1.
Custom house
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A custom house or customs house was a building housing the offices for the government officials who processed the paperwork associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country. Customs officials also collected customs duty on imported goods, the custom house was typically located in a seaport or in a city on a major river, with access to the ocean. These cities acted as a port of entry into a country, the government stationed officials at such locations to collect taxes and regulate commerce. Due to advances in information systems, the increased volume of international trade, and the introduction of air travel. There are many examples of buildings around the world that were used as custom houses but have since been converted for other uses. In the United Kingdom, since 1386, the custom house has been in use over the term customs house. This was after a Custom House was erected at Wool Wharf in Tower Ward, to contain just the officials of the Great Custom on Wool, the singular form was, used even though in later years the Custom House was the location of other Customs officials as well
2.
Local government
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Local government is a form of public administration which, in a majority of contexts, exists as the lowest tier of administration within a given state. Local governments generally act within powers delegated to them by legislation or directives of the level of government. The question of autonomy is a key question of public administration. The institutions of government vary greatly between countries, and even where similar arrangements exist, the terminology often varies. Local government traditionally had limited power in Egypts highly centralized state, under the central government were twenty-six governorates. These were subdivided into districts and villages or towns, at each level, there was a governing structure that combined representative councils and government-appointed executive organs headed by governors, district officers, and mayors, respectively. Governors were appointed by the president, and they, in turn, the coercive backbone of the state apparatus ran downward from the Ministry of Interior through the governors executive organs to the district police station and the village headman. The extension of officials into the countryside permitted the regime to bring development, State penetration did not retreat under Sadat and Mubarak. The earlier effort to mobilize peasants and deliver services disappeared as the party and cooperative withered. The local power of the old families and the headmen revived, the district police station balanced the notables, and the system of local government integrated them into the regime. Sadat took several measures to decentralize power to the provinces and towns, governors acquired more authority under Law Number 43 of 1979, which reduced the administrative and budgetary controls of the central government over the provinces. The elected councils acquired, at least formally, the right to approve or disapprove the local budget, in an effort to reduce local demands on the central treasury, local government was given wider powers to raise local taxes. But local representative councils became vehicles of pressure for government spending, under Mubarak decentralization and local autonomy became more of a reality, and local policies often reflected special local conditions. Thus, officials in Upper Egypt often bowed to the powerful Islamic movement there, in recent years, Mali has undertaken an ambitious decentralization program, which involves the capital district of Bamako, seven regions subdivided into 46 cercles, and 682 rural community districts. The state retains a role in administrative and fiscal matters, and it provides technical support, coordination. Opportunities for direct participation, and increased local responsibility for development have been improved. In August–September 1998, elections were held for urban council members, in May/June 1999, citizens of the communes elected their communal council members for the first time. Female voter turnout was about 70% of the total, and observers considered the process open, eventually, the cercles will be reinstituted with a legal and financial basis of their own
3.
Palladian architecture
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Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from and inspired by the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio. That which is recognised as Palladian architecture today is an evolution of Palladios original concepts, Palladios work was strongly based on the symmetry, perspective and values of the formal classical temple architecture of the Ancient Greeks and Romans. From the 17th century Palladios interpretation of classical architecture was adapted as the style known as Palladianism. It continued to develop until the end of the 18th century, Palladianism became popular briefly in Britain during the mid-17th century, but its flowering was cut short by the onset of the Civil War and the imposition of austerity which followed. In the early 18th century it returned to fashion, not only in England but also, the style continued to be popular in Europe throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, where it was frequently employed in the design of public and municipal buildings. However, as a style it has continued to be popular and to evolve, its pediments, symmetry. Buildings entirely designed by Palladio are all in Venice and the Veneto, with an especially rich grouping of palazzi in Vicenza and they include villas, and churches such as Redentore in Venice. Palladio always designed his villas with reference to their setting, if on a hill, such as Villa Capra, facades were frequently designed to be of equal value so that occupants could have fine views in all directions. Also, in cases, porticos were built on all sides so that occupants could fully appreciate the countryside while being protected from the sun. Palladio sometimes used a loggia as an alternative to the portico and this can most simply be described as a recessed portico, or an internal single storey room, with pierced walls that are open to the elements. Occasionally a loggia would be placed at floor level over the top of a loggia below. Loggias were sometimes given significance in a facade by being surmounted by a pediment, Villa Godi has as its focal point a loggia rather than a portico, plus loggias terminating each end of the main building. Palladio would often model his villa elevations on Roman temple facades, the temple influence, often in a cruciform design, later became a trademark of his work. Palladian villas are built with three floors, a rusticated basement or ground floor, containing the service and minor rooms. The proportions of each room within the villa were calculated on simple mathematical ratios like 3,4 and 4,5, earlier architects had used these formulas for balancing a single symmetrical facade, however, Palladios designs related to the whole, usually square, villa. Palladio deeply considered the purpose of his villas as both farmhouses and palatial weekend retreats for wealthy merchant owners. These symmetrical temple-like houses often have symmetrical, but low, wings sweeping away from them to accommodate horses, farm animals. The wings, sometimes detached and connected to the villa by colonnades, were designed not only to be functional but also to complement, the Palladian, Serlian, or Venetian window features largely in Palladios work and is almost a trademark of his early career
4.
Neoclassical architecture
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Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century. In its purest form, it is a style derived from the architecture of classical antiquity, the Vitruvian principles. In form, Neoclassical architecture emphasizes the wall rather than chiaroscuro, Neoclassical architecture is still designed today, but may be labelled New Classical Architecture for contemporary buildings. In Central and Eastern Europe, the style is referred to as Classicism. Many early 19th-century neoclassical architects were influenced by the drawings and projects of Étienne-Louis Boullée, the many graphite drawings of Boullée and his students depict spare geometrical architecture that emulates the eternality of the universe. There are links between Boullées ideas and Edmund Burkes conception of the sublime, the baroque style had never truly been to the English taste. The most popular was the four-volume Vitruvius Britannicus by Colen Campbell, the book contained architectural prints of famous British buildings that had been inspired by the great architects from Vitruvius to Palladio. At first the book featured the work of Inigo Jones. Palladian architecture became well established in 18th-century Britain, at the forefront of the new school of design was the aristocratic architect earl, Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, in 1729, he and William Kent, designed Chiswick House. This House was a reinterpretation of Palladios Villa Capra, but purified of 16th century elements and this severe lack of ornamentation was to be a feature of the Palladianism. In 1734 William Kent and Lord Burlington designed one of Englands finest examples of Palladian architecture with Holkham Hall in Norfolk, the main block of this house followed Palladios dictates quite closely, but Palladios low, often detached, wings of farm buildings were elevated in significance. This classicising vein was also detectable, to a degree, in the Late Baroque architecture in Paris. This shift was even visible in Rome at the redesigned façade for S, by the mid 18th century, the movement broadened to incorporate a greater range of Classical influences, including those from Ancient Greece. The shift to neoclassical architecture is conventionally dated to the 1750s, in France, the movement was propelled by a generation of French art students trained in Rome, and was influenced by the writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann. The style was adopted by progressive circles in other countries such as Sweden. A second neoclassic wave, more severe, more studied and more consciously archaeological, is associated with the height of the Napoleonic Empire, in France, the first phase of neoclassicism was expressed in the Louis XVI style, and the second in the styles called Directoire or Empire. The Scottish architect Charles Cameron created palatial Italianate interiors for the German-born Catherine II the Great in St. Petersburg, indoors, neoclassicism made a discovery of the genuine classic interior, inspired by the rediscoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum. These had begun in the late 1740s, but only achieved an audience in the 1760s
5.
Dublin
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Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Dublin is in the province of Leinster on Irelands east coast, the city has an urban area population of 1,345,402. The population of the Greater Dublin Area, as of 2016, was 1,904,806 people, founded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin became Irelands principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800, following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland. Dublin is administered by a City Council, the city is listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha-, which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world. It is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration, economy, the name Dublin comes from the Irish word Dubhlinn, early Classical Irish Dubhlind/Duibhlind, dubh /d̪uβ/, alt. /d̪uw/, alt /d̪u, / meaning black, dark, and lind /lʲiɲ pool and this tidal pool was located where the River Poddle entered the Liffey, on the site of the castle gardens at the rear of Dublin Castle. In Modern Irish the name is Duibhlinn, and Irish rhymes from Dublin County show that in Dublin Leinster Irish it was pronounced Duílinn /d̪ˠi, other localities in Ireland also bear the name Duibhlinn, variously anglicized as Devlin, Divlin and Difflin. Historically, scribes using the Gaelic script wrote bh with a dot over the b and those without knowledge of Irish omitted the dot, spelling the name as Dublin. Variations on the name are found in traditionally Irish-speaking areas of Scotland, such as An Linne Dhubh. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. Baile Átha Cliath, meaning town of the ford, is the common name for the city in modern Irish. Áth Cliath is a name referring to a fording point of the River Liffey near Father Mathew Bridge. Baile Átha Cliath was an early Christian monastery, believed to have been in the area of Aungier Street, there are other towns of the same name, such as Àth Cliath in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which is Anglicised as Hurlford. Although the area of Dublin Bay has been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times and he called the settlement Eblana polis. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. The subsequent Scandinavian settlement centred on the River Poddle, a tributary of the Liffey in an area now known as Wood Quay, the Dubhlinn was a small lake used to moor ships, the Poddle connected the lake with the Liffey. This lake was covered during the early 18th century as the city grew, the Dubhlinn lay where the Castle Garden is now located, opposite the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle
6.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
7.
