Collins Barracks, Dublin | |
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Dún Uí Choileáin, Baile Átha Cliath | |
Dublin | |
The main barracks square of Collins Barracks
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Location within Ireland
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Coordinates | 53°20′54″N 6°17′09″W / 53.34837°N 6.28581°WCoordinates: 53°20′54″N 6°17′09″W / 53.34837°N 6.28581°W |
Type | Barracks |
Site information | |
Operator | Irish Army |
Site history | |
Built | 1702 |
Built for | War Office |
In use | 1702-1997 |
Collins Barracks (Irish: Dún Uí Choileáin) is a former military barracks in the Arbour Hill area of Dublin, Ireland. The buildings are now the National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts and History. Housing both British armed forces, and Irish army garrisons through three centuries, the barracks were the oldest continuously occupied example in the world.
Originally called simply The Barracks, and later The Royal Barracks, the name was changed to Collins Barracks when handed over to the Irish Free State in 1922.
Built in 1702, and further extended in the late 18th century and 19th century, the complex's main buildings are neo-classical in style. Since 1997 the barracks have been home to collections of the National Museum of Ireland (for Decorative Arts and History exhibits), and the original structures have seen some award winning redevelopment and conservation work to support this new role.
The museum faces the Luas tram "red line" (Museum stop), a Memorial Garden at Croppies Acre marking the 1798 rebellion, and the River Liffey.
Save for the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, the barracks is the earliest public building in Dublin, and was built from 1701 by the then Surveyor General under Queen Anne, Thomas de Burgh. (Burgh was also the architect of the famous library building at Trinity College, Dublin.)