Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [63]
The gallery has four wings: the original Dargan Wing, the Milltown Rooms, the North Wing and the impressive Millennium Wing. On the ground floor of the Dargan Wing (named after railway magnate and art lover William Dargan, whose statue graces the front lawn) is the imposing Shaw Room (named after writer George Bernard, another great benefactor; his bronze statue keeps Dargan company outside), lined with full-length portraits and illuminated by a series of spectacular Waterford crystal chandeliers. Upstairs, a series of rooms is dedicated to the early and high Italian Renaissance, 16th-century northern Italian art, and 17th- and 18th-century Italian art. Fra Angelico, Titian and Tintoretto are among the artists represented, but the highlight is undoubtedly Caravaggio’s Taking of Christ (1602), which lay for over 60 years in a Jesuit house in Leeson St and was accidentally discovered by chief curator Sergio Benedetti.
The central Milltown Rooms were added between 1899 and 1903 to hold Russborough House’s art collection, which was presented to the gallery in 1902. The ground floor displays the gallery’s fine Irish collection, plus a smaller British collection, with works by Reynolds, Hogarth, Gainsborough, Landseer and Turner. Absolutely unmissable is the Yeats Collection at the back of the gallery, displaying more than 30 works by Irish impressionist Jack B Yeats (1871–1957), Ireland’s most important 20th-century painter.
Upstairs are works from Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. There are rooms full of works by Rembrandt and his circle, and by the Spanish artists of Seville. The Spanish collection also features works by El Greco, Goya and Picasso.
The North Wing was added only between 1964 and 1968, but has already undergone extensive refurbishment. It houses works by British and European artists.
With its light-filled, modern design, the Millennium Wing can also be entered from Clare St. It houses a small collection of 20th-century Irish art, high-profile visiting collections (for which there are admission charges), an art reference library, a lecture theatre, a good bookshop and Fitzer’s Café.
LEINSTER HOUSE
Dublin’s grandest Georgian home, built by Richard Cassels between 1745 and 1748 for the very grand James Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare, is now the seat of both houses of the Oireachtas na Éireann (Irish Parliament) – the Dáil (Lower House) and Seanad (Upper House). Originally called Kildare House, it was changed to Leinster House (Map; 618 3000, tour information 618 3271; www.oireachtas.ie; Kildare St; admission free; observation gallery 2.30-8.30pm Tue, 10.30am-8.30pm Wed, 10.30am-5.30pm Thu Nov-May; tours 10.30am, 11.30am, 2.30pm & 3.30pm Mon-Fri when parliament is not in session) after the earl assumed the title of Duke of Leinster in 1766.
Leinster House’s Kildare St frontage was designed by Richard Cassels to look like a town house, whereas the Merrion Sq frontage was made to look like a country house. Hard to imagine it now, but when Cassels built the house it was in the wild expanses south of the Liffey, far from the genteel northern neighbourhoods where Dublin’s aristocracy lived. Never short of confidence, the earl dismissed his critics, declaring, ‘Where I go, society will follow.’ There’s no doubt about it: Jimmy Fitz had a nose for real estate.
The Dublin Society, later named the Royal Dublin Society, bought the building in 1814 but moved out in stages between 1922 and 1925, when the first government of an independent Ireland decided to establish Parliament here. The obelisk in front of the building is dedicated to Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins and Kevin O’Higgins – the architects of independent Ireland.
The Seanad meets in the north-wing saloon, while the Dáil meets in a less interesting room, originally a lecture theatre, which was added to the original building in 1897. When Parliament is sitting, visitors are admitted to an observation gallery. You’ll get an entry ticket from the Kildare St entrance on production of some identification. Bags can’t be taken