Pound sterling
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It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have called the pound. At various times, the sterling was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold. The pound sterling is the worlds oldest currency still in use, the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey produce their own local issues of sterling, the Guernsey pound and the Jersey pound. The pound sterling is also used in the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the Bank of England is the central bank for the pound sterling, issuing its own coins and banknotes, and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling is the fourth most-traded currency in the exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro. Together with those three currencies it forms the basket of currencies which calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights, Sterling is also the third most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The full, official name, pound sterling, is used mainly in formal contexts, otherwise the term pound is normally used. The abbreviations ster. or stg. are sometimes used, the term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. The pound sterling is also referred to as cable amongst forex traders, the origins of this term are attributed to the fact that in the 1800s, the dollar/pound sterling exchange rate was transmitted via transatlantic cable. Forex brokers are sometimes referred to as cable dealers, as another established source notes, the compound expression was then derived, silver coins known as sterlings were issued in the Saxon kingdoms,240 of them being minted from a pound of silver. Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in pounds of sterlings, in 1260, Henry III granted them a charter of protection. And because the Leagues money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the Easterlings, and land for their Kontor, the Steelyard of London, which by the 1340s was also called Easterlings Hall, or Esterlingeshalle. For further discussion of the etymology of sterling, see sterling silver, the currency sign for the pound sign is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar, though a version with a double cross-bar is also sometimes seen. The ISO4217 currency code is GBP, occasionally, the abbreviation UKP is used but this is non-standard because the ISO3166 country code for the United Kingdom is GB. The Crown dependencies use their own codes, GGP, JEP, stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX, when listing stock prices. A common slang term for the pound sterling or pound is quid, since decimalisation in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. The symbol for the penny is p, hence an amount such as 50p properly pronounced fifty pence is more colloquially, quite often, pronounced fifty pee /fɪfti, pi and this also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts during the changeover to the decimal system
8.
Government of Ireland
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The Government of Ireland is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in the Republic of Ireland. The structure of the Government of Ireland is regulated fundamentally by the Constitution of Ireland, the Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach. The deputy prime minister is called the Tánaiste, and is nominated by the Taoiseach from among the members of the Government, the Government must consist of between seven and fifteen members, according to the Constitution of Ireland. Every member of the Government must be a member of the parliament of Ireland, no more than two members of the Government may be members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas. Therefore, all members of the Government must be members of Dáil Éireann. The Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance must be members of the Dáil, the 7 to 15 Members of Government are generally referred to as The Cabinet. The Taoiseach is nominated by Dáil Éireann, the house of the Oireachtas. Other members of the Government are nominated by the Taoiseach, approved by Dáil Éireann, Members of the government are often styled cabinet ministers, as opposed to Ministers of State, called junior ministers, who are not in the cabinet. A minister is usually in charge of a Department of State, occasionally a minister without portfolio is appointed who is a minister and a member of the Government but not a Minister of the Government. Non members have no voting rights at Cabinet but may participate fully and normally receive circulated Cabinet Papers on the same basis as a full member of Government. The Government is advised by the Attorney General, who is not formally a member of the Government, the Chief Whip may attend meetings of the cabinet, but is not a member of the Government. In addition, the Government can choose other Ministers of State and this person is informally known as a Super Junior Minister. The current Super Junior Ministers are Paul Kehoe and Finian McGrath, Office of the President The Office of President was established by The Constitution. The President is elected directly by the people, the term of office is 7 years and a President may not serve more than 2 terms. The President must reside in or near Dublin, st. Patrick’s Hall, Dublin Castle, is the venue for Inauguration ceremonies, at which each President takes an oath as provided in the Constitution. The President represents all the people when undertaking official engagements at home, the President is Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces. There have been nine different holders of the office – Michael D. Higgins is the current President. The formal powers, the President, who does not have an executive or policy role, exercises them on the advice of the Government. Additional functions can be conferred on the President by law, a special Commission acts whenever the President is absent
9.
James Gandon
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James Gandon is today recognised as one of the leading architects to have worked in Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century. His better known works include The Custom House, the Four Courts, Kings Inns in Dublin, Gandon was an English architect, born on 20 February 1742 in New Bond Street, London, at the house of his grandfather Peter Gandon, a French Huguenot refugee. He was the son of Peter Gandon, a gunmaker. From 1749 he was educated at Shipleys Drawing Academy where he studied the classics, mathematics, arts, on leaving the drawing academy he was articled to study architecture in the office of Sir William Chambers. Chambers was an advocate of the evolution of Palladian architecture. However, it was Chamberss palladian and neoclassical concepts which most influenced the young Gandon, in 1765, Gandon left William Chambers to begin practice on his own. His first commission was on Sir Samuel Helliers estate at the Wodehouse, Gandons new practice, whilst successful, always remained small. In about 1769 he entered an competition to design the new Royal Exchange in Dublin. The plan eventually chosen was by Thomas Cooley, however, Gandons design came second and brought him to the attention of the politicians who were overseeing the large-scale redevelopment of Dublin, one of the largest cities in Europe at the time. During the following years in England, Gandon was responsible for the design of the County Hall in Nottingham, during his English career he was awarded the Gold medal for architecture by the Royal Academy, London in 1768. Thomas Cooley, the architect on that project, had died. The project was completed at a cost of £200,000. This conspicuous commission proved to be the point in Gandons career and Dublin was to become Gandons home. He took a house in Mecklenburgh Street, that he might be near the residence of John Beresford, the newly formed Wide Streets Commission employed Gandon to design a new aristocratic enclave in the vicinity of Mountjoy Square and Gardiner Street. The new classical terraces of large residences became the Town houses of members of the newly built, Gandon also designed Carlisle Bridge over the River Liffey to join the north and south areas of the city. Gandons least well known building in Dublin is his Royal Military Infirmary of 1787 on Infirmary Road and he worked for the Wide Street Commissioners and designed the facades for the shops at ground floor of DOlier Street, Burgh Quay and some surrounding streets. This building is now the Bank of Ireland and his work in Ireland was not confined to Dublin, nor to civic and municipal commissions. J. Woodmason of 1794, and Sandymount Park for the painter William Ashford, in County Laois, he designed Emo Court, County Laois in 1790–96 for the Earl of Portarlington, and also Coolbanagher Church of Ireland Church just outside Emo village
10.
Irish language
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Irish, also referred to as Gaelic or Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people. Irish enjoys constitutional status as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland and it is also among the official languages of the European Union. The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island of Ireland and it has the oldest vernacular literature in Western Europe. The fate of the language was influenced by the power of the English state in Ireland. Elizabethan officials viewed the use of Irish unfavourably, as being a threat to all things English in Ireland and its decline began under English rule in the 17th century. In the latter part of the 19th century, there was a decrease in the number of speakers. Irish-speaking areas were hit especially hard, by the end of British rule, the language was spoken by less than 15% of the national population. Since then, Irish speakers have been in the minority, efforts have been made by the state, individuals and organisations to preserve, promote and revive the language, but with mixed results. Around the turn of the 21st century, estimates of native speakers ranged from 20,000 to 80,000 people. In the 2011 Census, these numbers had increased to 94,000 and 1.3 million, there are several thousand Irish speakers in Northern Ireland. It has been estimated that the active Irish-language scene probably comprises 5 to 10 per cent of Irelands population, there has been a significant increase in the number of urban Irish speakers, particularly in Dublin. In Gaeltacht areas, however, there has been a decline of the use of Irish. Údarás na Gaeltachta predicted that, by 2025, Irish will no longer be the language in any of the designated Gaeltacht areas. Survey data suggest that most Irish people think highly of Irish as a marker of identity. It has also argued that newer urban groups of Irish speakers are a disruptive force in this respect. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil the name of the language is Gaeilge, before the spelling reform of 1948, this form was spelled Gaedhilge, originally this was the genitive of Gaedhealg, the form used in Classical Irish. Older spellings of this include Gaoidhealg in Classical Irish and Goídelc in Old Irish, the modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent dh in the middle of Gaedhilge, whereas Goidelic languages, used to refer to the language family including Irish, comes from Old Irish
11.
