1.
Dublin Castle
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Dublin Castle off Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, was until 1922 the seat of the United Kingdom governments 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, the Kingdom of Ireland, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. After the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921, the complex was handed over to the newly formed Provisional Government led by Michael Collins. The castle today is a major tourist attraction and conferencing destination, the building is also used for State dinners and most significantly, the inauguration of the presidents of Ireland. Dublin Castle fulfilled a number of roles through its history, the second in command in the Dublin Castle administration, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, also had his offices there. Over the years parliament and law courts met at the castle before moving to new purpose-built venues and it also served as a military garrison. Castle Catholic was a term for Catholics who were considered to be overly friendly with or supportive of the British administration. Upon formation of the Free State in 1922, the castle assumed for a decade the role of the Four Courts on the Liffey quays which had been damaged during the Civil War. It was decided in 1938 that the inauguration of the first President of Ireland, Douglas Hyde would take place in the castle, two dedicated conference facilities, The Hibernia Conference Centre and The Printworks, were install for the European Presidencies of 1990 and 2013. Sited to the south-east of Norman Dublin, the formed one corner of the outer perimeter of the city. The city wall directly abutted the castles northeast Powder Tower, extending north, in 1620 the English-born judge Luke Gernon was greatly impressed by the wall, a huge and mighty wall, foursquare, and of incredible thickness. The Poddle was diverted into the city through archways where the walls adjoined the castle, one of these archways and part of the wall survive buried underneath the 18th-century buildings, and are open to public inspection. The building survived until 1673, when it was damaged by fire, the Court of Castle Chamber, the Irish counterpart to the English Star Chamber, sat in Dublin Castle in a room which was specially built for it about 1570. The Castle sustained severe damage in 1684. Extensive rebuilding transformed it from medieval fortress to Georgian palace, United Irishmen General Joseph Holt, a participant in the 1798 Rising, was incarcerated in the Bermingham Tower before being transported to New South Wales in 1799. In 1884 officers at the Castle were at the centre of a homosexual scandal incited by the Irish Nationalist politician William OBrien through his newspaper United Ireland. In 1907 the Irish Crown Jewels were stolen from the Castle, suspicion fell upon the Officer of Arms, Sir Arthur Vicars, but rumours of his homosexuality and links to socially important gay men in London, may have compromised the investigation
2.
Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
3.
Kingdom of England
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In the early 11th century the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, united by Æthelstan, became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway. The completion of the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1284 put Wales under the control of the English crown, from the accession of James I in 1603, the Stuart dynasty ruled England in personal union with Scotland and Ireland. Under the Stuarts, the kingdom plunged into war, which culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649. The monarchy returned in 1660, but the Civil War had established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without the consent of Parliament and this concept became legally established as part of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. From this time the kingdom of England, as well as its state the United Kingdom. On 1 May 1707, under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707, the Anglo-Saxons referred to themselves as the Engle or the Angelcynn, originally names of the Angles. They called their land Engla land, meaning land of the English, by Æthelweard Latinized Anglia, from an original Anglia vetus, the name Engla land became England by haplology during the Middle English period. The Latin name was Anglia or Anglorum terra, the Old French, by the 14th century, England was also used in reference to the entire island of Great Britain. The standard title for all monarchs from Æthelstan until the time of King John was Rex Anglorum, Canute the Great, a Dane, was the first king to call himself King of England. In the Norman period Rex Anglorum remained standard, with use of Rex Anglie. The Empress Matilda styled herself Domina Anglorum, from the time of King John onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex or Regina Anglie. In 1604 James VI and I, who had inherited the English throne the previous year, the English and Scottish parliaments, however, did not recognise this title until the Acts of Union of 1707. The kingdom of England emerged from the unification of the early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdoms known as the Heptarchy, East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex. The Viking invasions of the 9th century upset the balance of power between the English kingdoms, and native Anglo-Saxon life in general, the English lands were unified in the 10th century in a reconquest completed by King Æthelstan in 927 CE. During the Heptarchy, the most powerful king among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms might become acknowledged as Bretwalda, the decline of Mercia allowed Wessex to become more powerful. It absorbed the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex in 825, the kings of Wessex became increasingly dominant over the other kingdoms of England during the 9th century. In 827, Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex at Dore, in 886, Alfred the Great retook London, which he apparently regarded as a turning point in his reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that all of the English people not subject to the Danes submitted themselves to King Alfred, asser added that Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, restored the city of London splendidly
