Founded in the year of the
Constitution of 1782, the club's first home was a house in Kildare Street built by Sir Henry Cavendish on land bought from
James FitzGerald, 20th Earl of Kildare, later first
Duke of Leinster. In 1786 the club acquired an adjoining house also built by Cavendish, thus completing its original clubhouse. There is a tradition that what prompted the foundation of the club was the
blackballing of
William Burton Conyngham at
Daly's Club in
Dame Street. In 1858, it was decided to build a new clubhouse, as the original premises at 6, Kildare Street, were now too small for the club's needs. In 1859, the club was described in
The Building News as "an institution famous for
aristocracy,
claret and
whist..." Between 1859 and 1860, the new clubhouse was built, designed by
Thomas Newenham Deane and
Benjamin Woodward, at a cost of some £21,000. This replaced three existing houses on Kildare Street and one on Leinster Street, which were demolished, giving an L-shaped new building, with an internal plan similar to that of the
Reform Club in
Pall Mall, London. The club committee had altered Deane and Woodward's original
Italian Gothic design, insisting on large
arched windows divided by thin
columns, and the outcome was described as
Byzantine. The new building is adorned by "whimsical beasts". The club had planned to move from the old to the new building in 1861, but on 11 November 1860, there was a disastrous fire at the old clubhouse. Three maids died, and a fourth was saved by being at the time in the bedroom of the club accountant, from which she was rescued. All of the club's pictures and furniture and a library of fifteen thousand books were destroyed, and the club moved into its new building before completion. It has been estimated that at about this time only between two and six per cent of the club's members were supporters of
Irish Home Rule. The most popular Dublin club for the
Irish Parliamentary Party was the
St Stephen's Green Club, while the Kildare Street Club was closely associated with the
Irish Conservative Party and later the
Irish Unionist Alliance. == Redevelopment and reuse ==