The Parliament is housed in Leinster House, a mansion built as a city residence in the mid-1700's. The first Irish government moved here in 1922, and both the Dail (House of Representatives) and the Seanad (Senate) meet here 90 days a year.
A sculpture of Countess Constance Markievicz, a revolutionary nationalist, a suffragette, and a socialist, stands outside the visitors' entrance to the building. She was second in command at St. Stephen's Green during the Easter Rising of 1916. She had been the first women elected to Parliament but refused to take her seat because of her opposition to English rule over Ireland. She was imprisoned for her role in the Rising.
Above is the room where the 60-member Senate sits; this body is largely ceremonial although they can refer a bill back to the lower house for revision. Members are appointed, and a vote several years ago to abolish the Senate failed at the polls. Below is where the 166-member House of Representatives sits; it was built in 1897 as a lecture hall. The glass was added to the observation gallery for the visit of President Kennedy.
Above is a banner commemorating the 'Fighting Irish' - a NY brigade who fought in the Civil War and was led by Thomas Meagher ( one of the leaders of the failed 1798 rebellion who escaped from an Australian prison and went to the U.S.). This banner was presented to the Irish People by JFK when he visited. We heard several times from people we met in Ireland about the many Irish who fought on both sides during the U.S. Civil War.
As Parliament members enter the building, they walk between portraits of the leaders of both sides of the Irish Civil War of 1922/23 - a war which divided former comrades from the War for Independence. One side supported the 1921 treaty with the British which created the Irish Free State made up of 26 of the 32 Irish counties, and one opposed it, leading to additional bloodshed.
Ireland officially became a republic in 1948.
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