Áras an Uachtaráin
The portico some historians say James Hoban studied before drawing the White House — though the story is messier than it sounds.
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Ireland's presidential residence began as a park ranger's Georgian house in the 1750s, became the British viceroy's lodge, and saw the Phoenix Park Murders on its grounds in 1882. Three official residences once stood in this one park; the neighbors were the Chief Secretary and the Under-Secretary of Ireland.
What to look for
- The garden front portico — visible from the main Chesterfield Avenue road without entering — the façade at the center of the Hoban/White House design debate
- The site of the 1882 Phoenix Park Murders, where Lord Frederick Cavendish and Under-Secretary Thomas Henry Burke were stabbed to death on these grounds
- Deerfield next door (the former Chief Secretary's Lodge), now the official residence of the US Ambassador to Ireland
The garden front portico is visible from the public road through Phoenix Park; the building is an active presidential residence, so access to the grounds is limited.
Áras an Uachtaráin is one of 35 sights worth the detour in Dublin, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Dublin pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Dublin
- Aviva StadiumOne 51,711-seat bowl jointly owned by rugby and football — two governing bodies, one ground, no separate home for either.
- Dublin CastleThe river that gave Dublin its name still flows beneath your feet — and the building above it ran Ireland for 750 years.
- Croke ParkThe fourth-largest stadium in Europe holds 82,300 people — almost entirely for sports most of the world has never watched.
- National Library of IrelandIreland's paper memory — manuscripts, photographs, and newspapers free to open on the spot.
- St Patrick's CathedralIreland's national cathedral has never had a bishop — that role belongs to the rival church 400 metres up the road.
- Spire of DublinA 120-metre stainless-steel pin planted on the exact spot where an IRA bomb in 1966 — and a controlled demolition six days later — erased Nelson's Pillar.