Best Historic Places in County Dublin, Republic of Ireland - Map and Reviews

Aras an Uachtarain (previously known as the Viceregal Lodge) is situated in Phoenix Park on the north side of Dublin. Aras an Uachtarain is Irish for 'house of the president' and is the official residence of the President of Ireland. The house was originally a fairly plain brick structure, but has been improved and added to over the years to the elegant white Palladian building you see today. The East Wing was added in 1849 for a visit of Queen Victoria. The Entrance Hall dates from 1751and features a magnificent barrel-vaulted ceiling with plaster busts in the ceiling coffers. The State Reception Room (formerly the ballroom) features a plaster cast of a Lafranchini panel in the ceiling. The Francini Corridor leads from the Entrance Hall past the State Reception Room. One side of the corridor is lined with bronze busts of Irish Presidents mounted on marble columns and the other side features stucco panels showing classical figures. The formal gardens wee established by Decimus Burton in the 1840s. Facilities Aras an Uachtarain is open for public tours on Saturdays only. Admission is free and admission tickets are available from the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre at Ashtown Castle. You need to book on the day of your visit, as there are no advance bookings or group bookings available. The building is closed from 24th to 26th December. Guided tours are held from 10:15am to 3:30pm. Tours of the gardens are conducted, weather permitting, between June and September. Aras an Uachtarain was designed by architect Nathaniel Clements, with construction starting in the 18th century. The administration of the British Lord Lieutenant bought the house and it was used as his summer residence in the 1780s, and later became the Viceregal Lodge. The office of Lord Lieutenant was abolished in 1922 when the Irish Free State came into being. From 1922 until 1932 it was the residence of the Governor-General of the Irish Free State. In 1937 when the office of President of Ireland was established, the house became the house of the president.

Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin is one of the most significant and emotionally charged heritage sites in Ireland, a former prison that served for more than a century as the primary detention centre for those who challenged British rule in Ireland and is now one of the country's most visited museums. Walking through its cells and corridors is to move through the physical fabric of modern Irish history, from the United Irishmen's rebellion of 1798 to the execution of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising. The prison was built in 1796 and its architecture reflects the then-fashionable philosophy of prison reform: large, naturally lit wings designed to allow prisoners to contemplate their behaviour in relative isolation. The east wing, added in the 1860s, has a striking Victorian panopticon design with an iron-and-glass ceiling that floods the central space with light while allowing guards to observe every cell from a central position. The contrast between the forbidding exterior and the relative brightness of this interior always surprises first-time visitors. Among those imprisoned here were Robert Emmet, executed in 1803 after his failed rebellion; Charles Stewart Parnell, the great Home Rule leader, detained for his land reform agitation in 1881; and leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, including Patrick Pearse, James Connolly and thirteen other signatories of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, all of whom were executed by firing squad in the prison yard following the rising's suppression. James Connolly, wounded during the fighting, was brought to the yard in a chair because he was too injured to stand. The small stone yard where these executions took place is perhaps the most sobering space in Ireland. The prison also held figures from the later War of Independence and Civil War. Éamon de Valera, who would go on to dominate Irish political life for decades, was imprisoned here and was the last prisoner to leave before the jail was closed in 1924. The complex human stories of the people who passed through these walls are told in an excellent museum within the prison itself. Guided tours are the only way to visit, and booking in advance is strongly recommended as the tours are consistently popular. The guides bring genuine knowledge and passion to the history of the site and the individuals connected to it. The visit typically takes around an hour and is suitable for older children and adults.