Leinster House
Teach Laighean
Main façade of Leinster House
Location within central Dublin
General information
Architectural style	Georgian
Location	Kildare Street, Dublin, Ireland
Coordinates	53°20′26″N 6°15′14″W / 53.34055°N 6.254021°W / 53.34055; -6.254021
Current tenants	Oireachtas
Construction started	1745
Completed	1748

Leinster House (Irish: Teach Laighean) is the name of the building housing the Oireachtas, the national parliament of Ireland.

Leinster House was originally the ducal palace of the Dukes of Leinster. Since 1922, it is a complex of buildings, of which the former ducal palace is the core, which house Oireachtas Éireann, its members and staff. The most recognisable part of the complex, and the 'public face' of Leinster House, continues to be the former ducal palace at the core of the complex.

The ducal palace[link]

Leinster House was the former ducal residence in Dublin of the Duke of Leinster, and since 1922 served as the parliament building of the Irish Free State, 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.

From home of a parliamentarian to home of a parliament[link]

Ireland's parliament over the centuries had met in a number of locations, most notably in the Irish Houses of Parliament at College Green, next to Trinity College, Dublin. Its medieval parliament consisted of two Houses, a House of Commons and a 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 Social Season and parliamentary sessions, he and his family resided in state in a Dublin residence. (For the rest of the year, they used a number of country residences, notably Frescati House in Blackrock.)

Leinster House in 1911, decorated for the visit of King George V.
The statue of Queen Victoria in the courtyard was removed in 1947. This view shows the original ducal palace at the heart of a spreading complex of buildings.

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, 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. (They ended up as slums.) The building itself was designed by acclaimed architect Richard Cassels.^[1]

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.^[2] Its first and second floors were used as the floor model for the White House by its Irish architect, while the house itself was used as a model for the original stone-cut White House exterior.

One famous member of the family who occasionally resided in Leinster House was Lord Edward FitzGerald, who became involved with Irish nationalism during the 1798 Rebellion, which cost him his life. With the passage of the 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 case to buy residences in London, where the new united parliament met.

RDS headquarters 1815–1922[link]

The 3rd Duke of Leinster sold Leinster House in 1815 to the Royal Dublin Society. At the end of the nineteenth century, two new wings were added, to house the National Library of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland. The Natural History Museum was built on the site. Part of this scheme intended to re-clad the house in more attractive Portland stone and extend the portico outwards (as opposed to being attached). This was not undertaken.

Oireachtas from 1922[link]

Dáil Chamber (former RDS Lecture Theatre), Leinster House, 2008

The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 provided for the creation of a self-governing Irish 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. 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, it was decided to hire the main RDS Lecture Theatre attached to Leinster House for use in December 1922 as a temporary Dáil chamber. The building was bought outright from the RDS in 1924.^[2]

In 1924, due to financial constraints, plans to turn the Royal Hospital into a parliament house were abandoned; Leinster House instead was bought, pending the provision of a proper parliament house at some stage in the future. A new Senate or Seanad chamber was created in Duke's old ballroom, while wings from the neighbouring Royal College of Science were taken over as 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 a state of the art Government Buildings. Both the National Library and National Museum wings next to Leinster House remain used by as a library and museum and are not attached to the parliamentary complex. While plans were often made to provide a brand-new parliament house (sites considered included the Phoenix Park and the Custom House), the Oireachtas has remained permanently located in Leinster House.

Since then, a number of extensions have been added, most recently in 2000, to provide adequate office space for 166 TDs, 60 senators, members of the press and other staff. Among the world leaders who have visited Leinster House to address joint sessions of the Oireachtas are US Presidents John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Australian Prime Ministers Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, John Howard and French President François Mitterrand.

A number of monuments stand, or have stood, around Leinster House. Its Kildare Street frontage used to be dominated by a large statue of Queen Victoria, first unveiled by King Edward VII in 1904. The statue was nicknamed "the old bitch" and was removed in 1947. It was re-erected in the 1990s in Sydney, Australia. Facing its 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 and Kevin O'Higgins, the Chairman of the Provisional Government and the Vice-President of the Executive Council (deputy prime minister), both of whom were assassinated, in 1922 and 1927 respectively. Another statue commemorates the Prince Consort, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who held his major Irish Exhibition on Leinster Lawn in the 1850s.

