The prestigious offices of Ireland's national bank began life as the first purpose-built parliament house in Europe.
This building housed the Irish Parliament. Commenced in 1729, this wonderful classical building was the first legislature in the world to be erected specifically to house two chambers; the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Occupied by the Bank of Ireland since 1803, all the internal traces of the parliament days were ordered to be removed by the British government but fortunately the bank surreptitiously managed to preserve the remarkable House of Lords which remains much as it would have looked in the 1730s. Note also that the sculptured British royal coat-of-arms is still positioned on the pediment over the main portico.
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