dublin
party city of europe
Fancy a pint of Guiness or a whiskey, or just some lively music 24/7 then this is your city. Since there is allways a party going on some where. The city it self is a beauty even though it for long periods just a city in a huge kingdom. Frome this time you meet a world reknown art collection as well as the first zoo opened in the province
Bank of Ireland
The headquarters of the bank until the 1970s was the impressive Bank of Ireland building on College Green, Dublin. This building was originally designed by Edward Lovett Pearce in 1729 to host the Irish Parliament, and it was the world's first purpose-built two-chamber parliament building.
The bank had planned to commission a building designed by Sir John Soane to be constructed on the site bounded by Westmoreland Street, Fleet Street, College Street and D'Olier Street (now occupied by the Westin Hotel). However the project was cancelled following the Act of Union 1800, when the newly defunct Parliament building was bought by Bank of Ireland in 1803. The old Bank of Ireland building continues today as a working branch. Today, visitors can still view the impressive Irish House of Lords chamber within the old headquarters building. In 2011, the Irish Government set out proposals to acquire the building as a venue for the state to use as a cultural venue. |
Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Christ Church Cathedral)
Christ Church is officially claimed as the seat (cathedra) of both the Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic archbishops of Dublin. In law, and in fact it has been the cathedral of only the Church of Ireland's Archbishop of Dublin, since the English Reformation. Though nominally claimed as his cathedral, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin uses St Mary's in Marlborough Street in Dublin as his pro-cathedral (acting cathedral)
|
Custom House
The building of a new Custom House for Dublin was the idea of John Beresford, who became first commissioner of revenue for Ireland in 1780. In 1781 he appointed James Gandon as architect, after Thomas Cooley, the original architect on the project, had died. This was Gandon's first large scale commission. The new Custom House was unpopular with the Dublin Corporation and some city merchants who complained that it moved the axis of the city, would leave little room for shipping, and it was being built on what at the time was a swamp.
Construction started in 1781, and for his assistants Gandon chose Irish artists such as Meath stone-cutter Henry Darley, mason John Semple and carpenter Hugh Henry. Every available mason in Dublin was engaged in the work. When it was completed and opened for business on 7 November 1791, it had cost £200,000 to build – a considerable sum at the time. The four facades of the building are decorated with coats-of-arms and ornamental sculptures (by Edward Smyth) representing Ireland's rivers. Another artist, Henry Banks, was responsible for the statue on the dome and other statues. As the port of Dublin moved further downriver, the building's original use for collecting custom duties became obsolete, and it was used as the headquarters of local government in Ireland. During the Irish War of Independence in 1921, the Irish Republican Army burnt down the Custom House, in an attempt to disrupt British rule in Ireland. Gandon's original interior was completely destroyed in the fire and the central dome collapsed. After the Anglo-Irish Treaty, it was restored by the Irish Free State government. The results of this reconstruction can still be seen on the building's exterior today – the dome was rebuilt using Irish Ardbraccan limestone which is noticeably darker than the Portland stone used in the original construction. Further restoration and cleaning of the stonework was done by an Office of Public Works team in the 1980s. |
Dublin Castle
|
Dublin Castle (Irish: Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) off Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, was until 1922 the seat of the United Kingdom government's administration in Ireland, and is now a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland. The Castle served as the seat of English, then later British government of Ireland under the Lordship of Ireland (1171–1541), the Kingdom of Ireland (1541–1800), and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1800–1922).
After the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921, the complex was ceremonially handed over to the newly formed Provisional Government led by Michael Collins. |
dublin city hall
The city hall was built between 1769 and 1779 to the designs of architect Thomas Cooley and is a notable example of 18th-century architecture in the city.