Republic of Ireland
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Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the part of the island. The state shares its land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint Georges Channel to the south-east, and it is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President, the state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, after joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth. The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by a financial crisis that began in 2008. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again quickly ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index and it also performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a member of the Council of Europe. The 1922 state, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, was styled, the Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, provides that the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland. Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 states, It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland. The 1948 Act does not name the state as Republic of Ireland, because to have done so would have put it in conflict with the Constitution. The government of the United Kingdom used the name Eire, and, from 1949, Republic of Ireland, for the state, as well as Ireland, Éire or the Republic of Ireland, the state is also referred to as the Republic, Southern Ireland or the South. In an Irish republican context it is referred to as the Free State or the 26 Counties. From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801, until 6 December 1922, during the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the islands population of over 8 million fell by 30%
12.
River Liffey
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The River Liffey is a river in Ireland, which flows through the centre of Dublin. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the River Poddle, the river supplies much of Dublins water and a range of recreational opportunities. The river was previously named An Ruirthech, meaning fast runner, the word Liphe referred originally to the name of the plain through which the river ran, but eventually came to refer to the river itself. It was also known as the Anna Liffey, possibly from an anglicisation of Abhainn na Life, James Joyce personified the river as Anna Livia Plurabelle in Finnegans Wake. See Annals of Inisfallen for the year 808, AI808.2 A defeat by the Laigin on Áed, son of Niall, the Liffey rises in the Liffey Head Bog between Kippure and Tonduff in the Wicklow Mountains, forming from many streamlets at Sally Gap. It crosses from County Wicklow into County Kildare at Poulaphouca and from County Kildare into County Dublin at Leixlip, the catchment area of the Liffey is 1,256 km2. The long term average flow rate of the river is 18.0 m3/s, the Liffey system is a substantial one, including dozens of smaller rivers and streams. Early tributaries include the Athdown Brook, Shankill River, Ballylow Brook, Brittas River and Woodend Brook, downstream of Poulaphouca are the Lemonstown Stream, Kilcullen Stream and Pinkeen Stream, followed by the Painestown River, Rye Water, and the Griffeen River. Within Dublin are the various Phoenix Park streams on the bank, interspersed with right bank tributaries such as the Glenaulin Stream. In earlier times, the River Tolka was also arguably a tributary of the Liffey, or at least shared its mouth, there are dams for three ESB hydroelectric power stations along the river, at Poulaphouca, Golden Falls and Leixlip. Major reservoir facilities also exist at Poulaphouca, the Liffey does not feature natural lakes, and has few islands. Significant falls at Poulaphouca and at Golden Falls were flooded by reservoir construction, there remain areas of rapids, notably as the river approaches Dublin city. Towns along the river include Ballymore Eustace, Athgarvan, Kilcullen, Newbridge, Caragh, Clane, Celbridge, Leixlip, the River Liffey in Dublin city has been used for many centuries for trade, from the Viking beginnings of the city up to recent times. It is connected to the River Shannon via the Grand Canal, around 60% of the Liffeys flow is abstracted for drinking water and to supply industry. Much of this makes its way back into the river after purification in wastewater treatment plants, a popular myth is that Liffey water is used to brew Guinness but this is not true as Guinness uses water piped from the Wicklow mountains. ESB hydroelectric power stations exist along the river, at Poulaphouca, Golden Falls and Leixlip, a well-known sight on the Liffey up to the 1990s, the Lady Patricia and Miranda Guinness cargo ships were used to export Guinness from the St. Jamess Gate Brewery. In recent years, the regular traffic on the river within the city is the Liffey Voyage water tour bus service. Downstream of the East-Link bridge, the river is mainly used for commercial and ferry traffic
13.
Dublin quays
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The Dublin quays refers to the two roadways and quays that run along the north and south banks of the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland. The stretches of the two streets have several different names, however all but three of the names share the same Quay designation. The quays have played an important part in Dublins history, until 2012, much of the southern roadway and a portion of the north roadway was part of the N4 road while another portion of the north roadway was part of the N1 road. Both roadways run approximately 4.3 km from Sean Heuston Bridge in the west, the eastern end of the north roadway is at East-Link Bridge while the south roadway turns southward at the Grand Canal. A majority of the roadways in the city centre are one-way with the roadway being eastward. Vikings were among the first settlers in Dublin, and many Viking artifacts were found at what is now Wood Quay, the quays were first developed during the time of King John in the early 13th century when the monarch licensed citizens to erect buildings on the River Liffey. They became the center of the Irish shipping trade until the 1800s when the river in this section was considered too shallow for the more heavy ships. The Custom House, one of Dublins major landmarks on Custom House Quay, was completed in 1791, the quay takes its namesake from the building. Later, the Four Courts on Inns Quay was completed in 1802 and is home to the Supreme Court of Ireland. Both were designed by noted architect James Gandon, Burgh Quay is named after Elizabeth Burgh, wife of Anthony Foster whose son was Rt. Hon. John Foster, last speaker of the Irish House of Commons, Burgh Quay was once the site of the Tivoli Theatre. The Corn Exchange Building, designed by George Halpin in 1815, was approved by the Wide Streets Commission in 1816 and its granite facade still remains on Burgh Quay. Shipping came as far upstream as Burgh Quay until 1879 when Butt Bridge was constructed, a number of the buildings on Burgh Quay still retain remnants of the shopfronts designed for the Wide Streets commissioners. The 20th century saw much development to the quays, one controversial development was at Wood Quay by the Dublin Corporation in the late 1970s, when there were many archeological Viking finds. This led to a public and unsuccessful campaign to halt the development. In 2006, local politicians proposed renaming some of the quays, MEP Gay Mitchell proposed renaming Georges Quay or Victoria Quay to Joyce Quay or Behan Quay, for the Irish writers James Joyce and Brendan Behan. A number of artists have found inspiration from the quays, Irish novelist James Joyce had many of his story lines take place at the Dublin quays, including Eveline and An Encounter. Joyce biographer Michael H. Begnal wrote, Joyce associated the Liffey Quays with the desire for escape, artist Jack Butler Yeats painted Dublin Quays in 1916
14.
Talbot Memorial Bridge
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The Talbot Memorial Bridge is a road bridge spanning the River Liffey in Dublin city centre in the Republic of Ireland. Completed in 1978, it is 22 metres wide, and was designed by De Leuw, Chadwick, the bridge links Memorial Road on the north bank of the river to Moss Street on the south bank. Memorial Road was named in commemoration of those members of the Dublin Brigade who died during the Irish War of Independence - notably those who died in a raid on the nearby Custom House, the Talbot reference in the bridges name is in remembrance of Matt Talbot. Talbot was a campaigner from Dublins Northside, a statue of whom stands at the south end of the bridge
15.
John Beresford (statesman)
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John Beresford PC, PC was an Irish statesman. Beresford was a son of Sir Marcus Beresford, who, having married Catherine, sole heiress of James Power. After the death of the earl in 1763, Beresfords mother successfully asserted her claim suo jure to the barony of La Poer, John Beresford thus inherited powerful family connections. He was educated at Kilkenny College, Trinity College, Dublin and was called to the Irish bar, Beresford entered the Irish House of Commons as member for Waterford County in 1761. In 1768,1783,1789 and finally in 1798, he also for Coleraine. His industry, added to the influence of his family, procured his admission to the Privy Council of Ireland in 1768, in 1780 he became first commissioner of revenue, a position which gave him powerful influence in the Irish administration. He introduced some reforms in the machinery of taxation, and he was the author of many improvements in the architecture of the public buildings. FitzWilliam had been encouraged in this course of action by William Ponsonby, the recall of FitzWilliam, which was followed by such momentous consequences in the history of Ireland, was, as the viceroy himself believed, mainly due to Beresfords dismissal. There had been a misunderstanding on the point between Pitt and FitzWilliam, Pitt denied all recollection of any such communication, and on the contrary described the dismissal as an open breach of the most solemn promise. In a letter to Lord Carlisle, justifying his action, FitzWilliam mentioned that malversation had been imputed to Beresford, Beresford sent a challenge to FitzWilliam, but the combatants were interrupted on the field and FitzWilliam then made an apology. When The Earl Camden replaced FitzWilliam in the viceroyalty in March 1795, on the eve of the rebellion in 1798 his letters to Lord Auckland gave an alarming description of the condition of Ireland and he counselled strong measures of repression. When first consulted by Pitt on the question of the union Beresford appears to have disliked the idea and he had large families by both marriages. His sons included Marcus Beresford, George Beresford and John Claudius Beresford and he died near Derry on 5 November 1805. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Beresford. Dublin, M. H. Gill & son, wikisource William Beresford, The Correspondence of the Right Hon. John Beresford Hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by John Beresford
16.
