Bank of Ireland

In Real Life:

The Bank of Ireland, College Green, so called because of its modern day use as a branch of the bank, was originally the site of the Irish Houses of Parliament, the world's first purpose-built two-chamber parliament house. It served as the seat of both the House of Lords and the House of Commons for most of the 18th century until the Irish Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland was abolished by the Act of Union in the early 1800's, when the island became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

The first section of the building as it is today was designed by Edward Lovett Pearse and was constructed between 1728 and 1733. The building comprised the entrance hall, the House of Commons and the House of Lords at this point. Two large additions were made to the building from 1785 onwards, by Henri Grattan, and later, Robert Parke. After the dissolution of the parliament, the building was bought from the British Government by the then fledgling Bank of Ireland, under the stipulation that it be adapted in such a way that it could never be used as a parliament again.

The House of Commons was converted to form a number of small offices, but was primarily replaced with a magnificent cash office, by prominent architect Francis Johnston. However, contrary to the proviso laid down, the House of Lords survived almost unscathed, it was used as the boardroom for the bank until the bank moved its headquarters to Baggot Street in the 1970's. The House of Lords is open daily to the public during normal banking hours.