish Citizen Army The Irish Citizen Army (), or ICA, was a small paramilitary group of trained trade union volunteers from the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) established in Dublin for the defence of workers' demonstrations from the Dublin M ...

Sean Connolly Sean Connolly ( ga, Seán Ó Congaile) was an Irish republican, socialist and Abbey Theatre actor who took part in the Easter Rising. He was a captain in the Irish Citizen Army and was the first rebel to be killed during the Rising. Early life ...

seized the building using a key which he obtained as he worked in the motor department and had access to the building. There were 35 people based here, mostly women. It was in this area where the first casualty of the rising, a guard named James O’Brien, occurred at Dublin Castle and he was shot by Sean Connolly while on duty. In total, the entire siege lasted about 12 hours.

Structure

The exterior of the building is primarily made out of white

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

from a quarry in Dorset. The carved capitals were by Simon Vierpyl, and plasterwork by the

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

dore Charles Thorpe. The neo-classical building contains a central entrance hall or Rotunda, with a large dome supported by twelve columns which are surrounded by an ambulatory where merchants strolled and discussed business meetings.

Use

Some council meetings take place in City Hall. Dublin Corporation itself was renamed in the early 21st century as ''

'', previously the name of the assembly of councillors only. Most City Council staff work in the newer, brutalist design, Civic Offices, controversially built from 1979 on the site of a national monument, the Viking city foundations on

Wood Quay Wood Quay () is a riverside area of Dublin that was a site of Viking settlement. It is now the location of the Dublin City Council offices. Location The site is bounded on the north side by Wood Quay on the River Liffey, on the west by Win ...

, a short distance away. There is an exhibition on the history of Dublin City, called "Dublin City Hall, The Story of the Capital", located in the vaults of the building.

References

External links

Dublin City Hall website

{{DEFAULTSORT:City Hall, Dublin Buildings and structures in Dublin (city) Neoclassical architecture in Ireland

Local government in County Dublin Government buildings in the Republic of Ireland

Location

History

Structure

Use

See also

References

External links