The Royal Hospital, Kilmainham
The Royal Hospital Kilmainham in Dublin is the finest 17th-century building in Ireland. It was built in 1684 by James Butler, Duke of Ormond and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to King Charles II, as a home for retired soldiers and continued in that use for over 250 years. The style is based on Les Invalides in Paris with a formal facade and a large elegant courtyard. The Royal Hospital in Chelsea was completed two years later and also contains similarities in style. The Royal Hospital in Kilmainham was restored by the Irish Government in 1984 (its 300th anniversary) and opened as the Irish Museum of Modern Art abbreviated as IMMA.Every year on the National Day of Commemoration - the Sunday nearest July 11th - the anniversary of the Truce that ended the Anglo-Irish War - the President of Ireland, in the presence of members of the Government of Ireland, members of Dáil Éireann and of Seanad Éireann, the Council of State, the Defence Forces, the judiciary and the Diplomatic Corps, lays a wreath in the courtyard in memory of all Irishmen and Irishwomen who have died in past wars and on service with the United Nations.