4.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was established as a sovereign state on 1 January 1801 by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. The growing desire for an Irish Republic led to the Irish War of Independence, Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom, and the state was consequently renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Britain financed the European coalition that defeated France in 1815 in the Napoleonic Wars, the British Empire thereby became the foremost world power for the next century. The Crimean War with Russia and the Boer wars were relatively small operations in a largely peaceful century, rapid industrialisation that began in the decades prior to the states formation continued up until the mid-19th century. A devastating famine, exacerbated by government inaction in the century, led to demographic collapse in much of Ireland. It was an era of economic modernization and growth of industry, trade and finance. Outward migration was heavy to the colonies and to the United States. Britain also built up a large British Empire in Africa and Asia, India, by far the most important possession, saw a short-lived revolt in 1857. In foreign policy Britain favoured free trade, which enabled its financiers and merchants to operate successfully in many otherwise independent countries, as in South America. Britain formed no permanent military alliances until the early 20th century, when it began to cooperate with Japan, France and Russia, and moved closer to the United States. A brief period of limited independence for Ireland came to an end following the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the British governments fear of an independent Ireland siding against them with the French resulted in the decision to unite the two countries. This was brought about by legislation in the parliaments of both kingdoms and came into effect on 1 January 1801, however, King George III was bitterly opposed to any such Emancipation and succeeded in defeating his governments attempts to introduce it. When the Treaty of Amiens ended the war, Britain agreed to return most of the territories it had seized, in May 1803, war was declared again. In 1806, Napoleon issued the series of Berlin Decrees, which brought into effect the Continental System and this policy aimed to eliminate the threat from the British by closing French-controlled territory to foreign trade. Frances population and agricultural capacity far outstripped that of the British Isles, Napoleon expected that cutting Britain off from the European mainland would end its economic hegemony. The Spanish uprising in 1808 at last permitted Britain to gain a foothold on the Continent, after Napoleons surrender and exile to the island of Elba, peace appeared to have returned. The Allies united and the armies of Wellington and Blucher defeated Napoleon once, simultaneous with the Napoleonic Wars, trade disputes, arming hostile Indians and British impressment of American sailors led to the War of 1812 with the United States. The war was little noticed in Britain, which could devote few resources to the conflict until the fall of Napoleon in 1814, American frigates inflicted a series of defeats on the Royal Navy, which was short on manpower due to the conflict in Europe
5.
Four Courts
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The Four Courts is Irelands main courts building, located on Inns Quay in Dublin. The Four Courts are the location of the Supreme Court, the High Court, until 2010 the building also housed the Central Criminal Court. Work based on the design of Thomas Cooley for the Public Records Office of Ireland, 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 Kings Inns. The building originally housed the four courts of Chancery, Kings Bench, Exchequer and Common Pleas, 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. 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, the Four Courts and surrounding areas were held by Commandant Ned Dalys 1st Battalion during the Easter Rising in 1916. Some of the most intense fighting of Easter Week took place in the Church Street/North King Street/North Brunswick Street area, at the end of the week the Four Courts building itself became the headquarters of the 1st Battalion. On 14 April 1922 the courts complex was occupied by forces opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, in the process of the bombardment the historic building was destroyed. The west wing of the building was obliterated in a huge explosion, nearly a thousand years of archives were destroyed by this. They suggest that the explosion was caused by the detonation of their ammunition store during the fighting. For a decade, the old system, then the new Free State courts system, were based in the old viceregal apartments in Dublin Castle. In 1932, a rebuilt and remodelled Four Courts was opened, two side wings were rebuilt further from the river to undo the problem caused by excessively narrow footpaths outside the building. However, that change, and the removal of chimney-stacks, has removed some of the architectural unity, in the early 1990s, the then Chief Justice suggested building a new purpose-built building to house the Supreme Court, leaving the other courts in situ. For the present, however, the Supreme Court remains in the Four Courts, prior to 2010 both civil and serious trials were heard in the Four Courts which was also the location for the Court of Criminal Appeal. With the opening of a new criminal courts complex in January 2010 – the Criminal Courts of Justice beside the Phoenix Park – all criminal trials were transferred there, the Four Courts remaining in use for civil matters. The Court of Criminal Appeal also moved to the new building, Courts of the Republic of Ireland Law of the Republic of Ireland Four Courts web tour Courts Service of Ireland The Bar Council The National Archives of Ireland
6.