Heraldry
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The beauty and pageantry of heraldic designs allowed them to survive the gradual abandonment of armour on the battlefield during the seventeenth century. Heraldry has been described poetically as the handmaid of history, the shorthand of history, in modern times, heraldry is used by individuals, public and private organizations, corporations, cities, towns, and regions to symbolize their heritage, achievements, and aspirations. Various symbols have been used to represent individuals or groups for thousands of years, similar emblems and devices are found in ancient Mesopotamian art of the same period, and the precursors of heraldic beasts such as the griffin can also be found. In the Bible, the Book of Numbers refers to the standards and ensigns of the children of Israel, the Greek and Latin writers frequently describe the shields and symbols of various heroes, and units of the Roman army were sometimes identified by distinctive markings on their shields. The Book of Saint Albans, compiled in 1486, declares that Christ himself was a gentleman of coat armour, the medieval heralds also devised arms for various knights and lords from history and literature. Notable examples include the toads attributed to Pharamond, the cross and martlets of Edward the Confessor, and the arms attributed to the Nine Worthies. These too are now regarded as an invention, rather than evidence of the antiquity of heraldry. The development of the modern heraldic language cannot be attributed to an individual, time. Yet no individual is depicted twice bearing the arms, nor are any of the descendants of the various persons depicted known to have borne devices resembling those in the tapestry. A Spanish manuscript from 1109 describes both plain and decorated shields, none of which appears to have been heraldic, in England, from the time of the Norman conquest, official documents had to be sealed. A notable example of an armorial seal is attached to a charter granted by Philip I, Count of Flanders. Seals from the part of the eleventh and early twelfth centuries show no evidence of heraldic symbolism. One of the earliest known examples of armory as it came to be practiced can be seen on the tomb of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. An enamel, probably commissioned by Geoffreys widow between 1155 and 1160, depicts him carrying a shield decorated with six golden lions rampant. He wears a helmet adorned with another lion, and his cloak is lined in vair. A medieval chronicle states that Geoffrey was given a shield of this description when he was knighted by his father-in-law, Henry I, in 1128, but this account probably dates to about 1175. Since Henry was the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, it seems reasonable to suppose that the adoption of lions as an emblem by Henry or his sons might have been inspired by Geoffreys shield. Richard is also credited with having originated the English crest of a lion statant and it is from this garment that the phrase coat of arms is derived
17.
Edward Smyth (sculptor)
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Edward Smyth was an Irish sculptor. The son of a stone-cutter, Smyth was born in Meath and he was employed by Henry Darley, who was in turn an employee of James Gandon. By this connection Smyth met Gandon who was impressed with his work. Gandon employed Smyth as sculptor to the Custom House as well as for all of his Dublin projects and these included the Four Courts, House of Lords, and Kings Inns. Smyth in 1787 completed statues to his own design above the Westmoreland St entrance of the Irish Houses of Parliament, in 1807 he carved the statues above the main entrance of the same building on College Green. These represent Hibernia flanked by Commerce and Fidelity, Smyth was also employed by the architect Francis Johnston. He carved the heads on the exterior of Johnstons Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle until his death, Smyth was the first Master of the Dublin Society School of Modeling and sculpture. He died suddenly on 2 August 1812, at his home at 36 Montgomery Street in Dublin and his son, John Smyth, was also a sculptor and succeeded him as Master of Modeling at the Dublin School. Several of his works were renovated in the 1940s by his great-grandson, George Smyth
18.
Irish War of Independence
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The Irish War of Independence or Anglo-Irish War or the Tan War was a guerrilla war fought from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army and the British security forces in Ireland. It was an escalation of the Irish revolutionary period into armed conflict, in the December 1918 election, the Irish republican party Sinn Féin won a landslide victory in Ireland. On 21 January 1919 they formed a government and declared independence from Britain. Later that day, two members of the British-organized armed police force, the Royal Irish Constabulary, were dead in County Tipperary by IRA members acting on their own initiative. This is often seen as the beginning of the conflict, for much of 1919, IRA activity primarily involved capturing weapons and freeing republican prisoners. In September that year the British government outlawed the Dáil and Sinn Féin, the IRA began ambushing RIC and British Army patrols, attacking their barracks and forcing isolated barracks to be abandoned. The British government bolstered the RIC with recruits from Britain—the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries—who became notorious for ill-discipline, the conflict as a result is often referred to as the Black and Tan War or simply the Tan War. While around 300 people had killed in the conflict up to late 1920. A week later, seventeen Auxiliaries were killed by the IRA in an ambush at Kilmichael in County Cork, the British government declared martial law in much of southern Ireland. The centre of Cork City was burnt out by British forces in December 1920, violence continued to escalate over the next seven months, when 1,000 people were killed and 4,500 republicans were interned. The fighting was concentrated in Munster, Dublin and Belfast. These three locations saw over 75% of the conflicts fatalities, violence in Ulster, especially Belfast, was notable for its sectarian character and its high number of Catholic civilian victims. Both sides agreed to a truce on 11 July 1921, the post-ceasefire talks led to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921. However, six counties remained within the United Kingdom. After the ceasefire, political and sectarian violence between republicans and loyalists continued in Northern Ireland for many months, in June 1922, disagreement among republicans over the Anglo-Irish Treaty led to an eleven-month civil war. The Irish Free State awarded 62,868 medals for service during the War of Independence, since the 1880s, Irish nationalists in the Irish Parliamentary Party had been demanding Home Rule, or self-government, from Britain. Fringe organisations, such as Arthur Griffiths Sinn Féin instead argued for some form of Irish independence, in turn, nationalists formed their own paramilitary organisation, the Irish Volunteers. But a significant minority of the Irish Volunteers opposed Irelands involvement in the war, the Volunteer movement split, a majority leaving to form the National Volunteers under Redmond
19.
Burning of the Custom House
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The Custom House, Dublin was occupied and then burnt in an operation by the Irish Republican Army on 25 May 1921, during the Irish War of Independence. The operation, involving over 100 IRA volunteers, was a coup for the republicans. Five of its volunteers were killed and over 80 captured, the Irish War of Independence was a guerrilla campaign by the IRA in support of the Irish Republic declared in 1919 and entered its bloodiest phase in the first six months of 1921. In Dublin a total of 309 people were killed in the conflict, Dublin was garrisoned by over 10,000 British troops and 1,600 police including 400 men of the RIC Auxiliary Division. These were usually rapid and fleeting attacks using grenades and handguns, there were strict orders given to IRA units to avoid prolonged engagements with the better-armed British forces. For this reason it was decided to attack and burn the Custom House, michael Collins was against the attack but was overruled. In the early afternoon of 25 May 1921, roughly 120 non-uniformed IRA guerrillas or Volunteers began to gather around the Custom House in groups of twos and they belonged to the 2nd Battalion of the Dublin Brigade under Tom Ennis. Only a minority of these were experienced fighters and they were armed only with pistols. At 1pm, they rushed the Custom House and overpowered the police guard, a lorry pulled-up outside the building with tins of petrol and bales of cotton, which were then sprinkled throughout the building. The IRA Volunteers herded all the staff into the main hall, the caretaker of the building was shot dead when he tried to call the police. However, at about 1, 10pm a watching policeman notified British forces and 60 Auxiliaries in three lorries and a car quickly arrived on the scene. Four Auxiliaries were wounded in a gun battle with one of the IRA protection teams outside the building, the other company fired into the building with rifles and Lewis machine guns, exchanging fire with the IRA fighters inside. A number of IRA men and civilians were killed or injured by the Auxiliaries, as fighting raged outside, IRA volunteers inside the building were ordered to set it alight. The ammunition of the IRA Volunteers quickly ran out and the firefight ended within 30 minutes, some Volunteers were shot as they tried to run away. Tom Ennis, in command of the operation escaped but was hit twice in the leg, many others were arrested along with civilians as they came out of the now burning Custom House with their hands up. The Fire Brigade, which had been delayed from responding by other IRA companies in the city, British military forces composed of units from the Wiltshire Regiment arrived and took over the operation from the Auxiliaries at this point. A total of 111 people were arrested of whom 70–80 were IRA members, the Custom House burned for five days and was all but completely destroyed by the fire. With it were destroyed centuries of local government records
20.
