Castles | AreaOne Urban Journal | William Murphy (Infomatique)

Dublin Castle

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:59:05 +0000

The castle is a tourist attraction and, following major refurbishment, is also used as a conference centre. During Ireland's presidencies of the European Union, including most recently in the first half of 2004, it has been the venue of many meetings of the European Council.

Gerry Adams Attracts Much Media Attention - Dublin Castle

Dublin Castle fulfilled a number of roles through its history. Originally built as a defensive fortification for the Norman city of Dublin, it later evolved into a royal residence, resided in by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or Viceroy of Ireland, the representative of the monarch. 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. It also served as a military garrison. 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 badly 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, and the complex has been host to this ceremony ever since. The castle is also used for hosting official State visits as well as more informal foreign affairs engagements, State banquets, and Government policy launches, as well as acting as the central base for Ireland's hosting of the European Presidency approximately every 10 years.

St. Patrick's Hall in Dublin Castle is one of the most significant and prestigious public rooms in Ireland. Here the inaugurations of the Presidents of Ireland take place, as do other important State functions including State Banquets for visiting Heads of State.

Yesterday (03/10/2009) the hall became the central count centre for the second Lisbon Treaty referendum and it is where the final result was officially announced.

Myself plus more than 400 international media organisations were present in Dublin Castle when it was formally announced that the "YES" side had won the day but in reality the announcement was only a formality because the result was apparent from early in the morning.

Books Shipped From USA

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:43:25 +0000

The Forts Of Celtic Britain

Purchase: The Forts of Celtic Britain (Fortress)

17 Jan 2012 21:43

Castles and Tower Houses of the Scottish Clans 1450-1650 (Fortress)

Purchase: Castles and Tower Houses of the Scottish Clans 1450-1650 (Fortress)

17 Jan 2012 22:13

Castles

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:42:41 +0000

The central three-story building, called a keep, donjon or great tower, is unique in its design, being of cruciform shape, with twenty corners. It was built in at least three stages, initially by Hugh de Lacy (c.1174) and then in 1196 and 1206 by Walter de Lacy. The keep was built on the site of a large ring work fortification that was burnt down in 1172 and rebuilt in 1173, following attacks by the Gaelic King of Connacht, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair Rory O'Connor.

Much of the interior of the castle was archaeologically excavated by David Sweetman of OPW in the 1970s and more extensively by Alan Hayden in the 1990s.

The surviving curtain walls are predominantly of two phases. The west and north sides of the enciente are defended by rectangular towers which date to the 1170s and 1180s while the other sides with its round towers dates to the very end of the twelfth century. There were two main gates into the castle. That at the west side dates to the 1170s and sits on top of s a demolished wooden gateway. The upper stories of the stone tower were later altered to a semi octagonal shape. A single round towered gate with an external barbican tower lies in the south wall and is known as the Dublin Gate. It dates from the 1190s.

Apart from the keep the main structures surviving in the castle consist of the following: an early 14th century three towered fore work defending the keep entrance and including stables within it which is accessed by a stone causeway crossing the partly in filled ditch of the earlier ringwork; a huge early fourteenth century three aisled great hall with an under croft beneath its east end opening via a water gate to the river; a huge defensive tower turned into a solar in the early fourteenth century at the northern angle of the castle; a smaller aisled hall added to the east end of the great hall in the fourteenth or fifteenth century; a building (possibly the mint) added to the east end of the latter hall; two fifteenth or sixteenth century stone buildings added inside the town gatehouse, 17th century buildings added to the end of the hall range and to the north side of the keep and a series of lime kilns, one dating from the late 12th century the remainder from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

This is your first blog entry. What are you waiting for? Replace this text with some of your own and start blogging!