Iveagh House is a Georgian house which now contains the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Ireland. It is also sometimes used colloquially as a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...

referring to the department itself. Iveagh House was originally two houses, nos 80 and 81 St Stephen's Green. No 80 was designed by

Richard Cassels Richard Cassels (1690 – 1751), also known as Richard Castle, was an architect who ranks with Edward Lovett Pearce as one of the greatest architects working in Ireland in the 18th century. Cassels was born in 1690 in Kassel, Germany. Alth ...

in 1736 for Bishop Clayton. It was later the home of barrister and

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Head of Civil Justice. As a judge, the Master of ...

John Philpot Curran. After both houses were bought by Benjamin Guinness in 1862 he served as his own architect, combined the two houses and produced the building as it now stands. On the

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 ...

facade pediment he placed his parents' arms: on the left the Milesian lion, with the Red Hand of Ulster above, for the

Magennis Magennis ( ga, Mac Aonghusa), also spelled Maguiness, Maginnis, Magenis, McGinnis, or McGuinness, is an Irish surname, meaning the "son of Angus", which in eastern Ulster was commonly pronounced in Irish as ''Mac Aonghusa''. A prominent branch o ...

clan of

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...

; and on the right the arms of the Lee family, Dublin builders from about 1700. The building has nine bays, with the central three broken forward and pedimented. The interior of the building is hugely elaborate and decorative, with a staircase and ballroom lined with alabaster. The staircase also has ornate ironwork, marble columns and circular roof lights. The building was donated to the Irish state by Benjamin Guinness's grandson, Rupert, Lord Iveagh, in 1939, and was renamed Iveagh House. The original Iveagh House is still a part of the

Iveagh Trust The Iveagh Trust is a provider of affordable housing in and around Dublin, Ireland. It was initially a component of the Guinness Trust, founded in 1890 by Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, great-grandson of the founder of the Guinness B ...

nearby. The

Iveagh Gardens The Iveagh Gardens (; ga, Gairdíní Uí Eachach) is a public park located between Clonmel Street and Upper Hatch Street, near the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland. It is a national, as opposed to a municipal park, and designated as a ...

at the back of the house were given to

University College, Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...

(U.C.D.), by The 1st Lord Iveagh in 1908, in connection with the formation of its campus on Earlsfort Terrace. The gardens have since been transferred to the OPW and are now used as a public park. The conservation and restoration of the Gardens commenced in 1995 and to date most of the original features have been restored, for example the Maze in Box hedging with a Sundial as a centre piece. The restored Cascade and exotic tree ferns all help to create a sense of wonder in the 'Secret Garden'.

External links

Department of Foreign AffairsVirtual Tour of Iveagh House

References

{{Reflist Richard Cassels buildings Buildings and structures in Dublin (city) 1939 establishments in Ireland St Stephen's Green