Anglo-Irish Treaty
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It also provided Northern Ireland, which had been created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, an option to opt out of the Irish Free State, which it exercised. The agreement was signed in London on 6 December 1921, by representatives of the British government and by representatives of the Irish Republic including Michael Collins, the Irish representatives had plenipotentiary status acting on behalf of the Irish Republic, though the British government declined to recognise that status. As required by its terms, the agreement was ratified by a meeting of the elected to sit in the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. In reality, Dáil Éireann first debated then ratified the treaty, though the treaty was narrowly ratified, the split led to the Irish Civil War, which was won by the pro-treaty side. Among the treatys main clauses were that, Crown forces would withdraw from most of Ireland, Ireland was to become a self-governing dominion of the British Empire, a status shared by Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa. As with the dominions, the King would be the Head of State of the Irish Free State. Members of the new free states parliament would be required to take an Oath of Allegiance to the Irish Free State. A secondary part of the oath was to be faithful to His Majesty King George V, His heirs and successors by law, Northern Ireland would have the option of withdrawing from the Irish Free State within one month of the Treaty coming into effect. If Northern Ireland chose to withdraw, a Boundary Commission would be constituted to draw the boundary between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. Britain, for its own security, would continue to control a number of ports, known as the Treaty Ports. The Irish Free State would assume responsibility for a part of the United Kingdoms debt. The treaty would have superior status in Irish law, i. e. in the event of a conflict between it and the new 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State, the treaty would take precedence. The negotiators included, Providing Secretarial Assistance Robert Barton was the last surviving signatory and he died on 10 August 1975 at the age of 94. Notably, the Irish President Éamon de Valera did not attend, Robert Erskine Childers, the author of the Riddle of the Sands and former Clerk of the British House of Commons, served as one of the secretaries of the Irish delegation. Tom Jones was one of Lloyd Georges principal assistants, and described the negotiations in his book Whitehall Diary, Éamon de Valera sent the Irish plenipotentiaries to the 1921 negotiations in London with several draft treaties and secret instructions from his cabinet. In the meantime, de Valera had been elevated to President of the Republic on 26 August, primarily to be able to accredit plenipotentiaries for the negotiations and that was the basis of our proposals, and we cannot alter it. The status which you now claim in advance for your delegates is, in effect, I am prepared to meet your delegates as I met you in July, in the capacity of chosen spokesmen for your people, to discuss the association of Ireland with the British Commonwealth. On 7 October de Valera signed a letter of accreditation as President on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Ireland, but the letter was never requested by the British side
21.
Irish Free State
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The Irish Free State was an independent state established in 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. That treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between the forces of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic, the Irish Republican Army, and British Crown forces, the Free State was established as a Dominion of the British Commonwealth of Nations. It comprised 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, Northern Ireland, which comprised the remaining six counties, exercised its right under the Treaty to opt out of the new state. W. T. Cosgrave, who had led both of these governments since August 1922, became the first President of the Executive Council, the legislature consisted of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann, also known as the Senate. Members of the Dáil were required to take an Oath of Allegiance, the oath was a key issue for opponents of the Treaty, who refused to take the oath and therefore did not take their seats. Pro-Treaty members, who formed Cumann na nGaedheal in 1923, held a majority in the Dáil from 1922 to 1927. In the first months of the Free State, the Irish Civil War was waged between the newly established National Army and the anti-Treaty IRA, who refused to recognise the state. The Civil War ended in victory for the government forces, with the anti-Treaty forces dumping its arms in May 1923, the anti-Treaty political party, Sinn Féin, refused to take its seats in the Dáil, leaving the relatively small Labour Party as the only opposition party. In 1926, when Sinn Féin president Éamon de Valera failed to have this policy reversed, he resigned from Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil entered the Dáil following the 1927 general election, and entered government after the Irish general election,1932, when it became the largest party. De Valera abolished the Oath of Allegiance and embarked on a war with Britain. In 1937 he drafted a new constitution, which was passed by a referendum in July of that year, the Free State came to an end with the coming into force of the new constitution on 29 December 1937. Under the new constitution the Irish state was named Ireland, meanwhile, opposition increased to Irelands participation in World War I in Europe and the Middle East. This came about when the Irish Parliamentary Party supported the Allied cause in World War I in response to the passing of the Third Home Rule Bill in 1914. Many people had begun to doubt whether the Bill, passed by Westminster in September 1914 but suspended for the duration of the war, Sinn Féin, the Irish Party and all other Nationalist elements joined forces in opposition to the idea during the Conscription Crisis of 1918. At the same time the Irish Parliamentary lost in support on account of the crisis, Irish republicans felt further emboldened by successful anti-monarchical revolutions in the Russian Empire, the German Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Sinn Féin party, founded by Arthur Griffith in 1905, had espoused non-violent separatism, under Éamon de Valeras leadership from 1917, it campaigned aggressively and militantly for an Irish republic. On 21 January 1919, Sinn Féin MPs, refusing to sit at Westminster, assembled in Dublin and it affirmed the formation of an Irish Republic and passed a Declaration of Independence, the irish people is resolved. To promote the common weal, to re-establish justice, with equal rights and equal opportunity for every citizen
22.
Ardbraccan
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Ardbraccan is an ancient place of Christian worship in County Meath, Ireland. It is the location of the residence of the Roman Catholic, then, after the Reformation. It is located approximately 30 miles from Dublin, Ardbraccan originated as a place of Christian worship under St. Breacain in the 7th century. Its name in the Irish language comes directly from the name, Ard Breacain. On this high point, a monastery and a succession of churches were built, the most famous was a large circular church known as the Daimhliag, which was burned to the ground by Viking attackers in the 12th century. Contemporary records say that one people were in the church, seeking protection from the invaders. According to the historical tract Cogad Gaedel re Gallaib, Ardbraccan was the site of a victory of the Uí Néill over the Vikings sometime in the mid-9th century, the early Irish church possessed many bishoprics or dioceses, each presided over by a Bishop. For a period, Ardbraccan itself was a diocese, with an urban centre attached. Under the Synod of Kells in 1152, Ardbraccan was united with the Sees of Clonard, Trim, Dunshaughlin, Slane and Fore and its central importance was shown in the fact that the new merged dioceses bishop lived in Ardbraccan. In this period, Ardbraccan possessed two churches, St. Marys and St. Ultans, which was named after a saint who had lived in St. Braccans day. In 1777 a new Church of Ireland church was erected on the site of the church of St. Ultans. The church remained in use until 1981 when it was deconsecrated, due to the size of the Church of Ireland community in Ardbraccan. The Ecclesisatical Commission of 1868 recorded that there were 267 members of the Church of Ireland living in Ardbraccan parish, by 1968, that had dwindled to 10. The church was offered for sale by the Church of Ireland in 2002. Its cemetery is used for burials by both the local Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic parishes, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath moved out of the 18th century bishops palace in 1885 to live in a smaller mansion nearby, Bishopscourt. In 1958, the Church of Ireland bishop moved away from Ardbraccan altogether, with Bishopscourt being bought by a Catholic religious order, the Holy Ghost Fathers, who renamed in An Tobar. When the old church underwent some vandalism, its stained glass windows were removed by the Church of Ireland. In 1747 the first Irish Charter School was opened in Ardbraccan, Irish charter schools were operated by The Incorporated Society in Dublin for Promoting English Protestant Schools in Ireland
23.
Portland stone
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Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds and it has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major public buildings in London such as St Pauls Cathedral and Buckingham Palace. It is also exported to many countries—Portland stone is used in the United Nations headquarters building in New York City, Portland stone formed in a marine environment, on the floor of a shallow, warm, sub-tropical sea probably near land. When seawater is warmed by the sun, its capacity to hold dissolved gas is reduced, calcium and bicarbonate ions within the water are then able to combine, to form calcium carbonate as a precipitate. The process of lime scale build up in a kettle in hard water areas is similar, calcium carbonate is the principal constituent of most limestones. Billions of minute crystals of precipitated calcium carbonate accumulated forming lime mud which covered the sea floor, small particles of sand or organic detritus, such as shell fragments, formed a nucleus, which became coated with layers of calcite as they were rolled around in the muddy micrite. The calcite gradually accumulated around the fragments of shell in concentric layers and this process is similar to the way in which a snowball grows in size as it is rolled around in the snow. Over time, countless billions of these balls, known as ooids or ooliths, became partially cemented together by more calcite and this is one of the reasons why Portland stone is so favoured as a monumental and architectural stone. Dr Geoff Townson conducted three years research on the Portlandian, being the first to describe the patch-reef facies. Stone has been quarried on Portland since Roman times and was being shipped to London in the 14th century, Extraction as an industry began in the early 17th century, with shipments to London for Inigo Jones Banqueting House. Wrens choice of Portland for the new St Pauls Cathedral was a great boost for the quarries, the island was connected by railway to the rest of the country from 1865. Albion Stone PLC has been quarrying and mining Portland stone since 1984, Portland Stone Firms Ltd have been quarrying Portland stone since 1994. Jordans is part of the Inmosthay Quarry in the centre of the Island, the quarry has been worked since the late 19th century. Albion Stone leases the section from The Crown Estate and purchased the northern part of the site in 2006. The majority of the southern reserves lie under the grounds of the cricket club. To avoid disturbing the site at surface level, the company has applied and received permission to extract the stone using mining rather than quarrying techniques, the reserves to the north will be quarried using the diamond bladed cutting machines, hydro bags and wire saws to shape the blocks. Albion Stone PLC now extract all their stone through mining which dramatically reduces the impact on the environment, jordans Mine is currently the biggest mine on Portland. Bowers Quarry has been operational since the late 18th century and it has been leased from The Crown Estate since 1979 and in 2002 it became the site of the first Portland stone mine by Albion Stone PLC
24.
