Dublin Castle
From 1204 to 1922 he was the residence of English, and then British rule in Ireland. During this time, he served mainly as the residence of the Irish representative of the British monarch, the viceroy of Ireland and as a ceremonial and administrative center. The castle was originally designed as a medieval fortress by order of King John of England. It had four corner towers connected by high curtain walls and built around a large central building. Built on a hill, once occupied by an earlier Viking settlement, the old castle stood roughly on the site of the current Upper Castle. It remained largely intact until April 1684, when a large fire caused serious damage to most of the building. Despite the degree of fire, parts of the medieval and Viking structures have survived and can still be explored by visitors today.
John Scott Map View of Dublin Castle with a map of Charles Brooks to Dublin, c.1728Sir Henry Sydney
New castle
After the fire, a restoration campaign at the end of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries showed that the Castle had turned from a medieval bastion into a Georgian palace. The new building included a set of grand reception rooms, known as state apartments. These well-appointed spaces were placed by the viceroy and were at the center of great state affairs. In the first months of each year, the viceroy, and sometimes the visiting British monarch, received a lot of entertainment in public apartments. These holidays, known as the "season", included state balls, banquets and royal ceremonies for members of the aristocracy. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the castle was strengthened by the addition of the Royal Chapel in the Lower Castle. This magnificent structure of Gothic revival, bristling with the tops of the outside and rich decorative elements inside, provided a place of worship for the governor. Today it remains one of the architectural moments of Georgian Dublin.
Upper CastleFacade Chapel RoyalVid Lower Castle
Military Parade of St. Patrick's Day in Dublin Castle
From independence to modern times
On January 16, 1922, the last viceroy of Ireland handed over to Dublin Castle Michael Collins and the government of the young independent Irish state. The end of the British presence arose in connection with Easter in 1916 and the Irish War of Independence. These momentous events paved the way for the creation of the Republic of Ireland and were closely connected with the history of the Dublin Castle. From this historic moment, the tradition of the state ceremony has been preserved in the castle. Successive Irish governments continued to use it for important national events, such as state dinners and celebrations. Since 1938, each of the presidents of Ireland has been opened in St. Patrick’s Hall, the largest of the public apartments.
Over the centuries, Benjamin Franklin (1771), Duke of Wellington (1807), Daniel O'Connell (1841), Queen Victoria (1849, 1853, 1861 and 1900), Charles Dickens (1864), Countess Marquevich (1905) were included in Dublin Castle. ), 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, the author of Dracula, who worked here from 1866 to 1878. The castle now invites more than a quarter of a million visitors each year. We hope you enjoy following their footsteps.
