18-20 January 2019: Dublin City Council commemoration of first Dáil Éireann, Mansion House, Dublin 2
From Friday 18 January to Sunday 20 January 2019 Dublin City Council presented a series of open days in the Mansion House, Dublin 2, to mark the centenary of the first meeting of Dáil Éireann in the Mansion House on 21 January, 1919. Over three days, the public were invited to visit the building, and view the rooms where the public meetings and private sessions of the Dáil were held. The Round Room was also open on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 January, while the Lord Mayor’s coach was on display on Saturday 19 January.
Dublin City Council’s Historians in Residence were present, and a new exhibition entitled ‘The Mansion House: rebellion and democracy’ was launched. Souvenir pins and commemorative booklets were also available. Speaking prior to the event, 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 21 January 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 public open days took place from 10am to 8.30pm on 18 January, and from 10am to 5pm on 19 and 20 January. Admission free, all welcome on a first come first served basis.