Described as 'Ireland's home for Poetry and Heritage’, President Catherine Connolly has opened No. 11 Parnell Square East in Dublin city centre.
Built in the 1750’s, Poetry Ireland and the Irish Heritage Trust have collaborated to complete the €5.5m conservation and restoration programme of the Georgian building which was once the Dublin residence of the Butler family of Kilkenny Castle.
It went on to become the headquarters of the National Party where leading figures, including Charles Stewart Parnell, gave speeches to crowds outside the windows.
In 1900 it became the headquarters of Dublin County Council and is now home to Poetry Ireland, The Irish Heritage Trust and the Landmark Trust.
Speaking at the launch, Vona Groarke, Ireland Professor of Poetry said that "the wonderful thing about here is that it's not a museum, it's a living centre."
She said that the poetry community was so pleased that the building was finally launched, describing it as "a hub, a place where poetry will happen as opposed to poetry having happened a long time ago. It will be a living resource," she added.
This development on Parnell Square was launched by President Catherine Connolly who told guests that she believed that the decision to "make a bid to locate Poetry Ireland and the Irish Heritage Trust in this beautiful Georgian building imbued with centuries of history and located at the centre of Dublin, is very significant placing, as it does poetry and heritage at the heart of our republic".
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Anne O'Donoghue, CEO of Irish Heritage Trust, explained the budgeting approach to the project.
"In 2019 we were very fortunate to receive €3.9m as a grant under urban regeneration development funds and add to that we were able to add philanthropic funding of another nearly €1.5m," she said.
This, she outlined, gave them the "total budget of €5.5m but our budget didn't grow with inflation, so we had to deliver a very ambitious project within that very tight budget, and I'm thrilled to say we did."
The building contains large multipurpose areas on the ground floor which will be used for readings, and workshops and will be available for events too later in the year.
The first floor houses The Seamus Heaney Poetry Library encompassing the late laureate’s private collection from his study, bequeathed by his family to Poetry Ireland/Éigse Éireann.
Researchers and writers will be welcome to use the library also from the autumn.
The Heaney Family attended the launch and Seamus Heaney’s son Chris said that he thought his father would be "delighted" that his books have been collected at the library there.
"There's the guts of 4,000 books in his collection, so there's quite a bit. But we're really grateful to Poetry Ireland for taking it, to be honest," he said adding that "they used to be in the study at the top of our house, but you know, there's a time to move on, and it's great that it's here."
He said that the family thought the library was "beautiful" and that "it’s a real mixture of the modern and contemporary".
Minister of Housing and Heritage James Browne and Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan were in attendance at the event too.
They were joined by architect Valerie Mulvin from McCullough Mulvin Architects who were responsible for the conservation and restoration of the building project.
"I think it's kind of like part of a legacy of looking at the city of Dublin and saying, this is one more building brought back into use, and I'm so proud of that. It really is an extraordinary thing to have. It's been a privilege to work on it," she said.
