The History and Significance of Leinster House in Ireland

Leinster House is a government building in Dublin, Ireland, that is the home of two houses of the Oireachtas Éireann (pron: oh-rock-tas eh-r-ih-an), the parliament of Ireland, which is composed of the Dáil Éireann (pron: doyle eh-r-ihan) and the Seanad Éireann (senahd eh-r-ih-an). It was originally built as a mansion for the Duke of Leinster.

Ireland’s original parliament, over the centuries, met in a number of locations, most notably in the Irish Houses of Parliament at College Green, next to Trinity College Dublin (it is now the Bank of Ireland building). Its medieval parliament consisted of two houses, a House of Commons and a House of Lords. The House of Lords’ senior member was the Earl of Kildare, James FitzGerald. Like all the aristocrats of the period, during the parliamentary sessions, he and his family resided in a Dublin residence.

From the late eighteenth century, Leinster House (then known as Kildare House) was the Earl of Kildare’s official Dublin residence. It was built between 1745-48 by James FitzGerald, 20th Earl of Kildare, and located on the south side of the city. The building was designed by German architect Richard Cassels. Some of the later elements and interior were designed by English architect Isaac Ware.

In the history of aristocratic residences in Dublin, no other mansion was equal to Kildare House in size or status. When the Earl was made the first Duke of Leinster in 1766, the family’s Dublin residence was renamed Leinster House, the name it carries today.

With the passage of the Act of Union in 1800, Ireland ceased to have its own parliament. As a result, increasing numbers of the Irish aristocracy stopped coming to Dublin, selling off their Dublin residences to buy homes in London, where the new united parliament met. In 1815, the 3rd Duke of Leinster sold Leinster House to the Royal Dublin Society (RDS). The RDS is an Irish philanthropic organization and club, founded on June 25, 1731, with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economically. In 1853, the Great Industrial Exhibition was hosted on its grounds.

National Library

At the end of the nineteenth century, two new wings were added to the left and right sides of the original building. The Natural History Museum was added in 1832. In 1877, a wing that housed both the National Library of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland was added.

Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 and the Birth of the Irish Free State

The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 provided for the creation of an Irish government to be known as the Irish Free State. As plans were made to bring the new state into being, the Provisional Government sought a meeting venue for the newly created Oireachtas. Within weeks of the opening of the Oireachtas, Michael Collins decided to rent the Leinster House complex temporarily for use, as it housed a large lecture theatre that could easily be adapted to the needs of the Oireachtas.

On September 9, 1922, the Third Dáil met in Leinster House without the anti-Treaty members, who boycotted it. In 1924, plans to relocate permanently were abandoned, and Leinster House was purchased by the government, officially becoming the seat of the Irish Free State Parliament.

Monuments and Historical Statues

Today, on the Merrion Square side of the building, a large triangular monument known as The Cenotaph stands, commemorating three founding figures of Irish independence: President of Dáil Éireann, Arthur Griffith, who died in 1922; Michael Collins, who was shot and killed in an ambush by anti-treaty forces in 1922; and Kevin O’Higgins, the Chairman of the Provisional Government, who was assassinated in 1927. It was erected in 1950 and bears the inscription, “Do Chum Glóire Dé agus Onóra na hÉireann” (For the Glory of God and the Honor of Ireland).

Its Kildare Street frontage used to be dominated by a large seated bronze statue of Queen Victoria, first unveiled by King Edward VII in 1908. As it was considered inappropriate to have the British Queen overlooking the Irish parliament, it was relocated to the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in 1948. In 1987, it was removed from Dublin and re-erected in front of the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney, Australia.

James Hoban: Builder of The White House

If you can’t get to Dublin to view Leinster House, you can view a couple of reasonable facsimiles in the U.S., thanks to Irish-born architect James Hoban (1755-1831). Hoban was born in County Kilkenny and was trained in architecture at the Dublin Society School of Architectural Drawing. He left Ireland for Philadelphia around 1785. From Philadelphia, he moved to Charleston, South Carolina, and set up an architectural practice with fellow Irishman Pierce Purcell, a master builder.

They designed numerous buildings in Charleston, including the state capital in Columbia and the Charleston County Courthouse, which may have been his first success and is somewhat similar in design to Leinster House. President George Washington visited Charleston, South Carolina, in May 1791 on his Southern Tour and was impressed by the County Courthouse then under construction. Washington is reputed to have met with Hoban during the visit.

The following year, Washington summoned the architect to Philadelphia and met with him in June 1792 (Philadelphia was then the temporary national capital). The following month, Hoban was named the winner of the design competition for The White House in Washington, D.C.

The design of the upper floors includes elements based on Leinster House. The first-floor windows with alternate triangular and segmented gables are directly inspired by the Irish building.

It is likely that Hoban was introduced to the Leinster House mansion when the Earl of Kildare became the Duke of Leinster in 1766. Hoban remembered the grand estate in Dublin and used it as inspiration for the building. Construction of the White House began in 1792 and was completed in 1800. John and Abigail Adams were its first occupants. The building was burned by the British in 1814 during the War of 1812. Hoban died in Washington, D.C., on December 8, 1831, and is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C.