Dublin s Mansion House Tercentenary 1715-2015 A seminar to mark the 300 th anniversary of Dublin s Mayoral Residence in The Mansion House, Dawson Street, Dublin 2 Wednesday 29 April 2015 Booking essential to 01-674 4806 Or by e-mail to dublinpubliclibraries@dublincity.ie
The Mansion House is a building of distinction. It is the oldest free-standing house in Dublin, it is a rare example of Queen Anne style architecture in Dublin, it is the only remaining mayoral residence in Ireland and it is older than any surviving mayoral residence in Britain. Constructed in 1710 by property developer Joshua Dawson to be his town house, it was obtained by the then Dublin Corporation for use as the official residence of the Lord Mayor. On 18 May 1715, the Corporation purchased the house at a cost of 3,500 sterling and also agreed to pay a yearly rent to Dawson of forty shillings (later waived) and a loaf of double-refined sugar weighing six pounds each Christmas. In return, Joshua Dawson agreed to build on an extra room to the house which could be used for civic receptions - the famous Oak Room. The Oak Room continues to fulfil this function to this day and welcomes thousands of Dubliners, Irish and international visitors yearly. The Mansion House has been the centre of Dublin s civic life for nearly three hundred years. During the 18 th century, the annual City Ball was held in the Oak Room and the Lord Mayor dispensed generous hospitality, aided by a yearly grant of twenty thousand oysters from the civic oyster beds. In 1821, the Round Room was built beside the Mansion House for the visit of King George IV to Dublin and it was constructed in just six weeks. It has since seen many historic events, such as the first meeting of the First Dáil, held in the Round Room on 21 January 1919. In 1864, the original Supper Room was built to afford additional space for civic events; the current building, dating from the 1890s, is the third on this site. In recent years, the Round Room and Supper Room have hosted a range of public activities, ranging from Sales of Work and Antiques Fairs to Irish dancing competitions. Now, the Round Room and Supper Room have a new incarnation as a restaurant and banqueting hall. This seminar will look at the history and architecture of the Mansion House, and will explore how each of these influenced the other. The seminar will also look at the contribution of Lord Mayors down through the centuries and their role in shaping the texture of the Mansion House.
Schedule of seminar Venue: The Oak Room, Mansion House, Dawson Street, Dublin 2 10.30-10.45 Registration Wednesday 29 April 2015 10.45 Welcome by Lord Mayor Christy Burke 11.00 Dublin s Mansion House: 300 years of history and hospitality Mary Clark, Dublin City Archivist 11.45 Dublin s Mansion House: Historical and architectural context Nicola Matthews Conservation Officer, Dublin City Council 12.30-14.00 Lunch (not provided) 14.00 Dublin s Mansion House: An architectural survey Susan Roundtree, Conservation Architect 14.45 Dublin s Mansion House: A survey of furniture Patricia Wrafter Senior Executive Architect, Dublin City Council
Speakers Mary Clark is the Dublin City Archivist. She was a member of the inaugural National Archives Advisory Council; honorary secretary of the Irish Society for Archives and a member of the steering group for the local archives survey conducted by the Department of the Environment. She has published widely on the history of Dublin and was editor, along with Alastair Smeaton, of The Georgian Squares of Dublin, published by Dublin City Council in 2006. She has also worked on several exhibitions, including The Story of the Capital at Dublin s City Hall and A Vision of the City: Dublin and the Wide Streets Commissioners by Niall McCullough. She was awarded a doctorate in the History of Art by University College Dublin for her thesis on the Dublin Civic Portrait Collection, which is the subject of a forthcoming book. Nicola Matthews is architectural Conservation Officer for Dublin City Council, with input to the development of planning policy and control, coupled with good conservation practice. She trained at the Dublin Institute of Technology, Bolton Street and subsequently at University College Dublin, where her specialist topic for the Master s in Urban and Building Conservation was based on the construction of Georgian Dublin, focusing on the chronological development of Merrion Square. Her projects outside Dublin include the architectural survey of county Kilkenny for the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and the assessment of Kildare s historic farmhouses to produce guidelines for their conservation on behalf of Kildare County Council in partnership with the Heritage Council. Susan Roundtree is an RIAI Accredited Grade 1 Conservation Architect. A graduate of DIT, UCD and TCD, she has worked as an architect in private and public practice since 1977. Her work with Dublin City Council (1987-2014) has included, in recent years, conservation and repair works to key historic buildings in civic ownership including the Mansion House. Her published research includes an architectural history of Mountpleasant Square in The Georgian Squares of Dublin, 2006 and a history of the use of brick in eighteenth-century Dublin in The Eighteenth-Century Dublin Town House, 2010. Her book on local history Ranelagh in Pictures a Place in History was published in 2009.
Patricia Wrafter is an architect with Dublin City Council and is currently working on the interiors of 18 th century civic buildings. In 2008, Patricia was winner of the Rachel Mc Rory prize in for her Masters in Urban and Building Conservation Thesis The influence of Chinoiserie on Irish architecture in the 18 th century. She has lectured on the Influence of the Orient on Irish architecture and furniture and is currently researching into Neoclassical Chinoiserie, a previously unrecognised style of architecture first developed by Sir William Chambers, evident in his work at the Casino at Marino and Charlemont house, Dublin and later at Somerset House in London, for University College London. On this topic, she recently lectured in the Casino at Marino, Dublin for The Office of Public Works in Ireland. As part of her work, Patricia has carried out research in London, Paris and Ireland on oriental carpet design and in particular the history of carpet design in Dublin Castle which has influenced the selection and design of new carpets for the Mansion House. The Mansion House 1715-2015