The Mansion House () is a house on Dawson Street,

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 ...

, which has been the

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

of the

Lord Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin () is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent, since December 2024, is Fine Gael councillor Emma ...

since 1715, and was also the meeting place of the

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

from 1919 until 1922.

History

The first dedicated mayoralty house was built in 1665 by Sir Daniel Bellingham, 1st Baronet at the corner of Castle Street and Fishamble Street. The modern Mansion House was later commissioned by the merchant and property developer Joshua Dawson. The site he selected was a piece of poor-quality marshy land outside the medieval city walls which he acquired in 1705. The building was designed in the Queen Anne style, built in brick with a stucco finish and was completed in 1710. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of seven bays facing onto Dawson Street. The central section of three bays, which was projected forward, featured an opening formed by a pair of

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

columns supporting an entablature. The other bays on the ground floor and all the bays on the first floor were fenestrated with

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s with stone surrounds and window sills. At roof level, there was a balustraded

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

with a

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

above the central section.

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 si ...

purchased the house in 1715 for assignment as the official residence of the Lord Mayor. In 1821, the Round Room was built in order to receive King

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

, while the stained glass window on the staircase was made by Joshua Clarke and Sons for the visit of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

in 1900. The

First Dáil First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

assembled in the Round Room on 21 January 1919 to proclaim the Irish Declaration of Independence. Two years later, in 1921, the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

was ratified in the same location. In the 1930s, 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

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

. However the decision of the Government to erect a new Department of Industry and Commerce on a site on the same block, on Kildare Street, led to the abandonment of the plans. On 21 January 1969, a special fiftieth-anniversary joint session of

and

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

assembled in the Round Room and was addressed by the then

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 ...

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...

. 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 Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

leadership at their party conference of that year. The claim led to a security alert at the house, as the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

and army searched for a 25-year-old bomb, but none was found. On 21 January 2019, the one-hundredth anniversary of the First Dáil, another special joint session of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann was held in the Round Room and was again addressed by the Irish President. This time, the President was Michael D. Higgins.

Occupants

Its most famous occupants included Lord Mayors: * 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 File:First dail eireann 1919.jpg, First Dáil Éireann at the Mansion House 21 January 1919. File:Crowd at Mansion House Dublin ahead of War of Independence truce July 8 1921.jpg, Crowd outside Mansion House ahead of War of Independence truce 8 July 1921 File:Dáil Éireann meeting in the Mansion House, August, 1921 (17068860698).jpg, First sitting of Second Dáil in the Mansion House, 17 August 1921 ( flopped image). In the un-flopped version of the photograph, sitting from left to right beside the Speaker's Chair are the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Seán T. O'Kelly, Éamon de Valera, Diarmuid O'Hegarty and F. P. Walsh, and sitting in front of the Speaker's Chair from left to right are Michael Collins and Richard Mulcahy.

References

External links

Mayoral info website

Mansion House Dublin Website
{{Authority control 1710 architecture 1710 establishments in Ireland Buildings and structures in Dublin (city) Government buildings in the Republic of Ireland Houses completed in 1710 Mayors' mansions in Ireland Official residences in the Republic of Ireland Dublin City Council Georgian architecture in Dublin (city)