Office of Public Works
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The OPW has a central role in driving the Government’s property asset management reform process in respect of its own portfolio and that of the wider public service. Flood Risk Management - The OPW is the agency for flood risk management in Ireland. It is responsible for developing and implementing policies and strategies for flood risk management. It leads and co-ordinates a whole of Government approach to risk management across three strategic and policy areas of prevention, protection and preparedness. In addition, the OPW provides other services including a facility to the public for Government publications. The office was created on 15 October 1831, and was known as the Board of Works. It was formed out of the merger of the Office of the Surveyor-General for Ireland, the Barracks Board, the OPW had responsibility for the majority of heritage sites in Ireland prior to 1996. In 2003 Dúchas was wound up and most of its functions are now operated by the National Parks, functions not transferred to NPWS reverted to being OPW functions, which mainly relate to built heritage sites, these functions are operated under the title of Heritage Ireland. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has overall responsibility for the organisation, the Commissioners comprise a Chairman and two other Commissioners. The staff of the organisation comprise part of the Civil Service of the State, in that regard, the Office of Public Works, while a central Government Office, is a sub-office of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Office. The legal powers conferred on the Commissioners are exercisable only with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has delegated special responsibility for the OPW to the Minister of State for the Office of Public Works and Flood Relief. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform remains responsible to Dáil Éireann for the exercise and performance of any powers, the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners is the administrative Head of the OPW and is also the Accounting Officer for the OPW. List of OPW/NPWS Heritage sites Official website Heritage Ireland website Iris Oifigiúil website
25.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
26.
Liberty Hall
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Liberty Hall, in Dublin, Ireland, is the headquarters of the Services, Industrial, Professional, and Technical Union. It was formerly the tallest storeyed building in the state, at 59.4 metres, high until it was superseded by the County Hall outside Cork city, Liberty Hall is now the third tallest building in Dublin, after Montevetro and the Millennium Tower in Grand Canal Dock. Standing on Beresford Place and Eden Quay, near the Custom House, during the 1913 Dublin Lock-out a soup kitchen for workers families was run there by Maud Gonne and Constance Markievicz. Following the outbreak of the First World War a banner reading We Serve Neither King nor Kaiser, But Ireland was hung on its front wall, the newspaper was shut down by the British government for sedition under the Defence of the Realm Act. It was replaced for a time by a paper called The Worker until that too was banned. Connolly edited a paper, The Workers Republic, from 1915 until the Easter Rising in 1916. Until the Easter Rising Liberty Hall also served as a munitions factory and it was on the street in front of the building that the leaders of the Rising assembled before their march to the General Post Office on Easter Monday. They left the building vacant throughout Easter Week, an unknown to the British authorities. It was completely levelled by British artillery during the Rising, in the late 1950s Liberty Hall was declared unsafe and promptly demolished. The present building, which has sixteen storeys, was constructed between 1961 and 1965. It was originally fitted with windows of glass, but after they were damaged by a UVF car bomb in 1972 they were replaced with windows of reflective glass. The viewing platform, which had recently been opened, was also closed after the car bomb. On 19 October 2006 it was announced that SIPTU was seeking planning permission to demolish Liberty Hall, by October 2007 SIPTU had selected a shortlist of architects to design the new building and was planning to demolish the current building in 2009. The new building would have included office space, a theatre, however, in November 2012 the planning permission was overturned by An Bord Pleanála, which ruled unanimously that the new building would be unacceptably dominant in the city. Liberty Hall was the subject of a documentary broadcast on RTÉ One in May 2009
27.
International Financial Services Centre
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The International Financial Services Centre is a major European Financial Centre located in North Wall, Dublin, Ireland. As of 2014 the centre ostensibly employs 35,500 people in over 500 companies and it was the brainchild of financier Dermot Desmond, whose NCB financed a study by Price Waterhouse on the feasibilities of an IFSC. Desmond then approached Fianna Fáil leader Charles Haughey, then in opposition, the Finance Act,1987 allowed for the designation of an area exempt from normal taxation laws. There has also been criticism of the influence of associated with the IFSC in Irish politics. The IFSC comprises the area between Memorial Road, Amiens Street, Lower Sheriff Street, Guild Street, and the River Liffey along North Wall Quay and Custom House Quay. Adjacent districts include East Wall to the north and Spencer Dock to the east, the Custom House, Busáras, within the IFSC, the original development area lies west of Commons Street. East of Commons Street is the later IFSC II area, along North Wall Quay and it is an integrated development located in the centre of the city which incorporates office accommodation, educational institutions, housing, restaurants and shopping facilities. It has expanded beyond its original site, the centre now houses financial institutions, or at least their nameplates, together with the law firms and accountancy and taxation advisors who support them. While the IFSC was ostensibly intended for foreign financial institutions, the first bank to take up residence was Allied Irish Bank, the National College of Ireland is situated within the IFSC. There are currently more than 500 financial operations allowed to trade within the IFSC, IFSC institutions cited the timeliness of decisions by the Central Bank of Ireland as having a significant impact on their operations. The current government says it has a strategy to try to make the IFSC the centre of FinTech, by being faster and slicker than the UK and Germany
28.
Central Bank of Ireland
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The Central Bank of Ireland is Irelands central bank, and as such part of the European System of Central Banks. It is also the financial services regulator for most categories of financial firms. It was the issuer of Irish pound banknotes and coinage until the introduction of the euro currency and its head office is located on Dame Street, Dublin, where the public may exchange non-current Irish coinage and currency for euros. It also operates from premises in Spencer Dock, Iveagh Court, the Currency Centre at Sandyford is the currency manufacture, warehouse and distribution site of the bank. By March 2017 its city centre staff will move to a new building at North Wall Quay, on the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922, the new states trade was overwhelmingly with the United Kingdom, so the introduction of an independent currency was a low priority. British banknotes, and notes issued by Irish banks circulated and coins remained in circulation and these coins entered circulation on 12 December 1928. The Central Bank broadened its activities over the decades, but it remained in effect a currency board until the 1970s, such was the proliferation of small industrial banks and hire purchase firms in the late 1960s, the 1971 Central Bank Act introduced significantly enhanced authorisation and supervision standards. In the inevitable consolidation in the marketplace, in 1976 a liquidator was appointed to Irish Trust Bank Ltd after Central Bank investigations and in 1982 Merchant Banking Ltd also collapsed. The 1970s was a decade of change, which began with the decimalisation of the currency came into effect on 15 February 1971. Decimalisation would have provided an opportunity to break the link with Sterling. At the same time moves to create a market in Dublin. In the mid to late 1970s, opinion within the bank was moving toward breaking the link with sterling and devaluing the Irish currency in order to limit inflationary effects from abroad, at this time, however, an alternative option became available. The Irish government had to decide whether or not to participate in the EMS, despite this, on 15 December 1978 it was announced that Ireland would participate in the EMS. Countries were given the option of either a 2. 25% or 6% margin of fluctuation within the EMS Exchange Rate Mechanism, after over 50 years, the parity of the Irish and British currencies was broken, and the Irish currency became known as the Irish pound. The initial experience of the EMS was disappointing, by late 1980 the Irish Pound had fallen in value to less than 80 British pence, and Irish inflation was higher than British. Eventually the EMS settled down, and Irish inflation was consistently the same or lower than Britains inflation rate from 1987 onwards, the idea of a single European currency goes back to the Schumann Plan of 1950. The first blueprint for how to go about implementing the currency, the Werner Report of 1970 was not proceeded with, but the ultimate aim was always kept in mind. The Delors Report endorsed by the Madrid Summit of June 1989 envisaged a three-stage process to monetary union, and this envisaged the start of monetary union on 1 January 1999 and the introduction of notes and coins on 1 January 2002
29.
