Overview
The Irish parliament that met on College Green is the only one in history to have voted itself out of existence – the Act of Union of 1800 abolished it and sent its members to Westminster. The building it left behind is the reason to come: completed in 1739 under George II and designed by Edward Lovett Pearce, it was the world’s first purpose-built two-chamber parliament house, and it has been the headquarters of the Bank of Ireland since 1803. Look closely at the great curved façade and you’ll notice it has almost no windows: they were bricked up in the early 1800s for security, which is why the front reads as a blank sweep of Portland stone and columns.
The bank still trades here, but the old parliamentary rooms are open, free, and take only about ten minutes to see. If you can, come on a Tuesday – that’s the one day free guided tours run, at 10.30am and 11.30am, and a guide turns the room from handsome to genuinely interesting.
The one room to see
Prioritise the House of Lords chamber. It’s the great survivor here, and it’s the more atmospheric of the two chambers for an unexpected reason: the House of Commons – the larger, central, octagonal room where the real power sat – was destroyed and absorbed into the bank’s main banking hall, so the aristocrats’ chamber is the one that came through intact. Inside you’ll find the original arched, coffered oak ceiling, oak panelling, the 1788 crystal chandelier, and the huge tapestries, including one of the Battle of the Boyne. In winter, staff light real wood fires in the hearths at either end of the entrance hall, which is worth timing a visit for.
One honest caveat: this is a working bank, and access to the Lords chamber can be refused when it’s booked for a private function. There’s no need to book your own visit, but if the chamber is the thing you’ve come for, it’s not guaranteed on any given day.
A quick history
Pearce won the commission in 1729 and the building went up over the following decade, with later wings added by James Gandon and by Robert Parke. Its design travelled: the arrangement influenced the entrance of the British Museum and fed into the design of the United States Capitol. When the bank bought the building in 1803, it did so on one strict condition – that it could never again be used for a political assembly – and that clause still holds.
Practical information
| Service | Details |
|---|---|
| Opening hours | Monday to Friday, 10.00am – 12.00 noon (hall only); closed weekends |
| Free guided tours | Tuesdays only, 10.30am and 11.30am |
| Admission | Free |
| Visit duration | About 10 minutes |
| Address | College Green, Dublin 2 |
Getting there and accessibility
Parliament House is about as central as Dublin gets. The nearest Luas stop is Dawson, a four-minute walk; Pearse on the DART is about nine minutes on foot; and numerous Dublin Bus routes serve College Green, Nassau Street and Kildare Street. There’s no on-site parking. The public hall is wheelchair accessible by ramp and lift, though the upper levels are not.
Nearby
You’re in the densest cluster of sights in the city, so fold this into a walk:
- Trinity College – across College Green, home to the Book of Kells and the Old Library, two minutes away.
- Thomas Davis Statue – the bronze monument to the Young Irelander writer stands on College Green in front of the bank.
- Temple Bar – the cultural quarter of galleries, pubs and street performers, a short walk north.
- Ha’penny Bridge – the cast-iron footbridge over the River Liffey, five minutes on.
Go on a Tuesday morning, take the free tour, and read the plaques in the Lords chamber – it’s a short stop that tells you more about how Ireland was governed than most museums manage in an afternoon.