The building occupied the site of what was formerly Cork House, the home of the
Earl of Cork until his death in 1643, as well as Lucas's Coffee-House. Prior to that point, the site was occupied by the church of
St. Mary del Dam from which
Dame Street gets its name. Parliament Street had been laid-out in 1753, providing a continuation of Capel Street on the north bank of the
Liffey, across the newly widened Essex Bridge. Originally built as the
Royal Exchange, the structure was designed by
Thomas Cooley, who had won a design competition run for the project between 1768 and 1769. The foundation stone was laid by the
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,
George Townshend, 4th Viscount Townshend on 2 August 1769 and was officially opened for business in 1779. The function of the building was to act as a form of
stock exchange and to provide a meeting place for Dublin's businessmen. It was also close to the
old Custom House making it convenient for overseas merchants. The cost of building the exchange was met by the
Parliament of Ireland, and this is reflected by the initials "SPQH", standing for "Senatus PopulusQue Hibernicus", meaning "The senate and people of Ireland" (an Irish version of
SPQR). The city government had previously been located in the mediæval
Tholsel at the corner of Nicholas Street and Christchurch Place, approximately 300 metres to the west where the
Peace Park is now located as well in various other forms and locations including the
Thingmount near present-day Suffolk Street. In the late 18th century, meetings were held at what is now
City Assembly House on
South William Street. In 1815 the metal balustrade of the exchange fell, owing to the pressure against it by a crowd, which led to the death of nine people, with many more injured. This led to crowd restrictions in the building. In the 1850s,
Dublin Corporation bought the Royal Exchange and converted it for use by the city government. The changes included the construction of partitions around the ambulatory, the addition of a new staircase from the rotunda to the upper floors, and the sub-division of the vaults for storage. On 30 September 1852, the Royal Exchange was renamed
City Hall at the first meeting of Dublin City Council held there. The
ward name "Royal Exchange" was retained, corresponding to the current
electoral divisions of Royal Exchange A and B. A series of
frescos were later added, representing the regions of Ireland. During the
1916 Easter Rising, the City Hall was used as a
garrison for the
Irish Citizen Army.
Sean Connolly seized the building using a key which he obtained as he worked in the motor department and had access to the building. There were 35 people based here, mostly women. It was in this area where the first casualty of the rising, a guard named James O’Brien, occurred at Dublin Castle and he was shot by Sean Connolly while on duty. In total, the entire siege lasted about 12 hours. ==Structure==