Extensions[link]

The main building has undergone regular extensions from Victorian times, through to a major extension to create offices for TDs in the 1960s, to most recently the building of Leinster House 2000, a new block of offices built to the north of the original ducal palace.

The main extensions are:

• the Victorian additions to the complex which contain the Dáil Chamber
• a 1930s addition which houses Labour Party TDs and Senators
• the so-called Five Story Block which was built circa 1967 and which houses Fine Gael TDs and senators, with two restaurants and two bars at ground floor level and which houses the office suite of the leader of the largest party in the Oireactas (currently Fine Gael) and the party's meeting rooms.
• Leinster House 2000, a new millennium wing erected in 2000 and which houses members of all parties, committee rooms and contains the office suites of the leaders of Labour and Fianna Fáil
• some modern offices across Kildare Street in Kildare House
• the top floors of Agriculture House, the Department of Agriculture building which on those floors house offices for independent TDs and independent senators
• offices on Molesworth Street which are used also by some members of the Oireachtas, most notably the office provided for former taoisigh.

To facilitate the building of Leinster House 2000, and so the temporary closure of the parking spaces at the Kildare Street side of Leinster House which was needed for access to the new wing's site by builders, Leinster Lawn on the Merrion Square side of the building was partially turned into a temporary car park.

Though the Kildare Street side car park was restored for use quickly, a considerable increase in staff numbers and media numbers working in the Leinster House required that the temporary car park on Leinster Lawn remain in use. Plans to replace parking at both sides of Leinster House with an underground car park fell through. Despite this the lawn on the Leinster House side has been reinstated, though not to the same specifications as the original which has led to some anger from conservationists.

Safety in the building[link]

A commissioned report delivered to the Ceann Comhairle's office (chairman's office) in 2008 cast serious doubts on the safety of the main former ducal palace without major remedial work. Outlining a risk to the "personal safety of occupants", the "personal health of occupants" and the "safety and health of the public" it outlined nine serious risks to the building, due to a combination of factors, including:

• the age of the building
• renovations over the centuries to the ducal palace made by its various owners which were substandard
• significant overloading of floors on upper levels
• inadequate and outdated wiring

If repairs were not carried out it outlined as a worst case scenario "The facility is damaged/contaminated beyond habitable use. Most items/assets are lost, destroyed or damaged beyond repair/restoration."^[3]

The Irish government opted not to close the former ducal palace for immediate renovation (partly due to cost and partly due to the difficulty the Oireachtas would have in functioning, given that the former ducal palace is a central point through which members and staff have to travel to access other parts of the complex). Instead an ongoing process of renovation was commenced, with the upper floor of the former ducal palace cleared of journalists (it had been the base for many) due to the floor's overloading. The journalists previously based on that floor were moved to parliamentary offices outside the complex on Molesworth Street.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• David J. Griffin and Caroline Pegum, Leinster House 1744 - 2000 An Architectural History. The Irish Architectural Archive in association with The Office of Public Works (2000)

External links[link]

• Leinster House Website

Coordinates: 53°20′26″N 6°15′14″W / 53.34055°N 6.254021°W / 53.34055; -6.254021

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Leinster Laighin / Cúige Laighean
Flag
State	Ireland
Counties	Carlow Dublin Kildare Kilkenny Laois Longford Louth Meath Offaly Westmeath Wexford Wicklow
Government
• Teachta Dála	36 Fine Gael TDs 27 Labour Party TDs 8 Fianna Fáil TDs 7 Sinn Féin TDs 6 Independent TDs 4 ULA TDs
Area
• Total	19,800 km2 (7,644 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	2,501,208 (1st)

Leinster (/ˈlɛnstər/ — Irish: Laighin / Cúige Laighean — pronounced [ˈl̪ˠaːjɪnʲ]) is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled both, thereby forming the present-day province of Leinster. The ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes. In later centuries, local government legislation has seen further sub-division of the historic counties. In modern times, clusters of counties have been attributed to certain provinces but these clusters have no legal status. The province itself, while enjoying common usage and forming a strong part of local identity, has no official function for local government purposes. The population of Leinster is 2,501,208 according to the 2006 census, making it the most populous province in the country.^[1] The traditional flag of Leinster features a golden harp on a green background.

