Our Visit to Leinster House

The houses of the Oireachtas sit in Leinster House in Dublin. Leinster House is steeped in history; it was originally known as Kildare House after James Fitzgerald the Earl of Kildare who commissioned it to be built in 1745. He wanted the building to reflect his position in society so set about building the stateliest of all of the Dublin Georgian Mansions. When he became the Duke of Leinster it was re-named to Leinster House.

We were met by Frank Feighan T.D. and given a guided tour of the Oireachtas by the usher Ray. Dáil Éireann is one of the Houses of the Oireachtas, the national parliament.

The elected members of Dáil Éireann are called TDs – Teachta Dála (or Deputies). TDs are elected directly to the Dáil in a general election.

There are 160 TDs.

We sat and listened to Richard Boyd Barrett T.D. We then saw the portraits of the former Taoisigh.

Afterwards, we visited the Seanad/Senate.The Seanad is the upper house of the Oireachtas and has 60 Members, who are known as Senators.

Ray brought to the Dáil bar where we had coke and a snack. We met Dara Calleary T.D. there and had our photo taken with him.

We really enjoyed our visit and would highly recommend it.