Workers f ind secret resident of Doll Éireann
LEINSTER House has housed its fair share of dummies over the years, some would say – and now a wooden doll dating from the late 18th-century has been discovered secretly residing there over two centuries.
As well as the ‘Dáil doll’, believed to date back to the era of ‘Mad’ King George III, workmen renovating the national parliament have also found a mystery photograph of a couple from around 1910.
The public is to be asked to help identify the couple after the photo was found behind skirting boards during refurbishment.
The picture clearly shows a clean-shaven young man in Edwardian clothes with a woman alongside, although her image is somewhat damaged. They are believed to be aged in their 20s.
The photograph is being withheld by the Oireachtas until it is made public, following conservation, to help mark the centenary of the sitting of the first Dáil in January 1919.
The 100th anniversary next month will also see the unveiling of the doll, which has yet to be named. ‘Constance’ has been suggested in honour of Countess Constance Markievicz – the first woman elected to Dáil Éireann.
The wooden doll has been tentatively dated to the late 1700s.
The valuable artefact has no attached fabric, dress or clothing, but was found with all its limbs intact and with iron pins that would have made it capable of being posed.
The doll or toy, described yesterday as ‘almost unisex’, is believed to be English in origin.
It was found under floorboards where it is thought to have been dropped by a child, stored, hidden or possibly ceremoniously ‘buried’ after coming to the end of its playtime use for its owner.
Leinster House was built in the mid-18th century by the Earl of Kildare, James Fitzgerald. Just 22 years old when he inherited his father’s title, Lord Fitzgerald immediately bought a piece of land in Dublin where he planned to build a splendid town house for his family, who lived there with him, perhaps explaining the origin of the doll. In 1815, the third Duke of Leinster sold Leinster House to the Dublin Society for £10,000 and a yearly rent of £600, a fortune at the time.
The Houses of the Oireachtas ‘intends to display some of the original items found over the course of its Dáil 100 public engagement days, which will take place in Leinster House in January 2019’, a spokesman said.
The refurbishment work has also uncovered extensive and high-quality carving that had been hidden under layers of paint. The Office of Public Works is managing the Leinster House restoration.
Items will be displayed in 2019