VISIT TO ARAS AN UACHTARAIN 22 MAY 2010
A note by Eamon Henry.
Date 23 May 2010
A very enjoyable visit to Aras an Uachtarain, official residence of the President of Ireland, was made on Saturday 22 May 2010 by eighteen members of the Active Senior IT Society (ASITS). The main objective was to be taken on a guided tour of the Aras, an historic building near the Phoenix Monument in Phoenix Park, located on the western edge of Dublin City.
We assembled at the Visitors’ Centre, organized and led by Mrs. Angela Hickey, so as to start our tour at 11.30 a.m. Before starting, a 20-minute descriptive film of the Park’s history was available for viewing, starting from about the year 1660 with the Park’s foundation as a royal deer-park, of area roughly 2,200 acres. Fallow deer brought from England still have their descendents living in the Park.
The word “Phenix” now spelled “Phoenix” derives from the Gaelic “Fionn Uisge”, meaning “clear water” and referring to a spring well in the Park grounds.
This film obviously covers a wider theme than that of the history of the Aras building as such.
The Park’s history will not be discussed further in this note.
As for the history of the Aras, a two-storied brick house built in 1751 was bought in 1782 by the British Government as a part-time residence for the British Viceroy who functioned in Dublin. From about 1800 to 1900 this building and surrounding grounds were developed by architects and stylists to become of palatial elegance. It had ceremonial importance and became the centre for fashionable society. Queen Victoria visited here on three occasions, and in 1911 her grandson George V visited it.
After Irish independence was established in 1921, this house became the residence of the Governor General until 1930.
In 1938 the house became “Aras an Uachtarain” meaning “House of the President”, with the first President of Ireland, Douglas Hyde, making his home there. Successive Presidents have also lived there, up to the present occupant, President Mary McAleese. The Aras is used as a venue for formal State occasions involving the President, such as receiving visiting heads of state, dissolving Dail Eireann, and presenting new government ministers with their seals of office.
Only a brief description of the Aras interior is possible in this note. A small portion of the house is used by the President and her family as living quarters. Since 1998, the major portion is now on view to visitors.
The State Corridor is lined on one side with busts of the seven Presidents in office before the present incumbent Mrs. McAleese. The State Dining Room was built in 1849 for a visit by Queen Victoria, and now contains portraits of past Presidents.
The State Reception Room dates from 1802 and was formerly the ballroom. These and other ceremonial rooms have elaborate rococo plaster decoration of their ceilings.
The Council of State Room was part of the original house built in 1751, and is now generally used as a reception room. It takes its name from a presidential advisory body first established in 1940. The State Drawing Room was also part of the original house and its ceiling dates from then. The chandelier commemorates the 1801 Union of Ireland with Great Britain and carries a design of entwined shamrocks, roses, thistles and leeks, representing the four countries involved.
This brief outline is intended to make the reader wish to go and see the paintings, sculptures, furniture, carpets and ceilings not described here, but of great artistic value. Our thanks are due to Angela our organizer, and to Siubhan our guide who explained it all so well.