Parliament House, Dublin
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Parliament House in Dublin, Ireland, was home to the Parliament of Ireland, and now houses the Bank of Ireland. It is located at College Green, construction started in 1729 and it was the worlds first purpose-built two-chamber parliament house. The current parliament building is Leinster House, most famously, the legal documentation facilitating the Plantation of Ulster had been signed in the house on 16 November 1612. Chichester House was in a state, allegedly haunted and unfit for parliamentary use. In 1727 parliament voted to spend £6,000 on the building of a new building on the site and it was to be the first purpose-built two-chamber parliament building in the world. While building was begun, Parliament moved into the Blue Coat Hospital on Dublins Northside, the foundation stone for the new building was laid on 3 February 1729 by Thomas Wyndham, 1st Baron Wyndham, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Pearces design for the new Parliament House was revolutionary, the building was effectively semi-circular in shape, occupying nearly 6,000 m² of ground. Unlike Chichester House, which was set far back from Hoggen Green, the principal entrance consisted of a colonnade of Ionic columns extending around three sides of the entrance quadrangle, forming a letter E. Three statues, representing Hibernia, Fidelity and Commerce stood above the portico, over the main entrance, the royal coat of arms were cut in stone. The building itself underwent extensions by the architect James Gandon, as Pearce had died young, Gandon was responsible for three of Dublins finest buildings, the Custom House, the Four Courts and the Kings Inns. Between 1785 and 1789 he added a new entrance at the east of the building, facing onto Westmoreland Street. Over this, three statues by Edward Smyth were placed, representing Fortitude, Justice and Liberty, a curved wall joined the Pearce entrance to Gandons extension. This did not mark the exterior of the building but masked the uneven joins of some of the extension, as shown in the view at the bottom of this page. The wall, built of granite with inset alcoves, although an instantly recognisable aspect of the building today, bears little resemblance to the building as it was in its parliamentary days. When the Bank of Ireland took over the building, it created an architectural unity by replacing this set of Ionic columns by a curved wall similar to that built on the east side by Gandon. Ionic columns were added to both curved walls, giving the extensions an architectural and visual unity that had been lacking and producing the buildings exterior as it is today. The interior of the house contained one unusual and highly symbolic feature, however, in the new Irish Houses of Parliament the House of Commons was given pride of place, with its octagonal parliamentary chamber located in the centre of the building. In contrast, the smaller House of Lords was given a position nearby
7.
Act of Union 1800
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The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with effect from 1 January 1801. Both Acts, though amended, still remain in force in the United Kingdom. Since the 12th century, the King of England had been technical overlord of the Lordship of Ireland, both the Kingdoms of Ireland and England later came into personal union with that of Scotland upon the Union of the Crowns in 1603. In 1707, the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland were united into a single kingdom, each Act had to be passed in both the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland. The Parliament of Ireland had recently gained a measure of legislative independence under the Constitution of 1782. Many members of the Irish Parliament jealously guarded this autonomy and a motion for union was rejected in 1799. Only Anglicans were permitted to become members of the Parliament of Ireland, though the majority of the Irish population were Roman Catholic. In 1793 Roman Catholics regained the right to vote if they owned or rented property worth £2 p. a. The Catholic hierarchy was strongly in favour of union, hoping for rapid emancipation, also the Irish and British parliaments, when creating a regency during King George IIIs madness, gave the Prince Regent different powers. These considerations led Great Britain to decide to attempt merger of the two kingdoms and their parliaments, whereas the first attempt had been defeated in the Irish House of Commons by 109 votes against to 104 for, the second vote in 1800 produced a result of 158 to 115. The Acts of Union were two complementary Acts, namely, The Union with Ireland Act 1800, an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, and The Act of Union 1800, an Act of the Parliament of Ireland. They were passed on 2 July 1800 and 1 August 1800 respectively and they ratified eight articles which had been previously agreed by the British and Irish Parliaments, Articles I–IV dealt with the political aspects of the Union. The other 84 Irish parliamentary boroughs were disfranchised, all were pocket boroughs, article VI created a customs union, with the exception that customs duties on certain British and Irish goods passing between the two countries would remain for 10 years. Article VII stated that Ireland would have to contribute two-seventeenths towards the expenditure of the United Kingdom, the figure was a ratio of Irish to British foreign trade. Article VIII formalised the legal and judicial aspects of the Union, part of the attraction of the Union for many Irish Catholics was the promise of Catholic Emancipation, allowing Roman Catholic MPs, who had not been allowed in the Irish Parliament. This was however blocked by King George III who argued that emancipating Roman Catholics would breach his Coronation Oath, in the first Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the members of the House of Commons were not elected afresh. The flag, created as a consequence of the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1800, called the Union Flag, it combined the flags of St Georges Cross and the St Andrews Saltire of Scotland with the St Patricks Saltire to represent Ireland. The Irish Constitutional Tradition, Responsible Government and Modern Ireland 1782–1992, gill & Macmillan, Dublin, Ireland,2003