The external structure is primarily made out of white Portland stone from a quarry in Dorset. The large size and fine fittings of the Royal exchange, with carved capitals by Simon Vierpyl, and plasterwork by the leading stuccodore Charles Thorpe, reflect the standing and prestige of Dublin in the 18th Century. The neo-classical building contains a central entrance hall or Rotunda, with a large dome supported by twelve columns which is surrounded by an ambulatory where the merchants strolled and discussed business meetings. The function of the building was to provide a meeting place for Dublin's businessmen, where they could buy and sell goods and trade bills of exchange. It was also close to the then Customs House that stood on the site of today's Clarence Hotel, making it convenient for overseas merchants. The cost of building the exchange was met by the Parliament of Ireland, 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). 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 many more injured. This led to crowd restrictions in the building. In the 1850s, the City Corporation bought the Royal Exchange and converted it for use by city government. The changes included partitions around the ambulatory, the construction 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 name "Royal Exchange" was retained, corresponding to the current electoral divisions of Royal Exchange A and B.) A series of frescos was later added, representing the regions of Ireland. |
Four courts
Work based on the design of Thomas Cooley for the Public Records Office of Ireland, began in 1776. After his death in 1784 renowned architect James Gandon was appointed to finish the building, which we recognise today as the Four Courts. It was built between 1786 and 1796, while the finishing touches to the arcades and wings were completed in 1802. The lands were previously used by the King's Inns. The building originally housed the four courts of Chancery, King's Bench, Exchequer and Common Pleas, hence the name of the building. A major revision in the court system in the late nineteenth century saw these courts merged into a new High Court of Ireland, but the building has retained its historic name. This courts system remained until 1924, when the new Irish Free State introduced a new courts structure, replacing the High Court of Ireland, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland and the Lord Chancellor of Ireland with a Supreme Court of Justice presided over by the Chief Justice and a High Court of Justice, presided over by the President of the High Court. In 1961 the words "of justice" were dropped from the names of both courts when they were belatedly re-established consequent upon the enactment of the 1937 Constitution.
|
|
General post office
|
On 6 January 1818, the new post-office in Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street) was opened for business. The foundation-stone of the building, which is built after a design of Francis Johnston, was laid by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth, on 12 August 1814, attended by the Post-Masters-General, Charles O'Neill, 1st Earl O'Neill and Laurence Parsons, 2nd Earl of Rosse. The structure was completed in the short space of three years for the sum of £50,000.
The front, which extends 67.1 metres (220 ft), has an Ionic portico (24.4 metres (80 ft) wide), of six fluted Ionic columns, 137.16 centimetres (54 inches) in diameter. The frieze of the entablature is highly enriched, and in the tympanum of the pediment were the royal arms until removed following restoration in the 1920s. On the acroteria of the pediment are three statues by John Smyth: when facing the building Mercury on the left, with his Caduceus and purse; Fidelity on the right, with a hound at her feet and a key held in her right hand and Hibernia in the centre, resting on her spear and holding a harp. The entablature, with the exception of the architrave, is continued along the rest of the front; the frieze, however, is not decorated over the portico. A balustrade surmounts the cornice of the building, which is 15.2 metres (50 ft) from the ground. With the exception of the portico, which is of Portland stone, the whole is of mountain granite. The elevation has three stories, of which the lower or basement is rusticated, and in this respect it resembles the India House of London, where a rusticated basement is introduced, although the portico occupies the entire height of the structure. During the Easter Rising of 1916, the GPO served as the headquarters of the uprising's leaders. The building was destroyed by fire in the course of the rebellion and not repaired until the Irish Free State government took up the task some years later. The facade is all that remains of the original building. |
Government Buildings
The building that was to become Government Buildings was the last major public building built under British rule in Ireland. The foundation stone for the building was laid by King Edward VII in 1904. It was built on the site of a row of Georgian houses that were being controversially demolished one by one as the new building was erected. The building itself was designed by Sir Aston Webb, a British architect who was later to redesign the facade of Buckingham Palace. The final completed building was opened by King George V in 1911.
It may have been intended for use by the Royal College of Science, but it soon attracted the attention of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland's Dublin Castle administration. It was chosen to be the location for the first meeting of the new Parliament of Southern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, in June 1921. The planned State Opening of Parliament proved a fiasco, as only four members of the House of Commons of Southern Ireland and a minority of members of the Senate of Southern Ireland turned up. The Houses were adjourned sine die (although under the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 14 January 1922 “a meeting of members of the Parliament elected for constituencies in Southern Ireland" met to ratify the Treaty). |
|
Leinster House
From the late eighteenth century Leinster House (then called Kildare House) was the Earl's official Dublin residence. When it was first built in 1745–48 by James FitzGerald, Earl of Kildare, it was located on the unfashionable and isolated south side of the city, far from the main locations of aristocratic residences, namely Rutland Square (now Parnell Square) and Mountjoy Square. The Earl predicted that others would follow; in succeeding decades Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Square became the primary location of residences of the aristocracy, with many of their northside residences being sold (many subsequently deteriorating and ending up as slums). The building itself was designed by acclaimed architect Richard Cassels.
Since 1922 it serves as the parliament building of the Irish Free State, predecessor of the modern Irish state, before which it functioned as the headquarters of the Royal Dublin Society. The society's famous Dublin Spring Show and Dublin Horse Show were held on its Leinster Lawn, facing Merrion Square. The building is the meeting place of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann, the two houses of the Oireachtas, and as such the term 'Leinster House' has become a metonym for Irish political activities. |
Royal College of Physicians of Ireland
In 1860, the College purchased the premises of the Kildare Street Club in Kildare Street. The building was destroyed in a fire in November 1860 and subsequently rebuilt by the College to its own design. It opened in 1864 and has remained the College's home ever since.
