A Gathering to Celebrate, Explore and Enlighten 

on the Occasion of the

100th Anniversary (1922-2022) 

of the First Oireachtas Sittings

in the Seat of Ireland’s Democracy

HELD ON October 13 2022 

AT THE IRISH ARCHITECTURAL ARCHIVE MERRION SQUARE, DUBLIN 2

 

Morning Session

 

Chair: Colum O’Riordan, Chief Executive Officer, Irish Architectural Archive

 

Nicola Kelly:

The Lennox Sisters and their Houses: Mining the Archives for Evidence of Design and Decoration

The intimate correspondence of ladies of leisure yields surprising insights into their approach to the layout and decoration of rooms and grounds and their relationships with designers and tradesmen

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Patricia McCarthy:

Stone Upon Stone: The Rise and Fall of the Houses of Fitzgerald - Carton, Leinster House and Frascati

The traumatic narratives of the lives of three generations of Fitzgeralds is reflected in the contrasting fortunes of their great residences

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Ciaran Reilly:

A House in Transition: Leinster House in the Early Nineteenth Century

A tutor's diary tells the inside story of the last decades of a noble mansion as it progresses towards inevitable sale and repurposing as a centre of culture, enterprise and innovation

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Niamh Marnham:

Stair Wars: Territorial Claims in the Expansion of Leinster House as a Cultural and Scientific Complex

The dramatic expansion of Royal Dublin Society collections, and the involvement of the colonial government as funders and managers of new facilities led to uncivil rivalries, tensions and divisions

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Afternoon Session:

 

Chair: Denis Bergin, Hon. Director, The James Hoban Societies of Ireland and the United States

Introductory Remarks: To access this session click here (video begins after 20-second static identifier slides)

 

Brian O'Connell:

A Tradition Endured and Enduring: A Parliament House Eight Hundred Years in the Making

From a 13th century gathering place in Kildare via the elegance of the purpose-built parliamentary chambers on College Green - and locations even further afield - the business of law-making has demanded attention to order and detail in its surroundings that has found its own particular interpretation in a former Georgian picture gallery and a former lecture theatre on Kildare Street

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Alan Greer:

Parliaments Up and Down the Road: Revolution, Evolution, Convolution, Devolution

An early 20th-century dedicated parliament building became one of what would grow to eight on these islands - and later on the European mainland - where the interests of the people were represented, as disruptive forces took hold, and disengagement, independence and reunification loomed

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John Montague:

Parliaments, Piazzas and Plinths 

How politics plays out in the public space is the focus of an exploration of parliaments across the world and the role they have in creating a dynamic public realm

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