Dublin Castle (Day 8, Part 2 of 3)

 Les found the Dublin Castle on MAPS.ME and we decided to check it out.

There were two options available for visiting the castle.  A self-guided tour of the State Apartments or a guided tour, which also included the State Apartments.  For about 10 Euros each we booked the guided tour.  The next tour wouldn't start for an hour so we did the self-guided portion first.

 

Dublin Castle is one of the most important buildings in Irish history.  From 1204 until 1922 it was the seat of English, and later British, rule in Ireland. During that time, it served principally as a residence for the British monarch’s Irish representative, the Viceroy of Ireland, and as a ceremonial and administrative center.

 

 

The James Connolly Room is an important landmark in the story of the Easter Rising of 1916.  The room was once part of the Viceroy’s quarters. In 1915 this room, together with the rest of the State Apartments, became a Red Cross Hospital for soldiers wounded in World War I. It was here, in 1916, that James Connolly was treated for the injuries he had sustained in leading the Easter Rising.  The rebellion resulted in the execution of the rebel leaders. On 12 May 1916, James Connolly was brought from here to be executed at Kilmainham Gaol (jail.)

 

These are pictures of the Rebellion leaders.  The seven men signed "The Proclamation of the Irish Republic" used during the Easter Rising.  It proclaimed Ireland's independence from the United Kingdom. The reading of the proclamation by Padraig Pearse outside the General Post Office (GPO) on Sackville Street (now called O'Connell Street), Dublin's main thoroughfare, marked the beginning of the Rising on April 24, 1916.

On January 16, 1922, the last ever Viceroy of Ireland handed Dublin Castle over to Michael Collins and the government of the newly-independent Irish state. The end of the British presence had come about in the wake of the Easter Rising of 1916 and the Irish War of Independence.

 

Since that historic moment, a tradition of state ceremony has been maintained at the Castle. Successive Irish governments have continued to use it for important national events, such as state dinners and commemorations. Since 1938, each one of Ireland’s presidents has been inaugurated in St Patrick’s Hall, the grandest of the State Apartments.

 

 

Over the centuries, those entertained at Dublin Castle have included Benjamin Franklin (1771), the Duke of Wellington (1807), Daniel O’Connell (1841), Queen Victoria (1849, 1853, 1861 & 1900), Charles Dickens (1864), Countess Markievicz (1905), Princess Grace of Monaco (1961), John F. Kennedy (1963), Charles de Gaulle (1969), Nelson Mandela (1990) and Queen Elizabeth II (2011). Among the famous figures associated with the Castle was Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, who worked here from 1866 to 1878.  

 

The State Corridor was designed in 1758. It provided access to a series of formal State reception rooms overlooking the main courtyard, as well as to the quarters of the Viceroy and his family overlooking the Castle gardens.

 

The State Drawing Room was created in 1838 and was used mainly by successive Vicereines (the wives of the Viceroys) as a formal sitting room and for holding audiences with Irish courtiers. During the royal visits of 1907 and 1911 Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary also received guests in this room. The room is still used by the President of Ireland for the reception of visiting dignitaries.

 

I noticed this special chair and immediately said, "Gossip chair!"  Les had never heard of such a thing.  The Tête-à-Tête goes by many names - gossip’s chair, courting bench, kissing bench, conversation bench.  The tête-à-tête was made for intimate interactions, whether they’re quiet chats between friends or quick kisses between sweethearts. The French name’s literal translation is “head-to-head.”

 

While the tête-à-tête’s exact origins are debated, it was hugely popular in homes of the Victorian elite, found in formal parlors, sitting rooms, and large entryways.  It was meant for lovers—but with a catch. Dating in the Victorian era was famously buttoned-up, with chaperones supervising young couples at every point in the courting process. So the tête-à-tête was perfect for romantic rendezvous—allowing duos to sit close without ever touching.  Another theory is that these chairs were designed with bad habits in mind, to facilitate the indiscreet gossip and whispering that was so rampant in 19th-century French salons.  Thus "gossip chair."

Next up was the Throne Room.  It was created in 1788 as an audience chamber in which the Viceroy received guests on behalf of the British monarch. It was also where young debutantes were presented at court to mark their formal entry into aristocratic society. The throne was made for the visit to Ireland of King George IV, in 1821. It was later used by Queen Victoria and King Edward VII during their visits to the Castle. The last monarch to use it before Irish independence was King George V, in 1911.

 

 

 

The Portrait Gallery contains a collection of portraits of Irish Viceroys that have hung on its walls since 1849. The room’s main function was as a dining room where State dinners were held. In the early eighteenth century, expensive and exotic foods such as anchovies, mangoes, caviar and orange blossom water were served here, reflecting the wealth and status of the Viceroy and his court. The room continues to be used for State receptions by the Irish government today. 

 

The Wedgwood Room takes its name from the blue and white decorative scheme that recalls the colors of Wedgwood pottery. It was completed in 1777 in the neoclassical style and later became the Castle’s billiard room. 

 

We finished up in the State Apartments, then met up with our tour group.  Our guide, Pat, was a delightful Irishman with a wonderful way of telling stories.  With his walking stick in his hand, he shuffled in a semi-circle as he talked.

Pat took us below the Castle where excavations have uncovered parts of the structure of the medieval castle alongside the remains of some of Viking Dublin’s original defenses. These defenses take the form of a stone covered embankment, a section of which has been preserved within the massive circular walls of the thirteenth-century Powder Tower.  The Vikings arrived in Ireland around 800 AD. It was the Vikings who named the spot where the Liffey and the Poddle rivers meet as "Dubh Linn". The name Dublin comes from Dubh Linn or the "black pool".  We didn't take any pictures while we were in there.  This is from the Dublin Castle website.  

 

We stepped back outside and crossed the courtyard.

 

We then entered the Chapel Royal.  There has been a chapel at Dublin Castle since at least 1242. 

 

 

 

The present chapel was designed by Francis Johnston and was opened, as the Anglican chapel of the Viceroy, on Christmas Day 1814. Although several times smaller than Johnston’s nearby General Post Office, it was as expensive to build. It became known as the Chapel Royal after King George IV attended service on September 2, 1821. 

Following Irish independence in 1922, it lay dormant before becoming a Roman Catholic church in 1943. It is now de-consecrated. 

The galleries and stained glass windows are ornamented with coats of arms representing many of Ireland’s Viceroys. The arms of the last Viceroy, Lord Fitz Alan Howard, filled the very last available space in the last available window when they were installed in 1922.

 

 

 

Pat pointed out one more thing as we were finishing our tour.  The Iustitia, more commonly known as Lady Justice, situated over one of the gates that gives access to the central courtyard of Dublin Castle.  The statue was erected by the British authorities in 1751. Its design was a source of outrage and amusement for many in Dublin city, for it betrays many of the characteristics that statues of this type normally exhibit. 

 

Lady Justice is often pictured blindfolded, so as to be blind to discrimination. Here she is fully able to see. Her scales, normally depicted as being perfectly leveled are actually tilted to the Revenue office. The sword she carries, which frequently points downwards (though not always), is held upright and she gazes at it with a smile on her face.

 

Her position on the building is what drew most attention to the statue. While statues of this kind can be found on government buildings all over the world, the majority of these statues faces out over the city and its people. Only in Dublin Castle does she face inward to the courtyard, turning her back on the people of the city. This obscure positioning of the statue gave rise to the saying: “The Statue of Justice, mark well her station, her face to the castle and her back to the nation!”

 

We were a hungry duo by the time we finished our tour.  I'll tell you tomorrow about how we finished off our day.