Irish Government Buildings is a large edwardian building, centred on a quadrangle, in which some of the key offices in Irish government located. Among the offices of state located in the building are the The Edwardian period or Edwardian era in the United Kingdom is the period 1901 to 1910, the reign of King Edward VII. It is sometimes extended to include the period to the start of World War I in 1914 or even the end of the war in 1918. ...

Government Buildings
Merrion Street, Dublin.

• Department of the Taoiseach
• The Council Chamber (cabinet room)
• The Department of the Attorney General
• The Department of Finance

Parts of the building, which was formerly the Royal College of Science, have served as the seat of Irish government since 1922. The Attorney General (Irish: An Ard-Aighne) is the official adviser to the Irish Government in matters of law. ... The Irish Minister for Finance is the second most important ministerial position in the Irish Cabinet after that of the Taoiseach. ... 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Origins

The building that was to become Irish Government Buildings was the last major public building build under British rule in Ireland. The foundation stone for the building was laid by King Edward VII in 1904. It was built on the site of a row of georgian houses that were being controversially demolished one by one as the new building was erected. The building itself was designed by Sir Aston Webb, a British architect who was later to redesign the facade of Buckingham Palace. The final completed building was opened by King George V in 1911. His Majesty King Edward VII (9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King of the Commonwealth realms, and the Emperor of India. ... 1904 is a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Sir Aston Webb, portrait by Solomon Joseph Solomon, ca 1906 Sir Aston Webb (May 22, 1849 - August 21, 1930) was an English architect, active in the late 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century. ... Architect at his drawing board, 1893 An architect is a person involved in the art of planning, designing and overseeing the construction of buildings, or more generally, the designer of a scheme or plan. ... Buckingham Palace and the Victoria memorial. ... His Majesty King George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert Windsor, formerly Wettin) (3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was the last British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, changing the name to the House of Windsor in 1917. ... 1911 is a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ...

Sir Aston Webb
Architect of the new Royal College of Science.

It may have been intended for use by the Royal College of Science, but it soon attracted the attention of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland's Dublin Castle administration. It was chosen to be the location for the first meeting of the new Parliament of Southern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, in June 1921. The planned State Opening of Parliament proved a fiasco, as only four members of the House of Commons of Southern Ireland and a minority of members of the Senate of Southern Ireland turned up. The Houses were adjourned sine die (though the Commons did come back into session early in 1922 to approve the Anglo-Irish Treaty). This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Official standard of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (also known as the Viceroy or in the Middle Ages as the Lord Deputy) was the head of the Kingdom of Englands (before the Act of Union 1707) or Kingdom of Great Britains (after 1707... Dublin Castle in Dublin, Ireland was the seat of British rule in Ireland until 1922. ... The Parliament of Southern Ireland was set up under the Government of Ireland Act to legislate for Southern Ireland. ... An Act to Provide for the Better Government of Ireland, more usually the Government of Ireland Act, 1920 (this is its official short title; the formal citation is 10 & 11 Geo. ... June is the sixth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ... 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Sergeant-at-arms Gus Cloutier holding the ceremonial mace to open a sitting of the 38th Canadian parliament with Prime Minister Paul Martin in background (10/4/04) In the United Kingdom, the State Opening of Parliament is an annual event held usually in October or November that marks the... House of Commons of Southern Ireland was the lower house of the Irish parliament created by the Government of Ireland Act, passed in 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. ... The Senate of Southern Ireland (1921-1922) was the upper house of the Parliament of Southern Ireland theoretically established by the 1920 Government of Ireland Act. ... Signature page of the Anglo-Irish Treaty The Anglo-Irish Treaty was a treaty between the British government and the Irish Republic which brought the Anglo-Irish War to an end and established the Irish Free State. ...

With the coming into existence of the Irish Free State in December 1922 Leinster House, the headquarters of the Royal Dublin Society, located next door to the Royal College of Science, became the provisional seat of the Free State's parliament, Oireachtas of Saorstát Éireann. The Executive Council of the Irish Free State immediately comandeered part of the college as temporary office space. Two years later the Free State decided to buy Leinster House outright from the RDS. The Irish Free State (Irish: Saorstát Éireann) was (1922–1937) the name of the state comprising the 26 of Irelands 32 counties which were separated from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Irish Free State Agreement (or Anglo-Irish Treaty) signed by British and Irish... December is the twelfth and last month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... Leinster House is the former palace of the Duke of Leinster. ... The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) was founded in 1731. ... From 1922-1937 the Oireachtas was the legislature, or parliament, of the Irish Free State. ... The Executive Council (Irish: Ard-Chomhairle) was the cabinet and de facto executive branch of government of the 1922-1937 Irish Free State. ...

The building was opened by King George V in 1911

Government usage of part of the Royal College of Science also became permanent. George V of the United Kingdom This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... George V of the United Kingdom This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...

