Houses in the City

The property boom of the eighteenth century was carefully controlled and the scope of the various developments was restricted, producing a consistent unity that we now know as Georgian Dublin.

Leinster House
Copyright of Dublin City Council

Initially the residential developments were concentrated on the northside of the city. Its fundamental layout was centred on two major squares: Rutland Square (now called Parnell Square) and Mountjoy Square. Mountjoy Square was a highly desirable place to live in the early Georgian period. However, all this was to change with the building of Leinster House, the building that now houses the National Parliament of Ireland.

Seanad Chamber

Originally the Seanad Chamber was used as a ballroom when owned by the Duke of Leinster, its proportions are the same as those of the library underneath on the ground floor. The walls of the chamber are plain, reflecting its use by the Royal Dublin Society as a picture gallery.

Image courtesy of House of the Oireachtas

Seanad Chamber
Image courtesy of House of the Oireachtas

Seanad Chamber

Originally the Seanad Chamber was used as a ballroom when owned by the Duke of Leinster, its proportions are the same as those of the library underneath on the ground floor. The walls of the chamber are plain, reflecting its use by the Royal Dublin Society as a picture gallery.

Image courtesy of House of the Oireachtas

Enlarge image

Leinster House, originally known as Kildare House after James Fitzgerald, the Earl of Kildare is one of the most significant examples of the Great Houses of Georgian Dublin. Fitzgerald commissioned it to be built between 1845 and 1847. It was renamed Leinster House in 1776 when Fitzgerald became the Duke of Leinster.

The building was designed by Richard Castle, the German architect who built extensively in Dublin, and it is claimed that it became a model for the White House, the residence of the President of the United States.