|
Across the busy traffic interchange from Trinity College, the massive Bank of Ireland has played an even more central role in the history of Anglo-Irish Ascendancy. When originally begun in 1729 by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce, it was envisaged as a suitably grand setting for the parliament of a nation, as the Anglo-Irish were coming to regard themselves, although Jonathan Swift, for one, had some typically tart opinions as to its worth: As I stroll the city, oft I
Spy a building large and lofty
Not a bow-shot from the college
Half the globe from sense and knowledge . The Ascendancy's efforts to achieve self-government culminated in the famous Grattan parliament of 1782, in which Henry Grattan - whose gesturing statue stands outside on College Green - uttered the celebrated phrase "Ireland is now a nation". The Protestant, Anglo-Irish parliament endorsed the country's independence unanimously. This period of nominal self-government was, however, short-lived; with the passing of the Act of Union in 1801, Ireland lost both its independence as a nation and its parliament (which acquiesced by voting itself obediently out of existence). With its original function gone, the building was sold to the Bank of Ireland for GBP40,000 two years later. Though not exactly geared up for coach parties, the bank does admit sightseers during normal banking hours (Mon-Wed & Fri 10am-12.30pm & 1.30-3pm, Thurs closes 5pm, guided tours Tues 10.30am, 11.30am, 1.45pm). Its interior is magnificently old-fashioned - you are shown around by ushers wearing costumes seemingly unchanged since the nineteenth century - and in winter, coal fires glow in the entrance hall's massive grates. In a room to the back of the bank is the atmospheric former House of Lords , with its coffered ceiling, oak surrounds and eighteenth-century Waterford glass chandelier, where you can see the mace from the old House of Commons and two 1733 Thomas Baille tapestries celebrating Protestant victories of the previous century: the Siege of Derry in 1689 and the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Nearby on Foster Place, stands an armoury added during the Napoleonic Wars which now acts as an arts centre. It is also the venue for an exhibition on the "Story of Banking" which explains the role of the Bank of Ireland in the economic development of the country (Tues-Fri 10am-4pm; GBP1.50/?1.90).
Your Tip for Bank of Ireland
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Bank of Ireland - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Bank of Ireland - visit the main Bank of Ireland forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Bank of Ireland webguide section below! Thanks.
| 
