First glimpse of the restoration work at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin.
The Royal Hospital Kilmainham was the brainchild of James Butler, the first Duke of Ormonde. The building style was inspired by Les Invalides in Paris, set up to house soldiers too old or too badly injured to fight.
Since 1980 the Office of Public Works (OPW) has been completely restoring the building in the Dublin suburb of Kilmainham. Consultant architect John Costello has ensured the former 17th-century hospital building is almost completely restored to its original condition.
It was Mr Costello who discovered the painting of the Great Hall in the Chelsea Hospital in London.
After the foundation of the State, the surviving pensioners and some of the hospital's fittings, including the painting, were transferred to the Royal Hospital Chelsea. The painting is presented by British Ambassador Alan Goodison to Minister of State for Arts and Culture Ted Nealon.
Since 1927 the Royal Hospital Kilmainham has been largely unused. It was declared unsafe in 1949 and used by the National Museum of Ireland for storage.
It seems likely that it will be made available to the National Museum again and it will certainly be open to the public.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 19 July 1984. The reporter is David Pate.