Chapel Royal, Dublin
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The Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle was the official Church of Ireland chapel of the Household of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1814 until the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. The creation of the new Irish state terminated the office of Lord Lieutenant, indeed, so difficult was the nature of the site that the chapel took seven years to build, though a contributory factor in both time and budget was the sheer opulence of its interior. The foundation stone was laid by the Lord-Lieutenant, John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford and it was completed behind schedule and opened on Christmas Day,1814, when Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth was Lord-Lieutenant. Lord Whitworth contributed the centre portion of the large window above the altar, which he had purchased while in Paris. The surroundings are painted glass, executed by a Mr. Bradley in Dublin, at the apex of the window are the arms of Lord Whitworth. The decoration of the ceiling of the interior was done by George Stapleton, over the chancel window are three life-size figures representing Faith, Hope and Charity. Over the galleries are heads representing Piety and Devotion, all the interior vaulting and columns are cast in timber and feature a paint wash to give the effect of stone. It was described as having the most flamboyant and luxurious Dublin interior of its era and this was the third chapel in the castle, and the second on this spot, since medieval times. Before the completion of the Chapel Royal the Lord-Lieutenants, their entourage, the enormous pulpit that used to dominate the Chapel Royal has now been removed to St. Werburghs. Behind one of the galleries is a passage leads to the bedrooms in the State Apartments. This was used by the Lord Lieutenant and his entourage when they were staying at the Castle during inclement weather and his pew was in the centre of the right-hand gallery. Directly facing him was the place for the bishop and it might seem as no co-incidence that Lord Whitworths arms appear directly at the Lord-Lieutenants position, a most prominent spot. The large organ, still playable, is said to have been a gift from Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, the wooden decoration contains a carved head in the centre, which is said to be that of Turlough OCarolan, the famous Irish composer. As each Lord Lieutenant left office, their coat of arms was carved on the gallery, and then and it was noted by Irish nationalists that the last window available was taken up by the man who proved to be the last Lord Lieutenant, Viscount Fitzalan. In 1943, the became the property of the Irish Army. The Stations of the Cross were then carved by the monks in Glenstal Abbey, though it has not been deconsecrated, neither Masses nor Divine Services take place there any more. It has however been restored to its nineteenth-century state and is open to the public. The crypt is sometimes used for cultural events, the Chapel was used in the television series The Tudors for scenes including the trial of Thomas More
30.
Chichester House
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Chichester House or Carews House was a building in College Green, Dublin, Ireland, used in the 17th century to house the Parliament of Ireland. Originally built to be a hospital, it was never used as such, at one time, the building had been owned by Sir George Carew, President of Munster and Lord High Treasurer of Ireland. The house itself was built on the site of a nunnery dissolved by King Henry VIII, Carews House was later purchased by Sir Arthur Chichester and renamed Chichester House. It was used as a home of the Kingdom of Irelands law courts during the Michaelmas law term in 1605. Documents facilitating the Plantation of Ulster were signed in the house on 16 November 1612, in 1673 it was assigned as the home of the parliament by Charles II. From its opening it was in a bad state of repair and was replaced following the groundbreaking for the new Parliament House, designed by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce, in 1729
31.
Collins Barracks, Dublin
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Collins Barracks is a former military barracks in the Arbour Hill area of Dublin, Ireland. The buildings are now the National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts, housing both British armed forces, and Irish army garrisons through three centuries, the barracks were the oldest continuously occupied example in the world. Originally called simply The Barracks, and later The Royal Barracks, built in 1702, and further extended in the late 18th century and 19th century, the complexs main buildings are neo-classical in style. The museum faces the Luas tram red line, a Memorial Garden at Croppies Acre marking the 1798 rebellion, and the River Liffey. Save for the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, the barracks is the earliest public building in Dublin, built on a site originally intended for a mansion of the Duke of Ormonde, the complex has several large squares, each open on the south side. The largest square has arcaded colonnades on the east and west sides, the oldest inhabited barracks in Europe, it was originally known simply as the Barracks and later the Royal Barracks, and a mainstay of British forces on the island for several hundred years. Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the 1798 rebellion was held prisoner. Through the 19th century, up to 1,500 troops of various Regiments of Foot were stationed at the barracks, however, by the 1880s conditions of accommodation were dangerously inadequate, and strongly criticised following an investigation by Commissioners of the War Office as levels of disease increased. Under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the complex was handed over to troops of the Irish Free State in December 1922 and it was almost immediately named Collins Barracks after Michael Collins, the first commander-in-chief of the Free State, who had been killed that year. The barracks housed forces of the Free State Army through the Irish Civil War, the 5th Infantry Battalion marched out of the barracks for the last time in 1997, and made way for the National Museum of Ireland. As part of de-militarisation, the barracks underwent considerable redevelopment – including the conversion and this work was awarded the countrys premier award for architectural conservation, the Silver Medal for Conservation, by Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland. Home to the Decorative Arts and History section of the National Museum, however, the main focus of the galleries is on arts, craft and wares, including exhibits on, Irish coins and currency, silverware, furniture, folklife and costumes, ceramics, glassware, etc. The barracks has featured in a number of film and television productions, the rear of the barracks is often used as a period street setting for productions such as Ripper Street, Penny Dreadful and the RTÉ1916 Rising mini-series Rebellion. Short Histories of Irish Barracks by Patrick Denis ODonnell, in An Cosantóir, Wolfe Tones Provost Prison, by Patrick Denis ODonnell, in The Irish Sword, no. 42, Volume XI, Military History Society of Ireland, Dublin,1973, dublins Collins Barracks over the years, by Patrick Denis ODonnell, in Hollybough, December 1994. Dublin Barracks – A Brief History of Collins Barracks, by Mairead Dunleavy, official Site – National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts and History
32.
Deerfield Residence
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For the Chancery, see Embassy of the United States in Dublin The Deerfield Residence is the official residence of the Ambassador of the United States of America to Ireland. The premises has been the Ambassadors Official Residence since 1927, and was previously the Embassy of the United States of America in Ireland, Deerfield Residence is a large 18th-century building, sitting on 62 acres of private grounds in the centre of the Phoenix Park in Dublin. It sits across from the residence of the President of Ireland. The previous ambassador was Kevin OMalley, OMalley was sworn-in on September 30,2014, and presented his credentials to President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins on October 8,2014. Dan Rooney was the ambassador, who resigned in December 2012. Stuart Dwyer had been the Chargé daffaires since September 5,2013, Dwyer became Deputy Chief of Mission following the appointment of OMalley as ambassador. Until the abolition of the post in 1922 it served as the residence in Dublin of the Chief Secretary. The Chief Secretary played a role akin to a Prime Minister in the administration, winston Churchill - later to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - spent some of his childhood living in the Phoenix Park. Healy however expressed a wish that, if he was to move at all, believing that Healys home was too exposed and a security risk, the Executive Council of the Irish Free State chose to leave Healy in the Viceregal Lodge. Instead the Chief Secretarys Lodge was rented on a lease to the United States government, to become a combined ambassadors residence and embassy. In January 1938, with the American lease nearly up, the Irish Government decided to make the Chief Secretarys Lodge the official residence of the President of Ireland, the President was later installed in the vacant Viceregal Lodge nearby. The building was re-rented to the United States government, the embassy was later moved to a purpose-built building in Ballsbridge, leaving the lodge as the Ambassadors residence. Extensive renovations to the house and property were made by the U. S. Government in 1952. In the 1970s, the grounds were christened the name Deerfield by the wife of a United States ambassador on account of the number of deer who roam in the parkland around the mansion. The property consists of 62 acres of lawn, orchards and gardens on which are located the Ambassadors residence, the lower ground floor of the residence comprises a ballroom, reception and dining room, library, office, kitchens pantry, staff room and laundry. Six suites, bedroom, bathroom and dressing room, plus a room are located on the upper floor. Outdoor amenities include a seasonal American football field, basketball court and it has been previously suggested that the building should become the residence of the Taoiseach. The grounds are operated by the United States Department of State, U. S. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton have all stayed at Deerfield during Irish visits
33.
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
34.
