Edward Lovett Pearce - Irish Houses of Parliament

Irish Houses of Parliament

In 1727, Pearce was elected Member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons for the Ratoath in County Meath, assisted by his patron Speaker Conolly, for whom he was continuously working at Castletown. The Irish Government had decided in that same year to replace their existing meeting place at Chichester House, College Green, Dublin with a new purpose built parliament building. Interestingly, it was Speaker Conolly who first suggested building the new Parliament House on College Green, therefore it is unsurprising, perhaps, that it was Pearce the Member of Parliament (MP) and employee of Connoly who was eventually chosen to design the project.

The foundation stone of the new Parliament building was laid in 1729, the palladian design was, as intended, awe inspiring with a huge colonnade facing onto College Green. The two legislator Houses of Parliament contained an octagonal classical temple, complete with pantheon style dome, as its House of Commons, (destroyed by fire in 1792). The public gallery here could hold up to 700 spectators, symbolizing true open government; the smaller but still exquisite House of Lords survives, along with its central arcade and pediment. The building at the beginning of the 19th century was taken over by the Bank of Ireland, substantial alterations have been made since, including a large extension by Gandon and Johnson. Sadly a condition of the sale to the bank was that all signs of Parliament were to be removed, this resulted in what today can only be regarded as vandalism to one of Ireland finest architectural masterpieces. However, the concepts of Pearce are still very evident in the surviving House of Lords.