History[link]

Early history[link]

Leinster, province of Ireland (Hogg, 1784)

The Gaelic Kingdom of Leinster before 1171 was considerably smaller than today's province. The first part of the name Leinster derives from Laigin, the name of a major tribe that once inhabited the area. The latter part of the name derives either from the Irish tír or the Old Norse staðr, both of which translate as "land" or "territory".

The tribes of Leinster were united by Úgaine Mor (Hugony, the Great), who supposedly built the hill-fort of Dún Ailinne, near Kilcullen, County Kildare. He is a likely, but uncertain candidate as the first historical king of Laigin (Leinster) in the 7th century BC. The kingdom of Laigin was re-founded circa 175/185 AD following a period of civil wars in Ireland by the legendary Cathair Mor. Finn Mac Cool, or Fionn mac Cumhaill, was reputed to have built a stronghold at the Hill of Allen, on the edge of the Bog of Allen, in what was then Leinster.

In the 4th and 5th centuries, after Magnus Maximus left Britain with his legions, leaving a power vacuum, colonists from Laigin settled in North Wales, specifically in Anglesey, Carnarvonshire and Denbighshire. In Wales some of the Leinster-Irish colonists left their name on the Llŷn Peninsula, which derives its name from Laigin.

By the 8th century, the rulers of Laigin had split into two dynasties:

• Northern Leinster dynasty: Murchad mac Brain (d. 727), King of Uí Dúnlainge, and joint leader of the Laigin
• Southern Leinster dynasty: Áed mac Colggen (d. 738), King of Uí Cheinnselaig, and joint leader of the Laigin

After the death of the last Kildare-based King of Laigin, Murchad Mac Dunlainge in 1042, the kingship of Leinster reverted to the Uí Cheinnselaig sept based in the south east, now County Wexford. This southern dynasty gave all the later Kings of Leinster.

Kingdom of Ireland period[link]

The ancient Kingdom of Mide today encompasses much of counties Meath and Westmeath. The parishes of Annally and Lusmagh in County Offaly were formerly part of Connacht. County Louth was formerly part of Ulster. The last major boundary changes occurred with the formation of County Wicklow (1603–1606), from lands in the north of Carlow (which previously extended to the sea) and most of southern Dublin. The provincial borders were redrawn by Cromwell for administration and military reasons. Later minor changes dealt with "islands" of one county in another. By the late 1700's, Leinster looked as shown in the above map of 1784.

Leinster represents the extended "English Pale", counties controlled directly from Dublin, at the beginning of the 1600's. The other Provinces had their own regional Presidency systems, based on a Welsh model of administration, in theory if not in fact from the 1570s and 1580s up to the 1670s, and were considered separate entities. Gradually "Leinster" subsumed the term of "The Pale", as the difference between the old Pale area and the wider province, now under English administration, grew less distinct.

Counties and Counties Corporate[link]

Following the abolition of County Dublin, three successor counties were created that cover the same area. They are Dún Laoghaire Rathdown^[2], Fingal and South Dublin. To these may be added the historic County Corporate of the city of Dublin, which, under the terms of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 was abolished to be succeeded by the County borough of Dublin. This was is in turn abolished under the terms of the Local Government Act 2001 and the area is now under the jurisdiction of Dublin City Council. The remaining counties of the province are Kildare, Offaly, Laois, Wexford, Carlow, Wicklow, Louth, Meath, Westmeath, Longford and Kilkenny. While Kilkenny city was once a county corporate, by the terms of the 1898 Act it became part of the administrative county.^[3] although it retains the privilege of calling itself a city.

Irish language[link]

There are 39,594 Irish speakers; 1,299 native speakers in the Meath Gaeltacht and this doesn't count the 19,348 attending the 66 Gaelscoils (Irish language primary schools) and 15 Gaelcholáiste (Irish language secondary schools) all across the province. According to the Irish Census 2006 there are 18,947 daily speakers outside the education system in the province.

Leinster today[link]

The main urban areas in order of size (2006 census figures; urban areas with over 10,000 inhabitants) are:

According to the CSO regional income report, GDP for the province of Leinster in 2004 was estimated to be over 75 billion Euro.

