Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Dublin Castle, and so it fell into disrepair. Sidney oversaw a 13-year building program
that saw the construction of a 'a verie faire house for the Lord Deputie or Chief Governor
to reside in' as well as a new chapel and the Clock Tower.
Sidney's new castle became the permanent residence of the monarch's chief represent-
ative - known at different times as the Justiciar, Chief Lieutenant, Lord Lieutenant or
Viceroy - until the construction of the vice-regal lodge in the Phoenix Park in 1781 (now
Áras an Uachtaráin, the residence of the President).
The new castle reflected the changing status of English power in Ireland - Henry's con-
quest of the whole island ('beyond the Pale') and his demolition of the old Anglo-Irish he-
gemony resulted in the castle no longer being a colonial outpost but the seat of English
power and the administrative centre for all of Ireland - a new role that brought with it a
huge civil service.
The Irish parliament met in the Great Hall, which burnt down (along with most of the
rest of the castle) in the great fire of 1684 - the parliament eventually moved in 1731 to
what is now the Bank of Ireland building in College Green.
Below ground, the castle dungeons were home to the state's most notorious prisoners,
including - most famously - 'Silken' Thomas Fitzgerald, whose defeated challenge to
Henry VIII in 1534 kicked off Henry's invasion of Ireland in the first place. Needless to
say, the native Irish came to view the castle as the most menacing symbol of their op-
pressed state.
When it was officially handed over to Michael Collins on behalf of the Irish Free State
in 1922, the British viceroy is reported to have rebuked Collins for being seven minutes
late. Collins replied, 'We've been waiting 700 years, you can wait seven minutes.' The
castle is now used by the Irish government for meetings and functions, and can only be
visited on a guided tour.
Chapel Royal
As you walk in to the grounds from the main Dame St entrance, there's a good example of
the evolution of Irish architecture: on your left is the
Victorian Chapel Royal
(occasionally part
of the Dublin Castle tours), decorated with more than 90 heads of various Irish personages
and saints carved out of Tullamore limestone. The interior is wildly exuberant, with fan
vaulting alongside quadripartite vaulting, wooden galleries, stained glass and lots of lively
looking sculpted angels.
