The Embassy of Australia in Ireland is the

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 denotes ...

of the

Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It has a total area of , making it the sixth-largest country in ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The embassy is located in the capital city of Ireland,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. On 26 June 2020, the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

announced the appointment of former Australian politician Gary Gray as Australia's ambassador to Ireland. Gray presented his credentials to the

President of Ireland The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as ...

in September 2020. In 2021, the embassy became the first Australian embassy in the world to permanently fly the Australian Aboriginal flag alongside the

Australian flag The national flag of Australia is based on the British Blue Ensign—a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper hoist quarter—augmented with a large white seven-pointed star (the Commonwealth Star) and a representation of the Southern C ...

History

The Australian Government established diplomatic relations with Ireland in 1946, and a full embassy was established in 1964. The first Australian representative (as High Commissioner), William Dignam, arrived in Ireland in December 1946 and established the Australian High Commission at 62

Merrion Square Merrion Square () is a Georgian architecture, Georgian garden square on the Southside Dublin, southside of Dublin city centre. History The square was laid out in 1762 to a plan by John Smyth and Jonathan Barker for the estate of Richard Fitz ...

in Dublin, which remained the primary Australian Embassy location until 1955. In 1955, the embassy moved to 33

Fitzwilliam Square Fitzwilliam Square () is a Georgian garden square in the south of central Dublin, Ireland. It was the last of the five Georgian squares in Dublin to be built, and is the smallest. The middle of the square is composed of a private park, which f ...

, and in 1970 moved again to Fitzwilton House on Wilton Terrace. Since 2016, the embassy has been in its current location of St Stephen's Green.

Ambassador's residence

" Abbey Lea" in

Killiney Killiney () is an affluent coastal suburb on the southside of Dublin, Ireland. It lies south of Dalkey, east and northeast of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill, in the local government area of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown within ...

, south of Dublin, has been the primary residence of all Australian ambassadors since 1965. In 1964, ahead of the formal appointment of the first Australia ambassador to Ireland, the Australian Government purchased "Abbey Lea" for

IR£ The pound ( Irish: ) was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the symbol was £ (or £Ir for distinction.) The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin circulation until ...

18,000, as substantial

Arts and Crafts style The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

mansion on Killiney Hill Road, Killiney, to serve as the ambassador's residence. Built in 1909 by prominent businessman

Laurence Ambrose Waldron Laurence Ambrose Waldron PC (14 November 1858 – 27 December 1923) was an Irish businessman and politician. Waldron was the son of Laurence Waldron and Anne White; his father had also been an MP, for County Tipperary. He was educated at ...

and designed by architect

Laurence Aloysius McDonnell Laurence is in modern use as an English masculine and a French feminine given name. The modern English masculine name is a variant of Lawrence and originates from a French form of the Latin ''Laurentius'', a name meaning "man from Laurentum" ...

, the house was originally named "Marino" and features stained-glass windows by prominent artist in the arts and crafts movement,

Harry Clarke Henry Patrick Clarke (17 March 1889 – 6 January 1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. His work was influenced by both the Art Nouveau ...

.Official residence of the Australian Ambassador to Ireland, Abbey Lea - circa 1948
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2014.

References

{{Ireland-politics-stub Diplomatic missions in Dublin (city) Diplomatic missions of Australia Australia–Ireland relations Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations

History

Ambassador's residence

See also

References