The House of the President of Ireland

Aras an Uachtarain means ‘House of the President’ in Irish. The original house was built in 1751 and was designed by and for the park ranger and amateur architect, Nathaniel Clements. It then became home to the Viceroy who was the Crown’s representative in Ireland (and was used as his summer residence). It has undergone numerous alterations over the years however by 1938 it had fallen into such a bad state that plans were to demolish it. These were only halted by the outbreak of the 2nd World War. The name of the house was changed to ‘Aras an Uachtarain’ from ‘Viceregal Lodge’ in 1939 after the office of ‘President of Ireland’ was created in 1937.

Thanks to Áras an Uachtaráin for the informative video