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DUB
Wellington, when chief secretary for Ireland, was under
the control of a chief magistrate, aided by eleven others,
three of whom sat daily at one of the offices of the four
divisions, according to which the city was arranged: to
each office a chief constable and petty constables were
attached. The police force, consisting of a horse-
patrol of 29 men, a foot patrol of 169, 26 watch
constables, and 539 watchmen, was maintained at an
expense of about £40,000 per ann. By an act passed
in 1836 the police of the metropolis is placed under two
magistrates appointed by the lord-lieutenant, and the
boundaries of their jurisdiction have been determined to
be the rivers Dodder and Tolka to the south and north,
and Knockmaroon hill to the west, which boundary
may be extended according to the discretion of the
lord-lieutenant and privy council to any place within
five miles of Dublin castle; by whom the number of
divisional offices may be reduced and also that of the
magistrates, provided there be two to each office. The
city is to be assessed for the payment of the establish-
ment by a rate not exceeding 8d. in the pound, according
to the valuation made under the act of the 5th of
Geo. IV.
The Mansion-house, the residence of the lord mayor
during his year of office, is externally a plain edifice
of brick, on a detached and receding site on the south
side of Dawson-street; the interior contains some
large apartments fitted up in an antiquated style. On
the left hand of the entrance-hall is the “Gilt Room,”
a small apartment in which is a portrait of Wm. III.,
by Gubbins; this room opens into the. drawing-room,
which is 50 feet long: the walls are hung with portraits
of Earl Whitworth, the Earls of Hardwicke and West-
moreland, John Foster, the last speaker of the Irish
House of Commons, and Alderman Alexander. Beyond
this is the ball-room, used also for civic dinners, 55
feet long and wainscoted with Irish oak; in this
room are placed the two city swords, the mace, the cap
of maintenance and the gold collar of S S, presented
by Wm. III., to replace that presented by Chas. II.; it
also contains portraits of Chas. II., Geo. II., the Duke of
Cumberland, and the late Duke of Richmond. A door
from the ball-room opens into a noble rotundo, 90 feet in
diameter, round which is continued a corridor 5 feet wide;
the walls are painted in imitation of tapestry, and the
room is covered with a dome; in the centre is a lantern,
by which the apartment is lighted; it was built in
1821 expressly for the reception of George IV., who
honoured the corporation with his presence at dinner.
On the right of the entrance-hall are the Exchequer-
room, wainscoted with Irish oak, and hung with
portraits of the Duke of Bolton, the Earl of Buck-
ingham, the Marquess of Buckingham, and the Earl
of Harcourt; and the sheriffs’ room, 40 feet long, in
which are portraits of the Duke of Northumberland, Lord
Townsend, John Duke of Bedford, and Aldermen Sankey,
Manders, and Thorpe, the last of whom is distinguished
by the title of “the good lord mayor.” An equestrian
statue of Geo. I., which was formerly on Essex bridge,
is plated in the lawn at the side of the mansion-
house; and at the extremity of the court in which the
rotundo is built are colossal statues of Chas. II. and
Wm. III. The City Assembly-house, purchased by the
corporation from the artists of Dublin, by whom it
was built for an exhibition-room, is a plain but com-
modious structure in William-street, and contains several
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good rooms; in the circular room the common council
holds its meetings; the board of aldermen meets in
another apartment; and under the common council
room is a circular apartment in which the court of con-
science is held.
The Sessions-house, in Green-street, opened for
business in 1797, is ornamented in front with a
central pediment and cornice supported by six en-
gaged columns rising from a broad platform, to which
is an ascent by a flight of steps extending along the
whole front of the building, and on each side of the
centre are the doors of entrance to the court-rooms;
in another front, corresponding with this, in Hal-
ston-street, are the entrances to the apartments occu-
pied by the agents during contested elections. The in-
terior is spacious, lofty, and well arranged; the ceil-
ing is supported by Ionic columns. In this building
are held the court of quarter sessions, the court of oyer
and terminer, the lord mayor’s and sheriffs’ court,
and the recorder’s court. The principal prison for
malefactors of all classes is Newgate, situated near
the sessions-house, in Green street. It is a square
building, flanked at each angle by a round tower with
loop-hole windows. The interior is divided into two
nearly equal portions by a broad passage with high walls
on each side, having iron gates at intervals, through the
gratings of which visiters may converse with the pri-
soners; the cells are neither sufficiently numerous nor
large, nor is the prison well adapted for due classifi-
cation. A chapel attached to it is attended by three chap-
lains; one of the Established Church, one of the R. C.
and one of the Presbyterian religion. The Sheriffs’ Prison,
in Green-street, was built in 1794, and occupies three
sides of a quadrangle with an area in the centre, which
is used as a ball-court; it is visited by the chaplains of
Newgate and a medical inspector. The City Marshalsea, a
brick building attached to the preceding, is designed for
prisoners committed from the lord mayor’s court for debts
under £10, and from the court of conscience. The Smith-
field Penitentiary is appropriated to the confinement of
juvenile convicts not exceeding 19 years of age; it is
visited by three chaplains, and inspected by the divisional
magistrates; an efficient classification is observed, and all
the prisoners are regularly employed. The Richmond
Bridewell, on the Circular road, erected by the city at
an expense of £40,000; is a spacious structure enclosed
by walls flanked with towers at the angles, and is
entered by a massive gateway; between the outer wall
and the main building is a wide space, intended for a
rope-walk; the interior consists of two spacious qua-
drangles, the sides of which are all occupied by buildings;
the cells, which are on the first floor, open into corridors
with entrances at each end; the rooms in the second
floor are used as work-rooms; the male and female
prisoners occupy distinct portions of the prison; the
prisoners not sentenced to the tread-mill are employed
in profitable labour, and a portion of their earnings is
paid to them on their discharge; they are visited by a
Protestant and a R. C. chaplain, a physician, surgeon,
and apothecary. A great improvement in the city pri-
sons is now in progress. Attached to the city are the
manor or liberty of St. Sepulchre, belonging to the
Archbishop of Dublin; the manor of Grangegorman or
Glasnevin, belonging to the dean of Christ-Church; the
manor of Thomas-Court and Donore, belonging to the
Earl of Meath; and the liberty of the deanery of St.