The original government buildings (1922-1991)

From 1922 to 1991 the former College of Science building was divided between a number of bodies. The wing to the right of the main entrance (the north wing) was used by the Department of the President, later in 1938 renamed Department of the Taoiseach. The Attorney General, the Department of Justice and other offices also occupied that wing of the building. The south wing was occupied permanently by the Department of Finance. The centre block of the courtyard under the dome was still used by the Royal College of Science, and later when it merged with University College Dublin, by students from the Faculty of Engineering. Over the decades, some departments moved out to purpose built offices, leaving the north wing for the Taoiseach, Government Secretariat and Attorney General. The President of the Executive Council (Irish: Uachtaráin na hArd-Chomhairle) was the head of government or prime minister of the 1922-1937 Irish Free State, and the leader of the Executive Council (cabinet). ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform is the chief minister in charge of law and order in the Republic of Ireland. ... University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin - more commonly University College Dublin (UCD) - is Irelands largest university, with over 20,000 students. ... Engineering is the application of science to the needs of humanity. ...

The current Government Buildings

In the mid-1980s, increasingly unhappy at the cramped office space, Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald decided to convert the entire building for government use. This policy was implemented by his successor, Charles J. Haughey, who had the state sell a block of georgian houses across the road, which up to then had been in state ownership, for £17 million to fund the rebuild. A new engineering faculty was also built on University College Dublin's Belfield campus at tens of millions of pounds. The Taoiseach (plural: Taoisigh) or, more formally, An Taoiseach, is the head of government of the Republic of Ireland and the leader of the Irish cabinet1. ... Dr. Garret FitzGerald (Irish: Gearóid MacGearailt) (born February 9, 1926) was the seventh Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, serving two terms in office; July 1981 to February 1982, and December 1982 to March 1987. ... Charles James Haughey (born September 16, 1925) was the sixth Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland. ... Belfield is a suburb located in the south of Irelands capital city Dublin. ... Campus is Latin for field or open space. English gets the words camp and campus from this origin. ...

Charles J. Haughey, TD
Though the rebuild was initially approved by his precedessor, Haughey got both the credit and the blame for the decision.

Much of the original interior of the original building was gutted to facilitate the creation of a state-of-the-art new government office. Haughey finally moved into the new building in 1991. Critics of the expenditure, at a time when Ireland was in financial difficulties, nicknamed the building the Chaz Mahal and Charlie Haughey. However criticism of the redesigned building soon died away and it won major architectural awards for its design, with world leaders like British Prime Minister John Major praising it to then Taoiseach Albert Reynolds when he visited the building to meet him. 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is the head of government, exercising many of the executive functions nominally vested in the Sovereign, who is head of state. ... The Right Honourable Sir John Major, KG, CH (born 29 March 1943) is a British politician who served in the Cabinets of Margaret Thatcher as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer before succeeding Thatcher as Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister of the United... Albert Reynolds (born November 3, 1932) was the eighth Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland from 1992 to 1994. ...

The new building included a state-of-the-art suite of offices for the Taoiseach and his staff, a set of visually striking committee rooms, new offices, canteen facilities, a helicopter pad and a new press briefing room. Originally the Office of Public Works had planned a new cabinet suite of rooms also. However the Government opted to continue to use the Council Chamber which had been the cabinet room for all Irish governments since 1922. The Office of Public Works (OPW) is responsible for Irish Government and historic buildings in the Republic of Ireland. ...

Irish state & public buildings pre- & post-independence

Áras an Uachtaráin (formerly the Viceregal Lodge) | Central Bank of Ireland | Chapel Royal | Collins Barracks | Custom House | Dublin Castle | Farmleigh | Four Courts | General Post Office (GPO) | Government Buildings | Green Street Court House | Old Parliament House Leinster House image of Dublins main court building. ... Áras an Uachtaráin (formerly the Viceregal Lodge) is the official residence of the President of Ireland, located in the Phoenix Park on the Northside of Dublin1. ... Banc Ceannais na hÉireann or the Central Bank of Ireland is the Republic of Ireland which had control of the issue of Irish banknotes and coins. ... The Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle was the official Anglican chapel of the Household of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from mediæval times until the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. ... The Custom House is a palladian 18th century building in Dublin, Ireland which houses the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government. ... Dublin Castle in Dublin, Ireland was the seat of British rule in Ireland until 1922. ... Farmleigh was formerly one of the Dublin residences of the Guinness brewing family. ... The Four Courts in Dublin is the Republic of Irelands main courts building. ... The General Post Office (GPO), designed by Francis Johnson is located in Dublins OConnell Street, is the headquarters of An Post, the Irish postal service. ... The Irish Houses of Parliament (also known as the Irish Parliament House, now called the Bank of Ireland, College Green due to its modern day use as a branch of the bank) was the worlds first purpose-built two-chamber parliament house. ... Leinster House is the former palace of the Duke of Leinster. ...