We learn a l’il history of Iveagh House where we had a private hosted dinner at the F.ounders Conference in Dublin earlier this month. Iveagh House is the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin. It is also sometimes used colloquially as a metonym referring to the department itself.
Iveagh House was originally two houses, nos 80 and 81 St Stephen’s Green. No. 80 was designed by Richard Castle in 1736. After both houses were bought by Benjamin Guinness in 1862 he served as his own architect, combined the two houses and produced the building as it now stands. On the Portland stone facade pediment he placed his parents’ arms: on the left the Milesian lion, with the red hand of Ulster above, for the Magennis clan of County Down; and on the right the arms of the Lee family, Dublin builders from about 1700. The building has nine bays, with the central three broken forward and pedimented. The interior of the building is hugely elaborate and decorative, with a staircase and ballroom lined with alabaster. The staircase also has ornate ironwork, marble columns and circular roof lights. Have a listen:
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
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Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
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