The barracks, which were named after
Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, were completed in 1810 and first occupied by the
British Army in 1814. Many Irishmen were stationed there before going overseas to fight in the
First World War. providing accommodation for the
4th Queen's Own Hussars, the
8th King's Royal Irish Hussars, the
11th Hussars and the
13th Hussars. Deputy Michael Conaghan of the Inchicore Kilmainham Heritage Group has said, "The remaining buildings of Richmond Barracks here have very specific connections to the
Easter Rising and its immediate aftermath. After the surrender, it was designated by the British as the holding centre for over 3,000 suspected rebels, until they were released or sent to prison camps in England, Wales and Northern Ireland... The signatories of the Proclamation (with the exception of James Connolly) and other leaders were also interned, court-martialed and sentenced to death in the barracks before they were sent to
Kilmainham Gaol for execution." After the
Irish Free State was founded in 1922, the Barracks was occupied by the
Irish Army, and briefly named
Keogh Barracks, after Commander Tom Keogh who fought in the war of independence. The Irish government closed Keogh Barracks down in 1922. It closed down in 2006. ==Redevelopment==