The Embassy of the United Kingdom 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 ...

is the chief

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

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 ...

. The Embassy is located on

Merrion Road Merrion Road is a major road, part of the R118, in Dublin 4. It joins the Pembroke Road section of the R118 at Herbert Park and runs south-east to Merrion, where it meets the Rock Road at Booterstown. At Merrion Gates, it meets Strand Road ( ...

in the

Ballsbridge Ballsbridge () (from historic Ball's Bridge) is an affluent neighbourhood of the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The area is largely north and west of a three-arch stone bridge across the River Dodder, on the south side of the city. Th ...

area of the city. The current British Ambassador to Ireland is Paul Johnston.

History

Although the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

was established in 1922, the United Kingdom did not have a diplomatic mission of its own. The only British representation in the State was that of the Trade Commissioner, first appointed in 1929. Front Gate of the British Embassy, Dublin

Front Gate of the British Embassy, Dublin

By contrast, the Irish High Commission (now the Embassy of Ireland) in London was established as early as 1923. It was not until 1939 that a separate mission, known as the British Representative's Office, was finally established. Following the passing of the

Republic of Ireland Act The Republic of Ireland Act 1948 (No. 22 of 1948) is an Act of the Oireachtas which declared that the description of Ireland was to be the Republic of Ireland, and vested in the president of Ireland the power to exercise the executive authority ...

by the Oireachtas in 1948, under which Ireland withdrew from the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

the following year, the mission was renamed the British Embassy, with its head restyled Ambassador. Until 1972, the embassy was located at 39

Merrion Square Merrion Square () is a Georgian garden square on the southside of Dublin city centre. History The square was laid out in 1752 by the estate of Viscount FitzWilliam and was largely complete by the beginning of the 19th century. The demand fo ...

, on the

southside Southside or South Side may refer to: Places Australia * Southside, Queensland, a semi-rural locality in the Gympie Region Canada * South Side, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community in the St. George's Bay area on the southwest coast of New ...

of Dublin city centre. On 2 February of that year, however, it was burnt to the ground during demonstrations by large crowds of people, following the

Bloody Sunday Bloody Sunday may refer to: Historical events Canada * Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia * Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence aga ...

massacre in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

on 30 January when the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

's Parachute Regiment shot dead 14 unarmed Catholic civilians during a civil rights demonstration. In 1981 protesters tried to storm the British Embassy in response to the IRA hunger strikes of that year. The current embassy building on

was built in 1995 and designed by

Allies and Morrison Allies and Morrison LLP is an architecture and urban planning practice based in London and Cambridge. Founded in 1984, the practice is now one of Britain's largest architectural firms. The practice's work ranges from architecture and interio ...

. It is built around a central courtyard, a cloister-like space.

Ambassador's residence

The British Ambassador's official residence in Dublin is

Glencairn House Glencairn House is the official residence of the British Ambassador to Ireland. Glencairn has been the official residence of successive ambassadors since the 1950s. The house is located in the southern suburbs of Dublin, on the Murphystown ...

, located on Murphystown Road. Glencairn has been the official residence of successive British Ambassadors to Ireland since the 1950s.

References

{{Diplomatic missions in Ireland

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Buildings and structures in Dublin (city) Ireland–United Kingdom relations

History

Ambassador's residence

See also

References