Leinster House

Leinster House, building in Dublin, Ireland, the seat of the Irish parliament. It was designed by Richard Cassel in 1745 for the Earl of Kildare, James Fitzgerald. Originally called Kildare House, it became Leinster House in 1776, when James Fitzgerald became the Duke of Leinster. The duke had been warned against building a town house so far from the fashionable parts of Dublin, but society was soon to follow his example. The house, a fine Georgian mansion, remained in the family for 70 years until it was acquired by the Royal Dublin Society. The Irish government bought it in 1925. It is now the seat of both houses of the Irish parliament—the Dáil Éireann (the House of Representatives) and the Seanad Éireann (the Senate).

Leinster House was built on the edge of Molesworth Fields and the greater part is constructed of Ardbraccan limestone, with the garden front in granite. Originally the building had two small wings but these were replaced with the National Library and Museum. The projecting bow on the northern side of the house is said to be the prototype for the White House in Washington, D. C. (The White House was designed by James Hoban, who studied architecture at the Dublin Society’s School.)

The interiors of Leinster House are intact, with the Senate or upper house located in the bow-fronted library, while the Dáil sits in a lecture room built within the structure by the Royal Dublin Society.