The College Library dates its foundation to 1713 when Sir Patrick Dun bequeathed his personal, large library to the College. The Library has been known as "Dun's Library" ever since. The Dun's Library forms part of the College's Heritage Centre, with the archive, heritage items and genealogical research collections. The Heritage Centre holds one of the most important and extensive collections of printed, manuscript material and items relating to the history of medicine and medical education in Ireland. |
St Mary's Church (called St Mary's Pro-Cathedral)
In 1803, a committee formed by then Archbishop John Thomas Troy bought Lord Annesley's townhouse on the corner of Marlborough Street and Elephant Lane (now called Cathedral Street), within sight of the city's premier thoroughfare, Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street) as the location for the planned new pro-cathedral, pending the erection, when funds and the law allowed, of a full Roman Catholic cathedral. The architect chosen to execute the design was George Papworth. In June 1814 the demolition of the house took place. It was followed by the erection of a new pro-cathedral which combined a number of styles but which externally is closest to Greek revival. Internally, it is more Roman than Grecian. The new Archbishop of Dublin, Daniel Murray, celebrated the new pro-cathedral's completion on 14 November 1825. It thus became the first Catholic episcopal seat established anywhere in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland since the Protestant Reformation.
Internally, the Pro-Cathedral is dramatically different from the two main cathedrals of Dublin. Its mixture of Greek and Roman styles has proved controversial, being variously described as an artistic gem and an eyesore. Its main aisle leads up to an altar, behind which a stained glass window of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the Saint Mary of its name) is visible. For most of its existence it possessed a massive Victorian altar and reredos by Turnerelli, a Belfast born sculptor of Italian parentage. In the late 1970s this was removed, as part of a re-ordering to bring its sanctuary in line with changes that followed the introduction of the revision of the Mass. The reredos was completely removed, leaving just the tabernacle, though the front panel of the original altar was reinstated in the new altar, which was moved to the centre of a new paved area in an expanded sanctuary. The altar rails were also removed. The pulpit was moved as well, and is currently sitting unused in a corner of the building. A large contingent of Italian artisans were employed by the church, to decorate the interior of the Cathedral. The Pro-Cathedral caught fire in the early 1990s. Though the fire was extinguished before it caught hold of the building, considerable smoke damage was done to one corner of the building around the monument to Cardinal Cullen, perhaps the most famous of all the nineteenth century Archbishops, and the first Archbishop of Dublin to be made a cardinal. |
Saint Patrick's Cathedral
Ireland's largest church is St Patrick's Cathedral, built between 1191 and 1270 on the site of an earlier church that had stood here since the 5th century. It was here that St Patrick himself reputedly baptised the local Celtic chieftains, making this bit of ground some fairly sacred turf: the well in question is in the adjacent St Patrick's Park.
The building has suffered a rather dramatic history of storm and fire damage and has been altered several times (most questionably in 1864 when the flying buttresses were added, thanks to the neo-Gothic craze that swept the nation). Oliver Cromwell, during his 1649 visit to Ireland, converted St Patrick's to a stable for his army's horses, an indignity to which he also subjected numerous other Irish churches. Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels, was the dean of the cathedral from 1713 to 1745, but after his tenure the cathedral was very neglected until its restoration in the 1860s. |
Trinity College
|
Trinity College (Irish: Coláiste na Tríonóide) is the sole constituent college of the University of Dublin, a research university in Ireland. The college was founded in 1592 as the "mother" of a new university, modelled after the collegiate universities of Oxford and of Cambridge, but, unlike these, only one college was ever established; as such, the designations "Trinity College" and "University of Dublin" are usually synonymous for practical purposes. It is one of the seven ancient universities of Britain and Ireland, as well as Ireland's oldest university.
Originally established outside the city walls of Dublin in the buildings of the dissolved Augustinian Priory of All Hallows, Trinity College was set up in part to consolidate the rule of the Tudor monarchy in Ireland, and it was seen as the university of the Protestant Ascendancy for much of its history. Although Catholics and Dissenters had been permitted to enter as early as 1793, certain restrictions on their membership of the college remained until 1873 (professorships, fellowships and scholarships were reserved for Protestants). From 1956 to 1970, the Catholic Church in Ireland forbade its adherents from attending Trinity College without permission from their archbishop. Women were first admitted to the college as full members in January 1904. |