Leinster House, Dublin 2

TToday, Leinster House is the seat of the two Houses of the Oireachtas (National Parliament), comprising Dáil Éireann (the House of Representatives) and Seanad Éireann (the Senate).

This building that now houses the National Parliament of Ireland was built in 1745 for James FitzGerald, the Earl of Kildare, who was a descendant of one of the great Anglo Norman families who first invaded Ireland in 1160. He was created the Duke of Leinster in 1766, hence the name of the house. Richard Cassels (1690-1751) was the architect and he designed what was to become the largest mansion in the city.
- evolved in stages.

James Fitzgerald set out to create the stateliest of Dublin Georgian Mansions to reflect his eminent position in Irish society.

The decision of the influential and trend-setting earl to locate his mansion on what were then just open fields, encouraged the migration of the gentry and the wealthy to the surrounding area from the previously traditional fashionable parts of the city. Thus grew the largest Georgian-styled district of Dublin which has remained largely intact to this day.

After the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, the Government secured a part of Leinster House for parliamentary use. The entire building was acquired by the State in 1924.