mansion house

Some years passed before London permitted its Lord Mayor to have a house of his own. Dublin's Mansion House became the centre of a social whirl and many great public functions were held there. Notable amongst these was the annual City Ball on Saint Stephen's Night.

The Mansion House is a splendid building which is dignified by great age and the love which Dublin people have for it. The interior is furnished in good taste. Portraits in oils of former Lord Mayors adorn the walls and miniature plaster casts of the coats of arms of numerous former Lord Mayors may be seen in the Oak Room. No other building in the city can claim such a long and unbroken connection with the civic life of Dublin.

The Mansion House hosts the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award which is the biggest and most wide ranging literary award in the world. The Lord Mayor is the First Citizen of Dublin and is elected each year by the City Council from its own members. The term of office lasts for one year, but Thomas Cusack was Mayor on nineteen occasions between 1390 and 1430.

Chains
The Lord Mayor has a choice of two chains to wear at official functions - the Great Chain and the Clancy Chain. The Great Chain was made in 1698, and is made up of gold links shaped like roses, knots and other symbols. There is a large gold medal stamped with the bust of King William III (1689 - 1702) hanging on the front of the chain. The medal is of such fine workmanship that there are copies of it in Holland at the Hague, and in England in the museums in London and Oxford.
The Clancy Chain was made in 1914. It is called after an Alderman - John Clancy - to whom it was presented by a group of Dublin people. This chain is also made of gold and is designed in a Celtic tradition with Book of Kells, Tara Brooch and Irish Harp motifs. It also supports an inscribed medallion bearing the arms of the City in blue and red enamel.
A modern gold chain and medallion was presented in 1961 to Dublin Corporation by a Dublin jeweller for the use of the Lady Mayoress. It is worn by her only at official functions when in the company of the Lord Mayor.

The Office of the Lord Mayor
The Lord Mayor presides at meetings of the City Council and signs its record of proceedings. The Lord Mayor must also be present when the City Seal is affixed to municipal documents. The office dates from 1229 AD, when Richard Muton or Moulton was chosen as the first Mayor of Dublin. The first Lord Mayor was Sir Daniel Bellingham who was elected in 1665 and the city's first modern Lord Mayor was The Liberator, Daniel O Connell, who was elected in 1841.
In 1939, Caitlin Bean Ui Chleirigh was the first woman to become Lord Mayor of Dublin.

The Sword and Mace
The Dublin City Sword and Mace are magnificent examples of metalwork and are used today in civic ceremonies, such as the conferring of the Honorary Freedom of Dublin. The medieval City Sword was originally the personal weapon of Henry IV of England and was presented to Dublin by the King in 1409.
The Sword comprises of an iron blade and a silver-guilt handle inscribed with Henry's floral device, the forget-me-not. The scabbard is from the 17th century and is made of wood covered in red velvet, with silver-gilt mounts.

The Great Mace was made in 1665 for the City's first Lord Mayor, Sir Daniel Bellingham, and is a fine example of Restorian craftsmanship. The Mace is just over five feet in length and is in silver-gilt over a wooden staff. The shaft is ornamental with a chased floral design. The base is 11 ½ inches long by 17 inches round and is chased and fluted on top. Underneath there are four panels ornamented with the Rose and Thistle on one stem for Great Britain (twice), the Fleur de Lis for France and the Harp for Ireland.
The head of the Mace, 19 inches in height, is supported on the shaft by four ornamental brackets and armless figures ending in ornament. Around the top is a circlet of crosses patee and Fleur de Lis.

The State Coach
In 1757 the City of London built a State Coach for its Lord Mayor. Not to be outdone, the Alderman, Sheriffs and Commons of the City of Dublin, decided that their Lord Mayor should appear on public occasions with "befitting state". So in 1763 they appointed a committee to provide a State Coach for succeeding Lord Mayors.

The Maximum cost allowed, £400, included the harness. However, it was not until 1789 that work began on the coach, and, by then, the estimated cost had trebled to £1,200 with the final cost reaching £2,690.

