Lewis Topographical Dictionary - OSi Online Shop

DUB
Patrick. The Liberty of St. Sepulchre extends over a
part of the city, including the parishes of St. Patrick,
St. Nicholas Without, and St. Kevin; also over a large
tract of the county of Dublin to the south-east of the
city, as far as the Wicklow boundary, including a
small portion of the latter county and of Kildare,
bordering on that of Dublin. The court is held at
Longlane, in the county of Dublin, before the arch-
bishop’s seneschal, and has a very extensive criminal as
well as civil jurisdiction, but exercises only the latter:
the court-house and prison for the whole archbishoprick
are situated there. It has a civil bill jurisdiction to any
amount, extended to the Dublin manor courts in 1826.
At the record side the proceedings are either by action
against the body, for sums under £20 by service and
above it by arrest; or, for sums above £10, by attach-
ment against the goods. The court at the record side
sits every Tuesday and Friday; the civil bill court,
generally on alternate Wednesdays, except in the law
terms, when it stands adjourned. At this court,
in which a jury is always impannelled and sworn,
sums to any amount may be recovered at a trifling
expense. The jurisdiction of the Manor Court of
Glasnevin is of great extent, comprising the baro-
nies of Coolock, Castleknock, and Half-Rathdown, in
the county of Dublin, and the lordship of St. Mary’s
abbey, which includes portions of the city and county.
The seneschal sits in Dublin every Friday, and at Kings-
town on alternate Fridays for the convenience of that
town and the surrounding parishes within his jurisdic-
tion. Causes are tried before a jury, and debts to any
amount are recoverable at a small expense; from 900
to 1000 causes are heard annually. Thomas-Court
and Donore Manor Court has a jurisdiction extending
over the barony of Donore, and that part of the
liberty of Thomas-Court which is within the city:
the civil bill court, in which debts to any amount are
recoverable, is held every Wednesday in the court-
house in Thomas-Court, a plain building erected in 1160;
a record court is also held there every Wednesday and
Saturday.
VICE-REGAL GOVERNMENT.
Dublin is the seat of the Vice-regal government, con-
sisting of a lord-lieutenant and privy council, assisted
by a chief secretary, under-secretary, and a large esta-
blishment of inferior officers and under-clerks both
for state and the despatch of business. The official
residence of the lord-lieutenant is Dublin Castle, first
appropriated to that purpose in the reign of Elizabeth;
but his usual residence is the Vice-regal Lodge, in
the Phœnix Park. The buildings of the Castle form
two quadrangles, called the Upper and Lower Yards.
The Upper, 280 feet by 130, contains the lord-lieutenant’s
apartments, which occupy the whole of the south and
part of the east sides; the council-chamber and offices
connected with it; the apartments and offices of the chief
secretary, and of several of the officers of the household;
and the apartments of the master of the ceremonies, and
of the aides de camp of the viceroy. The entrance into
this court is on the north side by a massive gateway
towards the east end, ornamented by a figure of Justice
above the arch; and towards the west end is a correspond-
ing gateway, which is not used, ornamented by a figure
of Fortitude; both by Van Nost. The approach to the
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DUB
vice-regal apartments is under a colonnade on the south
side, leading into a large hall, and thence by a fine
staircase to the state apartments, containing the presence
chamber and the ball-room; in the former is the throne of
gilt carved work, under a canopy of crimson velvet richly
ornamented with gold lace; the latter, which, since the
institution of the order of St. Patrick, has been called
St. Patrick’s Hall, has its walls decorated with paintings,
and the ceiling, which is panelled in three compart-
ments, has in the centre a full-length portrait of
George III., supported by Liberty and Justice, with
various allegorical devices. Between the gateways, on
the north side of the court, are the apartments of the
dean of the chapel royal and the chamberlain, a
range of building ornamented with Ionic columns
rising from a rusticated basement and supporting a
cornice and pediment, above which is the Bedford Tower,
embellished with Corinthian pillars and surmounted by
a lofty dome, from the summit of which the royal
standard is displayed on days of state. In the eastern
side of the Upper Yard, is the council-chamber, a large
but plain apartment, in which the lord-lieutenants are
publicly sworn into office, and where the privy council
holds its sittings. The privy council consists of the
lord-primate, the lord-chancellor, the chief justices,
and a number of prelates, noblemen, public functionaries,
and others nominated by the King. This body ex-
ercises a judicial authority, especially in ecclesiastical
matters, as a court of final resort, the duties of which
are discharged by a committee selected from among
the legal functionaries who are members of it. The
Lower Yard is an irregular area, 250 feet long and 220
feet wide; in it are the treasury buildings, of antiquated
style and rapidly decaying; the ordnance department,
a modern brick building; and the office of the quarter-
master-general, besides which are the stables, riding-
house, and the official residence of the master of the
horse. To the east of the Record Tower is the Castle
chapel, rebuilt at an expense of £42,000, principally
after a design by Johnston, and opened in 1814;
it is an elegant structure, in the later style of English
architecture. The interior is lighted on each side
by six windows of elegant design, enriched with
tracery and embellished with stained glass: the east
window, which is of large dimensions and of beautiful
design, is of stained glass, representing our Saviour
before Pilate, and the four Evangelists in compartments,
with an exquisite group of Faith, Hope, and Charity;
it was purchased on the continent and presented to
the chapel by Lord Whitworth, during his vice-royalty.
The Phœnix Park, situated westward of the city, and
north of the Liffey, is 7 miles in circumference, com-
prising an area of 1759 acres enclosed by a stone
wall. Its name is derived from the Irish term Finnislce,
“a spring of clear water,” now corrupted into Phœnix.
A lofty fluted Corinthian pillar resting on a massive
pedestal, and having on the abacus a phœnix rising from
the flames, was erected near the lord-lieutenant’s lodge
by the Earl of Chesterfield, when chief governor. The
Vice-regal Lodge was purchased from Mr. Clements, by
whom it was built, and was originally a plain mansion
of brick. Lord Hardwicke, in 1802, added the wings,
in one of which is the great dining-hall; the Duke of
Richmond, in 1808, built the north portico of the Doric
order, and the entrance lodges from the Dublin road;