HOME OF IRISH PARLIAMENT

Dunstan Times, Issue 3142, 6 November 1922, Page 2

HOME OF IRISH PARLIAMENT

Leinstcr House, the imposing old mansion where the sessions of the new Irish Parliament will be lveld, furnished the inspiration for the design: of the White Mouse in Washington. James Hoban, the architect of the White House, followed the main lines of Ixmiister House, though making the front porch shorter, on account of the difference In the extent <rl' the surrounding grounds l , and extending the portico to merge l with the jxirte cocbere, adding a balustrade around the roof. The erection of Leinster House in the first half of the eighteenth century for the residence' of the Earl of Kildare. marked the beginning of the fruitful

period that, rose to its height during Henry Grattan's Parliament, and ended when the Anglo-Saxon Union, early in the nineteenth century, made Dublin again subordinate to London. During this era there were also built Trinity College, the old Parliament House, the post office, the customshouse and the famous Four Courts. The three last-named' were destroyed in 11ames due to the fighting since 1916. Leinster House was purchased in 1815 by the Boyail Dublin Society, and now, with four wings along similar design attached to its four corners, it houses museum, libraries' and art galleries. The society also has remodelled the interior of the old mansion, constructing a theatre in which the new Dail Eireann will sit. This will be the most pretentious home the Trish Parliament has had. as previous sessions of the Dail Eireann have been held in the great round room of the Mansion House, and later in one of the large lecture halls of University College.