Editing Leinster House (section)

==History==
===Ducal palace===
[[File:Leinster House 1757.jpg|thumb|Leinster House from an illustration of 1757 by John Rocque]]
Leinster House was the former [[Duke|ducal]] residence in [[Dublin]] of the [[Duke of Leinster]], and since 1922 has served as the parliament building of the [[Irish Free State]], the predecessor of the modern Irish state, before which it functioned as the headquarters of the [[Royal Dublin Society]]. The society's famous Dublin Spring Show and Dublin Horse Show were held on its Leinster Lawn, facing [[Merrion Square]]. The building is the meeting place of [[Dáil Éireann]] and [[Seanad Éireann]], the two houses of the [[Oireachtas]], and as such the term 'Leinster House' has become a [[metonym]] for Irish political activities.

===Irish Parliament===
Ireland's parliament over the centuries had met in a number of locations, most notably in the [[Parliament House, Dublin|Irish Houses of Parliament]] at [[College Green, Dublin|College Green]], next to [[Trinity College Dublin]]. Its medieval parliament consisted of two Houses, a [[Irish House of Commons|House of Commons]] and a [[Irish House of Lords|House of Lords]]. Ireland's senior peer, the Earl of Kildare, had a seat in the Lords. Like all the aristocrats of the period, for the duration of the [[Irish Social Season|Social Season]] and parliamentary sessions, he and his family resided in state in a Dublin residence.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kildarelibraries.ie/ehistory/irelands-greatest-family-the-fitzgeralds-earls-of-kildare/|title='Ireland's Greatest Family': The Fitzgeralds, Earls of Kildare|publisher=Kildare Libraries|access-date=21 July 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Leinster House - 1911.jpg|left|thumb|Leinster House in 1911]]
From the late eighteenth century, Leinster House (then called ''Kildare House'') was the Earl's official Dublin residence. When it was first built in 1745–48 by [[James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster|James FitzGerald, Earl of Kildare]], it was located on the unfashionable and isolated south side of the city, far from the main locations of aristocratic residences, namely Rutland Square (now [[Parnell Square]]) and [[Mountjoy Square]]. The Earl predicted that others would follow; in succeeding decades Merrion Square and [[Fitzwilliam Square]] became the primary location of residences of the aristocracy, with many of their northside residences being sold (many subsequently deteriorating and ending up as slums). The building itself was designed by architect [[Richard Cassels]] while some of the later elements and interior were designed by [[Isaac Ware]].<ref name=architecture>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/southcity/kildare_street/leinster.htm
 |title       = Irish architecture website
 |publisher   = Archiseek. Retrieved 4 August 2009
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20020602062125/http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/southcity/kildare_street/leinster.htm
 |archive-date = 2 June 2002
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=CO. DUBLIN, DUBLIN, KILDARE STREET, LEINSTER HOUSE Dictionary of Irish Architects - |url=https://www.dia.ie/works/view/36360/building/CO.+DUBLIN%2C+DUBLIN%2C+KILDARE+STREET%2C+LEINSTER+HOUSE |website=www.dia.ie |access-date=5 July 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Leinster House, Ireland.jpg|thumb|240px|Leinster House, view from [[Kildare Street]], Dublin]]

In the history of aristocratic residences in Dublin, no other mansion matched Kildare House for its sheer size or status. When the Earl was made the first [[Duke of Leinster]] in 1766, the family's Dublin residence was renamed Leinster House.<ref name=Oirhistory>{{cite web
|url=http://www.gov.ie/oireachtas/leaflet/kildare.htm
|title=Oireachtas website
|publisher=Oireachtas Éireann
|access-date=4 August 2009
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905142108/http://www.gov.ie/oireachtas/leaflet/kildare.htm
|archive-date=5 September 2009
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> Its first and second floors were used as the floor model for the [[White House]] by Irish architect [[James Hoban]],<ref name=JamesHoban>{{cite web|url=http://www.whha.org/whha_exhibits/james_hoban/05_whha-hoban.html|title=White House History - James Hoban, Architect of the White House|access-date=4 May 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504191016/http://www.whha.org/whha_exhibits/james_hoban/05_whha-hoban.html|archive-date=4 May 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> while the house itself was used as a model for the original stone-cut White House exterior.<ref name=JamesHoban2>{{cite web|url=http://www.whha.org/whha_exhibits/james_hoban/images/side_hoban-03.html|title=White House History - James Hoban, Architect of the White House - Desart Court|access-date=4 May 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504191014/http://www.whha.org/whha_exhibits/james_hoban/images/side_hoban-03.html|archive-date=4 May 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

One famous member of the family who occasionally resided in Leinster House was [[Lord Edward FitzGerald]], who became involved with Irish nationalism during the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|1798 Rebellion]], which cost him his life. With the passage of the [[Act of Union 1800|Act of Union]] in 1800, Ireland ceased to have its own parliament. Without a House of Lords to attend, increasing numbers of aristocrats stopped coming to Dublin, selling off their Dublin residences, in many cases to buy residences in London, where the new united parliament met.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=41331440| last = Nevin | first = Seamus |title=History Repeating: Georgian Ireland's Property Bubble | journal = History Ireland | volume = 20 | issue = 1 | pages = 22–24 | year = 2012 }}</ref>