Farmleigh
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Farmleigh is the official Irish State guest house. It was formerly one of the Dublin residences of the Guinness family and it is situated on an elevated position above the River Liffey to the north-west of the Phoenix Park, in the civil parish of Castleknock. It was purchased by the Government of Ireland from the 4th Earl of Iveagh in 1999 for €29.2 million. A state body—the Office of Public Works —spent in the region of €23 million restoring the house, gardens and curvilinear glasshouses, Farmleigh was opened to the public in July 2001. Farmleigh was once a small Georgian house built in the mid-18th century and it originally belonged to the Coote and then Trench families. Farmleigh Bridge was added to the estate in the 1870s to carry electricity lines from the mill race turbine on the Strawberry Beds to the house, in 1873 the estate and house was purchased by Edward Guinness when he married his cousin Adelaide Guinness. He was a great-grandson of Arthur Guinness and was created Baron Iveagh in 1891, Edward Guinness commissioned a major renovation and extension programme to extend the house to the west and add a third floor. These works took place between 1881 and 1884 and were completed to designs by Irish architect James Franklin Fuller, a ballroom was added in 1896, designed by the Scottish architect William Young. The conservatory was added in 1901, as many of the houses features were commissioned by Edward Guinness, visitors gain some insight into his character from the landscaped gardens, classical architecture, and sober symmetrical layout. There are also tapestries on display, which Edward Guinness collected while travelling through Europe as a young man, the earls library, on loan to the state, contains some of the earliest books printed in Ireland. Farmleigh passed to Guinnesss heirs and remained in the family throughout the 20th century, the estate was purchased from The 4th Earl of Iveagh by the State in 1999. The official purpose for the €29.2 million purchase, specifically, it is designated as an official State guest house for visiting heads of State and dignitaries. However, the estate only hosted seven visiting dignitaries in 2006, six in 2008, also in 2009,246,000 members of the public visited the estate. In 2006 it was announced by the Office of Public Works that the Stewards Lodge which is located in the grounds of Farmleigh had been renovated and it was speculated at the time that the lodge was to become an official residence of the Taoiseach. Former Taoiseach Brian Cowen used the lodge for this purpose on occasion and his successor, Enda Kenny, has also stayed on occasion at the Stewards Lodge. Today Farmleigh is operated by the OPW and the estate and gardens are open to the public. Seasonal events, such as craft and food markets, are held on the grounds, the estate has also been used as the venue for the RTÉ proms, a public concert series that took place each summer in a large marquee erected on the grounds
35.
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
36.
General Post Office, Dublin
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The General Post Office in Dublin is the headquarters of the Irish Post Office, An Post, and Dublins principal post office. Sited in the centre of OConnell Street, the main thoroughfare, it is one of Irelands most famous buildings. On 6 January 1818, the new post-office in Sackville Street was opened for business, the structure was completed in the short space of three years for the sum of £50,000. The front, which extends 67.1 metres, has an Ionic portico, 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. The entablature, with the exception of the architrave, is continued along the rest of the front, a balustrade surmounts the cornice of the building, which is 15.2 metres from the ground. With the exception of the portico, which is of Portland stone, during the Easter Rising of 1916, the GPO served as the headquarters of the uprisings leaders. The building was destroyed by fire in the course of the rebellion, the facade is all that remains of the original building. The museum closed at the end of May 2015 being replaced by a new centre to commemorate the 1916 Rising, GPO Witness History. The building has remained a symbol of Irish nationalism, the statue was featured on the Irish ten shilling coin of 1966, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Rising. Despite its fame as an place of Irish freedom, ground rent for the GPO continued to be paid to English. The broadcasting studios of 2RN, which later became Radio Éireann, were located at the GPO from 1928 until 1974, draws for Prize Bonds are held weekly, on Fridays, in the building. Nelsons Pillar was formerly located in the centre of OConnell Street adjacent to the GPO, however the Pillar was destroyed by Irish republicans in an explosion in 1966. The Spire of Dublin now takes a dominant position on the site of the Pillar
37.
Government Buildings
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Government Buildings is a large Edwardian building enclosing a quadrangle on Merrion Street in Dublin, Ireland, in which several key offices of the Government of Ireland are located. It was originally shared between the Dublin Castle administration and the Royal College of Science for 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 and it may have been intended for use by the Royal College of Science, but it soon attracted the attention of the Lord Lieutenant of Irelands 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 four members of the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. The Houses were adjourned sine die, the Executive Council of the Irish Free State immediately commandeered part of the college as temporary office space. Two years later the Free State decided to buy Leinster House outright from the RDS, Government usage of part of the Royal College of Science also became permanent. From 1922 to 1991 the former College of Science building was divided between a number of bodies, the wing to the right of the main entrance was used by the Department of the President, later in 1938 renamed Department of the Taoiseach. The Attorney General, the Department of Justice and Equality and other offices also occupied that wing of the building, the south wing was occupied permanently by the Department of Finance. The centre block of the courtyard under the dome was used by the Royal College of Science. Over the decades, some moved out to purpose built offices, leaving the north wing for the Taoiseach, Government Secretariat. In the mid-1980s, increasingly unhappy at the office space. A new engineering faculty was built on University College Dublins Belfield campus at tens of millions of pounds. Much of the interior of the original building was gutted to facilitate the creation of a state-of-the-art new government office. Haughey finally moved into the new building in 1991, critics of the expenditure, at a time when Ireland was in financial difficulties, nicknamed the building the Chaz Mahal. The entrance hall is dominated light streaming through Evie Hones critically acclaimed stained glass window, originally the Office of Public Works had planned a new cabinet suite of rooms also. However the Government opted to continue to use the Council Chamber which had been the room for all Irish governments since 1922
38.
Green Street Courthouse
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Green Street Court House, Dublin, was the home of the Special Criminal Court until it moved to the new Criminal Court of Justice building near Phoenix Park in 2010. The Green Street court house is in the Smithfield area of Dublin and now handles civil cases and it was built in 1797 on the site of the old Newgate Gaol. The architect is believed to have been Whitmore Davis, the building was remodelled between 1837 and 1842 by Michael Semple. There was a visit in 1849, and the court was the venue of several noted trials such as those of Wolfe Tone, Robert Emmet in 1803, John Mitchel in 1848. It was extensively used during the troubles 1970 to 1990s including in 1976 the trial arising from the Herrema kidnapping
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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
40.
Leinster House
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Leinster House is the seat of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Ireland. Leinster House was originally the palace of the Dukes of Leinster. Since 1922, it is a complex of buildings, of which the ducal palace is the core. The most recognisable part of the complex, and the face of Leinster House. The societys famous Dublin Spring Show and Dublin Horse Show were held on its Leinster Lawn, facing Merrion Square. The building is the place of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann. Irelands parliament over the centuries had met in a number of locations, most notably in the Irish Houses of Parliament at College Green, next to Trinity College and its medieval parliament consisted of two Houses, a House of Commons and a House of Lords. Irelands senior peer, the Earl of Kildare, had a seat in the Lords, like all the aristocrats of the period, for the duration of the Social Season and parliamentary sessions, he and his family resided in state in a Dublin residence. From the late eighteenth century Leinster House was the Earls official Dublin residence, the building itself was designed by acclaimed architect Richard Cassels. In the history of aristocratic residences in Dublin, no other mansion matched Kildare House for its size or status. When the Earl was made the first Duke of Leinster in 1766, one famous member of the family who occasionally resided in Leinster House was Lord Edward FitzGerald, who became involved with Irish nationalism during the 1798 Rebellion, which cost him his life. With the passage of the Act of Union in 1800, Ireland ceased to have its own parliament, the 3rd Duke of Leinster sold Leinster House in 1815 to the Royal Dublin Society. In 1853 the Great Industrial Exhibition was hosted in its grounds, at the end of the nineteenth century, two new wings were added, to house the National Library of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland. The Natural History Museum was built on the site, part of this scheme intended to re-clad the house in more attractive Portland stone and extend the portico outwards. The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 provided for the creation of a self-governing Irish dominion, plans were made to turn Royal Hospital Kilmainham, an eighteenth-century former soldiers home in extensive parklands, into a full-time Parliament House. The building was bought outright from the RDS in 1924, a new Senate or Seanad chamber was created in the Dukes old ballroom, while wings from the neighbouring Royal College of Science were taken over as used as Government Buildings. The entire Royal College of Science, which by then had been merged with University College Dublin, was taken over in 1990. Both the National Library and National Museum wings next to Leinster House remain used by as a library, while plans were often made to provide a brand-new parliament house, the Oireachtas has remained permanently located in Leinster House
41.
Little Ratra
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Little Ratra, sometimes called Ratra House, is one of the minor state residences located in Dublins Phoenix Park. Until 2006 it was used as the Civil Defence School and its first resident was Lord Randolph Churchill who was appointed as Private Secretary by the then Lord Lieutenant, his father John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough. Churchill lived there with his wife Jennie Jerome and his young son Winston Churchill, Winston Churchill in his writings described his four years, from the ages of two to six, spent in the Little Lodge as among the happiest of his life. It was claimed that he developed his interest in the military from watching military parades at the Lodge and it was the last Irish state residence to be connected to the ESB grid, eventually becoming connected in 1937. In 1945, the wheelchair-using retiring first President of Ireland, Douglas Hyde was judged too ill to return to his Roscommon country house and it was decided instead to move him into the vacant residence in the grounds of the Lodge. Hyde named the residence Little Ratra in honour of his old home, on 18 June 1951 it became the headquarters of the newly formed Irish Civil Defence and renamed Ratra House, though Hydes affectionate Little Ratra name remains widely used except in formal documents. The Irish Civil Defence School was relocated to Roscrea, County Tipperary in 2006, parts of the complex are still used by the Civil Defence, such as the purpose-built training range used by firemen and rescue personnel