See also[link]

• Kings of Leinster
• Duke of Leinster
• Leinster (European Parliament constituency)
• Leinster House
• Leinster GAA
• Leinster Rugby

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Foster, R. F. The Oxford History of Ireland. Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York, 1992. ISBN 0-19-285271-X (references to Irish colony in North Wales, Lleyn Peninsula, page 6)
• Kings, Saints and Sagas, Alfred. P. Smyth, in Wicklow:History and Society, 1994. ISBN 7980906602300
• Settlement patterns in the early historic kingdom of Leinster (seventh-mid twelfth centuries), Mark Clinton, in Seanchas:Studies in Early and Medieval Irish Archaeology, History and Literature in Honour of Francis John Byrne, ed. Alfred P. Smyth, pp. 275–298, Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2000.
• Kings, the kingship of Leinster, and the regnal poems of "laidshenchas Laigen":a reflection of dynastic politics in Leinster, 650-1150, Edel Bhreathnach, Seanchas ...", pp. 299–312.

External links[link]

• 2006 Town population estimates
• CSO Irish Regional Income/GDP 2004 Report
• [http://www.gaelscoileanna.ie/assets/Staitistic%C3%AD-2010-2011_Gaeilge.pdf Gaelscoil stats

• Irish census 2006 -
• Gaeltacht Comprehensive Language Study 2007

v t e Counties of Ireland The counties are listed per province Connacht Galway Leitrim Mayo Roscommon Sligo Munster Clare Cork Kerry Limerick Tipperary (North Tipperary · South Tipperary) Waterford Leinster Carlow Dublin (Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown · Fingal · South Dublin) Kildare Kilkenny Laois Longford Louth Meath Offaly Westmeath Wexford Wicklow Ulster Antrim† Armagh† Cavan Donegal Down† Fermanagh† Londonderry† Monaghan Tyrone† Italics denote non-administrative counties. Brackets denote non-traditional counties. †denotes non-administrative counties of Northern Ireland

Coordinates: 53°20′52″N 6°15′35″W / 53.34778°N 6.25972°W / 53.34778; -6.25972

Mattie McGrath (born 1 September 1958) is an Irish politician. He is currently a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Tipperary South constituency.^[1] He was elected as a Fianna Fáil TD at the 2007 general election.^[2][3]

Political career[link]

McGrath was educated at St. Joseph's College, Cahir; Kildalton Agricultural College, County Kilkenny and University College Cork. He was a member of South Tipperary County Council from 1999–2007, and served as chairperson of the council in 2004–05.

McGrath was found not guilty of assault of a teenager in south Tipperary following a trial in 2008.^[4][5] McGrath made a complaint to the Garda Ombudsman's office in relation to the handling of the investigation.^[6]

In October 2009, McGrath criticised the proposal by Noel Dempsey to lower the legal level of alcohol in drivers, claiming that for some people a small amount of alcohol made them less nervous behind the wheel, though he said he didn't condone drunk driving.^[7][8] His comments were criticised by Road Safety Authority chairman Gay Byrne and the Automobile Association.^[7][8]

In June 2010, McGrath accused Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government John Gormley of the Green Party of bullying Fianna Fáil over the bill to ban stag hunting, which was passed in the Dáil on 29 June 2010. Gormley said the bill was a part of the renewed programme for government and that it was a relatively minor piece of legislation, which should not have taken up so much Dáil time. McGrath voted against the bill and lost the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party whip as a result.^[9] He explained he was independent minded and would not be silenced by anybody.^[10] He further qualified his support for the government in September 2010.^[11]

On 25 January 2011, McGrath announced that he was leaving the Fianna Fáil party and would contest the 2011 general election as an independent candidate.^[12] He denied that he was cynically resigning from the party in an attempt to save his own Dáil seat, saying that he had run out of “final straws” with Fianna Fáil. He also said that widespread unemployment, pay cuts, negative equity, the recent price hike at health insurer VHI and the recent leadership debacle had forced his hand.^[13]

At the election on 25 February, McGrath secured his seat on the fifth count, having polled 14.7 per cent of the first preferences, defeating a challenge from Labour's Senator Phil Prendergast.^[14] He is currently a member of the Dáil Technical Group.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website