===RDS headquarters 1815–1922===
The 3rd Duke of Leinster sold Leinster House in 1815 to the [[Royal Dublin Society]]. In 1853 the [[Great Industrial Exhibition (1853)|Great Industrial Exhibition]] was hosted in its grounds.<ref name="llawn">{{cite web|access-date=9 November 2016|url=http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/about/history/leinsterhouse/|title=Leinster House, Houses of the Oireachtas|archive-date=11 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011094941/http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/about/history/leinsterhouse/|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[National Museum of Ireland – Natural History|Natural History Museum]] was built on the site in 1857.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Natural History Museum Dublin|last=O'Riordan|first=C.E.|publisher=Stationery Office|year=1983|location=Dublin}}</ref> Around the same time, two new wings were added, to house the [[National Library of Ireland]] and the [[National Museum of Ireland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Natural-History/Visitor-Information/About-The-Museum/History-Architecture |title=History & Architecture|publisher=National Museum of Ireland|access-date=21 July 2024}}</ref>

===Oireachtas from 1922===
[[File:Dáil Chamber.jpg|thumb|Dáil Chamber, 2008]]

The [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] of 1921 provided for the creation of a self-governing Irish [[British Dominions|dominion]], to be called the Irish Free State. As plans were made to bring the new state into being, the Provisional Government under [[W. T. Cosgrave]] sought a temporary venue for the meetings of the new Chamber of Deputies [[Dáil Éireann]] and Senate [[Seanad Éireann (Irish Free State)|Seanad Éireann]]. Plans were made to turn [[Royal Hospital Kilmainham]], an eighteenth-century former soldiers' home in extensive parklands, into a full-time Parliament House. However, as it was still under the control of the [[British Army]], who had yet to withdraw from it, and the new [[Governor-General of the Irish Free State]] was due to deliver the Speech from the Throne opening parliament within weeks, Michael Collins decided to hire the Leinster House complex for use from September 1922 as a temporary Dáil chamber as it housed a large lecture theatre that could easily be adapted to the needs of the Oireachtas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oireachtas |first=Houses of the |date=2020-11-09 |title=Buildings of the Irish Parliament – Houses of the Oireachtas |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/visit-and-learn/history-and-buildings/buildings/buildings-of-the-irish-parliament |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=www.oireachtas.ie |language=en-ie}}</ref>

[[File:Mr John McCormack placing a wreath on the cenotaph erected to the memory of the late Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith at Leinster Lawn (16307907087).jpg|thumbnail|left|Former monument to Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith on Leinster Lawn, shown here in 1923 and removed in 1939]]

In 1924, due to financial constraints, plans to turn the Royal Hospital into a parliament house were abandoned; Leinster House, instead becoming the chapel of democracy, was bought,<ref name=Oirhistory/> pending the provision of a proper parliament house at some stage in the future. A new Senate or Seanad chamber was created in the Duke's old ballroom, while wings from the neighbouring [[Government Buildings|Royal College of Science]] were taken over and used as Government Buildings. The entire Royal College of Science, which by then had been merged with [[University College Dublin]], was subsequently taken over in 1990 and turned into state-of-the-art Government Buildings.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/eff3cc-history-of-government-buildings/#refurbishment-project-1990|title=Refurbishment project 1990|publisher=Government of Ireland|access-date=21 July 2024}}</ref>

Since then, a number of extensions have been added, most recently in 2000, to provide adequate office space for 166 [[Teachta Dála|TDs]], 60 senators, members of the press and other staff. Among the world leaders who have visited Leinster House to address [[List of addresses to the Oireachtas|joint sessions of the Oireachtas]] are U.S. presidents [[John F. Kennedy]], [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Bill Clinton]]; British Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]]; Australian prime ministers [[Bob Hawke]], [[Paul Keating]], and [[John Howard]]; and French President [[François Mitterrand]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1988-02-26/2|title=Address of President Mitterrand – Dáil Éireann (25th Dáil) – Friday, 26 Feb 1988 – Houses of the Oireachtas|first=Houses of the|last=Oireachtas|date=26 February 1988|website=www.oireachtas.ie|access-date=19 February 2020|archive-date=19 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219194157/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1988-02-26/2/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Statue of Prince Albert outside Leinster House (2009).jpg|upright|thumb|The statue of Prince Albert]]
[[File:Leinster House.jpg|upright|thumb|240px|Cenotaph dedicated to the leaders of Irish independence]]

A number of monuments stand or have stood, around Leinster House. Its Kildare Street frontage used to be dominated by ''[[Statue of Queen Victoria, Sydney|Queen Victoria]]'', a large seated bronze statue by [[John Hughes (sculptor)|John Hughes]], first unveiled by King [[Edward VII]] in 1908. Considering it inappropriate to have the British Queen overlooking the Irish parliament it was relocated to the [[Royal Hospital Kilmainham]] in 1948, as part of moves by the Irish state towards [[Republic of Ireland Act 1948|declaring a Republic]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/statue_of_queen_victoria_druitt_street |title=Statue of Queen Victoria, Druitt Street |publisher=The Dictionary of Sydney |access-date=7 November 2018 |archive-date=26 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326210223/http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/statue_of_queen_victoria_druitt_street |url-status=live }}</ref> It was re-erected in 1987 in front of the [[Queen Victoria Building]] in [[Sydney]], Australia. Facing the garden front on its Merrion Square side, stands a large triangular monument commemorating three founding figures of Irish independence, [[President of Dáil Éireann]] [[Arthur Griffith]], who died in 1922, [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]], who was shot and killed in an ambush by anti-treaty forces in 1922, and [[Kevin O'Higgins]], the Chairman of the Provisional Government and the Vice-President of the Executive Council (deputy prime minister), who was assassinated in 1927. Another statue commemorates the Prince Consort, [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]], husband of Queen Victoria, who held his major Irish Exhibition on Leinster Lawn in the 1850s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/libraryResearch/2023/2023-11-14_l-rs-note-prince-albert-statue-on-leinster-lawn_en.pdf|title=Prince Albert statue on Leinster Lawn|first=Charlotte |last=Cousins|publisher=Oireachtas|access-date=21 July 2024}}</ref>