The Mansion House on Dawson Street, Dublin, is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin and has been since 1715. The portico to the front was erected for Queen Victoria's visit in 1900, to provide cover for the elderly Queen in her carriage.
The Round Room of the House is where the First Dáil assembled on January 21, 1919 to proclaim the Irish Declaration of Independence. Half a century later, on January 21, 1969 a special fiftieth anniversary joint session of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann assembled there and was addressed by the President of Ireland, Eamon de Valera.
The most famous occupants of The Mansion House include Lords Mayor
- Daniel O'Connell, the nineteenth century nationalist leader
- Alfie Byrne (1930s), the longest serving Lord Mayor in the 800 year history of the office
- Bertie Ahern (1986-87), who went on to become Taoiseach
Famous visitors to the mayoral residence include:
- HM Queen Victoria
- TSH Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 and September 14, 1982), later known as "Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco" was an Oscar-winning American film actress who became the wife of Prince Rainier III of Monaco. She was born in Philadelphia.
- HH Pope John Paul II Karol Jozef Wojtyla (born May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, Poland) was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years (1978-2005) and the first ever from a Slavic country. His crusades against political oppression were widely praised.
In the 1930s and 1940s, plans were made to demolish the building, and all other buildings on the block on which it is located (which covered an area on Dawson Street, Molesworth St., Kildare St. and the North side of St. Stephen's Green, to enable the building of a new Dublin City Hall. However the decision of the Irish Government to erect a new Department of Industry and Commerce on a site on the block, on Kildare Street, led to the abandonment of the plans.
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