AS this year marks the Centenary of the First Dáil, the Lord Mayor of Dublin has invited everyone to visit the Mansion House.
To commemorate the first meeting of Dáil Éireann in the Mansion House 100 years ago, on January 21, 1919, the Lord Mayor, Nial Ring, is throwing open the doors of the Mansion House on Dawson Street, to see where this historic event took place.
Over three days, from January 18–20, the public are invited to walk through the House and see the rooms where many significant meetings and decisions were made, and view the areas where the public meetings and private sessions of the Dáil were held.
Dublin City Council’s Historians in Residence will be there to talk about the Dáil and answer your questions and there will also be a new exhibition entitled ‘The Mansion House: Rebellion & Democracy’ on display with other memorabilia.
You will also be able to view the Round Room (Friday and Saturday only), take a selfie with the Lord Mayor’s coach (Saturday only) and pick up a free souvenir pin and a special First Dáil commemorative booklet.
The public open days are free and all are welcome on a first come, first served basis.
Lord Mayor of Dublin, Nial Ring, said: “In the Revolutionary years, the Mansion House was an important place for meetings and political gatherings, with the historic meeting of the first Dáil Eireann taking place on January 21, 1919.
“It is fitting that I should open the House to the public for a few days so that people can visit to see and experience the birthplace of the Dáil, a political institution which we all have a role in. Now you can see where it all began.
“As my predecessor, Lord Mayor Laurence O’Neill, who granted use of the Mansion House to hold the first Dáil meetings, said: ‘We are in the freest spot upon earth and from time to time there met within the portals of the Mansion House people of different degrees – socially, politically and perhaps, morally. Indeed, on the flag outside might be inscribed the legend that the Mansion House is the Home of Civil and Religious Liberty’.”
The first meeting of Dáil Éireann occurred on January 21, 1919 in the Round Room of the Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin.
In the aftermath of the Easter Rising of 1916 Sinn Féin, the party founded by Arthur Griffith in 1905, was reorganised and grew into a nationwide movement.
The party contested the December 1918 general election and swept the country, winning 73 of the 105 Irish seats.
Acting on the pledge not to take up their seats in the Westminster parliament, but instead to set up an Irish legislative assembly, 27 of the newly-elected Sinn Féin representatives met and constituted themselves as the first Dáil Éireann.
The Dáil asserted the exclusive right of the elected representatives of the Irish people to legislate for the country.
The Members present adopted a Provisional Constitution and approved a Declaration of Independence. The Dáil also approved a Democratic Programme, based on the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic, and read and adopted a message to the free nations of the world.
The dates and times of the public open days are as follows:
•Friday, January 18, from 10am- 8.30pm (The Mansion House and viewing of the Round Room at the Mansion House);
•Saturday, January 19, from 10am–5pm (The Mansion House, including the Lord Mayor’s Coach on the Forecourt (until 4pm), and viewing of the Round Room at the Mansion House); and
•Sunday, January 20, from 10am–5pm ( The Mansion House).
The Round Room will not be available to view on Sunday due to centenary related events.