Although the
Irish Free State was established in 1922, the United Kingdom did not have a diplomatic mission of its own. The only British representation in the State was that of the Trade Commissioner, first appointed in 1929. By contrast, the
Irish High Commission (now the Embassy of Ireland) in London was established as early as 1923. It was not until 1939 that a separate mission, known as the British Representative's Office, was finally established. Following the passing of the
Republic of Ireland Act by the Oireachtas in 1948, under which Ireland withdrew from the
Commonwealth the following year, the mission was renamed the British Embassy, with its head restyled Ambassador. Until 1972, the embassy was located at 39
Merrion Square, on the
southside of Dublin city centre. On 2 February of that year, it was
burnt to the ground with petrol bombs during demonstrations by large crowds of people. This occurred following the
Bloody Sunday massacre in
Derry on 30 January, where the
British Army's
Parachute Regiment shot and killed fourteen unarmed Catholic civilians during a civil rights demonstration. In 1981, protesters tried to storm the British Embassy in response to the
IRA hunger strikes of that year. The current embassy building on
Merrion Road was built in 1995 and designed by
Allies and Morrison. It is built around a central courtyard, a cloister-like space. Following the death of
Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022, the
President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins, accompanied by Taoiseach
Micheál Martin and Foreign Affairs Minister
Simon Coveney, attended the British Embassy in Dublin to sign their condolences. ==Ambassador's residence==