On 4th November, 1791, the new State Coach made its first appearance on the occasion of the annual celebration of the birthday of King William, which the then Lord Mayor, Henry Gore Sankey, attended in state.
The Lord Chancellor's London-built coach also attended on this occasion, and the rival merits of the London and Dublin coachbuilder's work were submitted to the judgement of the public. The opinion, as to be expected, was in favour of the Dublin coach.
The State Coach measures 24 feet long, 8 feet wide and 11 ½ feet high. The body is carved and gilded and at each corner of the roof there is a child-figure holding bunches of lilies. Over the doors are the arms of Ireland, a harp on a blue field, impaling those of the city; the shield supported by two boys carrying the sword and mace. In the centre of the front and the back edge of the roof are, respectively, the keys of the City under a Cap of Maintenance, and the Scales of Justice on a cushion.
The front, rear and two sides of the coach are decorated and painted with allegorical subjects of great beauty.

The original harness provided with the coach, which was drawn by six horses, was of red morocco leather, lined and edged with green and was highly ornamental, but this harness was replaced in 1808 by the existing set of decorative black harness now in use.
After many years in obscurity, Dublin Corporation decided in 1975 to restore the State Coach. It made its re-appearance on the streets of Dublin on Saint Patrick's Day, 17th March, 1976 to the resounding acclaim of the people of Dublin.

The City Seal
Since the early 13th century Dublin Corporation has had a City Seal - a stamp placed on Corporation documents to make them official. The ancient City Seal is a disc-shaped stamp with a motif on each side, and it used to be stamped on sealing wax to be attached to appropriate documents.
The bronze moulds of the 13th century Dublin Seal are preserved in City Hall. The two discs (seal and counterseal) measure 3 3/8 inches in diameter and have four pierced tags at the sides into which pins were placed to keep the discs together to that they fitted accurately over each other during sealing.

Charters
Dublin Corporation has in its possession 102 Royal Charters, which were granted to the City of Dublin by various Kings and Queens between 1172 and 1727. The charters were issued as a means of securing loyalty from the citizens by conveying various rights and privileges on them. These charters form the basis of municipal legislation and government in Ireland.

Dublin's Coat of Arms
The Dublin City Coat of Arms is the identifying emblem of the City of Dublin and has been in use in one form or another for at least 400 years. The full Coat of Arms shows three burning castles on a shield flanked by two female figures, one holding a scales depicting Justice (without the usual blindfold); the other, a sword, representing Law. Each figure holds an olive branch.
Below the shield on a scroll is the motto of the City: "Obedienta Civium Urbis Felicitas", which translates: "The obedience of the Citizens produces a happy City".
A fine example of the Dublin City Coat of Arms can be seen on a stained glass window by Joshua Clarke, on the main staircase in the Mansion House. The origin of the Dublin City Coat of Arms is unknown: the meanings of the symbols on it obscure ? which gives opportunity for both imaginative and informed speculation.
One theory is that it symbolises the three castles which were situated in the territory outside the City and used as garrison outposts or watch towers; another is that it is Dublin Castle repeated three times because of the mystical connections of the number three; a third speculates that they may not be castles at all, but the three gates of the old Danish City.

The Oak Room
The Oak Room was built in 1715 as part of the purchase agreement with Joshua Dawson. As the name suggests, it is panelled entirely in oak, with most of the original panelling still in place. The Oak Room is used today for civic receptions, as was intended when it was built over 200 years ago. The oak room contains a number of fine portraits from our civic collections.
On the wall behind the raised platform, which features a modern lectern of carved oak, is a portrait of Charles Stewart Parnell, founder of the Home Rule Party. The Lord Mayors of Dublin add their coat of arms to the walls of the Oak Room at the end of their term of office.

The Dining Room
The Dining Room is used for formal lunches and small receptions. It was originally two rooms and was converted into one large room in the 1760's. The Dining Room features a superb carpet from the early 20th century, supplied by a firm which was run by the two sisters of the poet WB Yeats.
The carpet is in the La Tene style, based on early Celtic motifs which are also found on the Tara Brooch. The room also has an interesting black marble chimney piece, in Egyptian style, which dates from around 1830. The brass fender and black marble mantel clock are Victorian, as is the golden oak-framed brass circular dinner gong and beater, while the pier mirror over the mantelpiece is late Georgian and is a pair to the mirror in the entrance hall.
The mahogany extending dining table is Victorian, while the mahogany chairs and carvers are Edwardian and the candelabrum on the table are of Sheffield plate.