Editing Under Secretary's Lodge

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The '''Under Secretary's Lodge''' was formerly the [[Dublin]] residence of the British [[Under-Secretary for Ireland]] ''(the British Administration's chief civil servant)''. After the creation of the [[Irish Free State]] in 1922, the office of Under Secretary disappeared.

The residence was rented by the Irish Free State to the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] for use as the [[Apostolic Nunciature]] ''(papal embassy)''. The Lodge was vacated by the [[Apostolic Nunciature to Ireland|Papal Nuncio]] in the mid-1970s, when he moved to a new purpose-built nunciature on the Navan Road in Dublin. It was intended to turn the Lodge into a [[Steward's Lodge|Taoiseach's residence]] ''(residence of the prime minister of Ireland)''. But after some years' delay, it was decided that the Lodge (in a politically unappealing [[Georgian architecture|Georgian style]]) was in too poor a state of repair due to dry rot to be converted and so was demolished.

A preservable medieval [[tower house]] was found to be at the centre of the demolished Georgian building. It has been restored, and as [[Ashtown Castle]] it is used as an interpretative centre. Tours of [[Áras an Uachtaráin]] ''(residence of the [[President of Ireland]])'' begin from the centre every Saturday.

While it served as the Apostolic Nunciature, one of its most famous residents was [[Giovanni Montini]], later [[Pope Paul VI]], who worked as a young diplomat there.

{{Irish governmental buildings}}

[[Category:History of County Dublin]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Dublin (city)]]
[[Category:Houses in the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Former official residences in the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Dublin]]