    the irish houses of parliament (), also known as the irish parliament house, today called the bank of ireland, college green, due to its use by the bank, was the world's first purpose-built two-chamber parliament house. it served as the seat of both chambers (the lords and commons) of the irish parliament of the kingdom of ireland for most of the 18th century until that parliament was abolished by the act of union of 1800, when ireland became part of the united kingdom of great britain and ireland. in the 17th century, parliament settled at chichester house, a town house in hoggen green (later college green) formerly owned by sir george carew, lord president of munster and lord high treasurer of ireland, which had been built on the site of a nunnery disbanded by king henry viii at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries. carew's house, named chichester house after its later owner sir arthur chichester, was already a building of sufficient importance to have become a temporary home of the kingdom of ireland's law courts during the michaelmas law term in 1605. most famously, the legal documentation facilitating the plantation of ulster had been signed in the house on 16 november 1612. ==plans for the new building== thumb|right|elevation of the parliament house, dublin, by peter mazell based on the drawing by rowland omer 1767 chichester house was in a dilapidated state, allegedly haunted and unfit for parliamentary use. in 1727 parliament voted to spend Â£6,000 on the building of a new parliament building on the site. it was to be the first purpose-built two-chamber parliament building in the world. the then ancient palace of westminster, the seat of the english (before 1707) and, later, british parliament, was merely a converted building; the house of commons's odd seating arrangements was due to the chamber's previous existence as a chapel. hence mps faced each other from former pews, a seating arrangement continued when the new british houses of parliament were built in the mid-19th century after the mediÃ¦val building was destroyed by fire. (it was 
18th-century_architecture Buildings_and_structures_in_Dublin_(city) Government_buildings_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland Legislative_buildings_in_Europe Parliament_of_Ireland_(pre-1801) Politics_of_Dublin_(city) Seats_of_national_legislatures