Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-06
LORDMAYORO OF DUBLIN
Hon. Gerald 0'ReiIIy Holds the
Office at Present.
NEXT TO LORD LIEUTENANT
Salary $4,000 a Year, With a Fine
Residence, the Mansion House. F..
ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE CITY
Runs Back to $50 A. D.-Peopls
Suffered Under Cromwell-Has
Always Made Progress.
NEXT TO LORD LIEUTENANT
ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE CITY
BY WILLIAM r. Curtis,

DUBLIN, June 10, 1908.
| The Rt Hon. Gerald O'Reilly IS lord
mayor Of Dublin, but he manages to look
| after his private business as a grocer and
liquor dealer at Towns End in connec-
| ton with his official duties He WAS
elected to office by the nationalists and
| the labor element, who control the poll
| tics not only of Dublin, but of all Ire
| land, and have elected his predecessors
| for many years. And they have been
| men Of the people without exception No
aristocrat, no landlord. no member Of the
nobility could ever hope to become lord
mayor OF Dublin.
| Mr. O'Reilly was born, reared and edu-
| Gated in County Carlow, where his father
| was groceryman and liquor dealer like
himself. When he became of age he came
up to Dublin, went into business on his
own account, and has prospered He Is
| not rich man, but well-to-do. with
| good patronage, good reputation and a
| large influence in politics. For twenty
years he has served as member of the
common council and the board of alder
men, where he has proved his usefulness
| and his right to promotion.
| Mr.. O'Reilly's predecessor was an actual
| working man--Mr. g. p. Nannetti, son
of an Italian artist, who came to ireland
| sion as decorator. Mr.. Nannetti was
born in Dublin. educated i'm the national
| schools; learned his trade as Il printer in
the office Of that ancient and we'll known
paper, the Freeman's Journal. and was
advanced from grade to grade until he
became the. foreman of the composing
room. In the meantime he went into pol
HlcS became a leader among the working
men, was elected to the common council
| and then to the board Of aldermen, and
after serving two terms as lord mayor
was elected to parliament as the repre-
sentative of the business district of Dub
l1n which surrounds the Bank of Ire
land and Trinity College. Before him
! Timothy Harrington was lord mayor for
three terms. a longer period than any of
his predecessors since the creation of the
title by King Charles I the 10Th of
July. 1641. He, too, was a great success
in the Office. and was sent to parliament
for the district, which includes the docks
Second to Lord Lieutenant.
The city government of Dublin is very
much like that of London. The lord
mayor is second in official rank to the
lord lieutenant, and within the pre-
cincts OF the city takes precedence of
everybody except that official (who is
the personal representative of the king),
the royal family and foreign ambassa-
doris. He precedes the Archbishop of
Canterbury, the Primate of All England,
the Archbishop Of Armagh, the Primate
of All Ireland, the Archbishop Of Dub
lin, the chief secretary for Ireland, and
even the prime minister of England
while the lady mayoress has the right
to walk before every duchess, mar
chioness and woman of title in the
kingdom. The salary Of the lord mayor
is $4,000 a year, and he has a beauti-
full old house to live in one of the most
attractive in Dublin. 1t is situated on
Dawson street near Stephens Green.
and is surrounded by a picturesque old
garden. Here in olden times the lord
mayor used to entertain like prince
1t was a matter of pride that the Man
sion House should never be outdone by
the castle in the magnificence of it's
hospitality. But Of late years the civic
entertainments, as they were called
have been abandoned and the lord
mayoress has not attempted to shine in
society
The Mansion House is well adapted
for entertainment. The main room is
large circular chamber, adorned with
statuary, which was built especially
for the reception of George " when he
visited Ireland. The oak room is en-
tirely sheathed, floor, ceiling and walls,
with a rich reddish brown oak, deli
cately carved. Over the fireplace Is a
rack for the reception of the mace and
sword which are the symbols Of Office,
and formerly when the lord mayor
went about on official occasions they
OReilly and his recent predecessors
have abolished many Of those interest
ing old customs.
The Mansion House.
There are some fine pictures In the
Mansion House, portraits of Charles II by
Sir Peter Lely. George Nv by Sir Thomas
Lawrence. the Earl Of Northumberland
by Sir Joshua Reynolds and the Earl of
Westmoreland by Romney.
In the entrance hall are preserved the
mace and sword carried by the lord
mayor who fought for James II at the
battle of the Boyne. When he fled with
the rest of James forces he dropped the
heavy insignia which fell into the hands
of the Wiiliamites and were retained by
them until a duplicate set had been fur
nished many years after
Many famous men have been entertain
ed the Mansion House. including Gen.
Grant who visited Dublin during the
holidays of 1878; Capt Edward K. Pot
ter commander of the L. s. man-Of-war
Constellation. which brought a cargo of
food to the starving people of Ireland in
1880; Mr. Patrick A. Collins, while he
was mayor of Boston. who, by the way, is
recorded as senator from Massachusetts,
a distinction he never attained Mr..
Richard Croker formerly of New York,
received the freedom of the city of Dub
lin several years ago and has been a fire.
quent guest at the Mansion House, al
though he moves about very modestly
and puts on no airs.
The Lord Mayor of Dublin is elected an
nually on the 23d of December by the al
dermen and councilmen and must be one
of their number. He has a deputy who
exercises authority during his illness or
absence. There are fifteen aldermen and
forty-five members of the council. whose
authority and acwers are very much the
same in our cities al home.
Ancient History of Dublin.
The name of the aapital of Ireland is
compound of two Gaelic words-Dubh-Linn
which signify 1.-The black pool and was
bestowed upon it more than 1000 years
ago. We have almost consecutive his
tory of Dublin since the year 100 AID.
when warlike king called Conn of a
Hundred Battles. who had long been the
overload of all Ireland. was defeated by
his rival. "Mogh of Munster and COM
pelled to consent to a division of territory
the line being drawn from High street,
Dublin. across to the Atlantic ocean near
Galway. Three centuries later ST. Pat
rick came here on his way from Wicklow
to his home at Armagh. The people COM
planned to him of the bad quality of the
water they were obliged to drink. and he
relieved them by causing miraculous
fountain to spring up near the site of the
present cathedral that bears his name.
In 1852 Dublin became the seat of an
shortly after the landing Of Henry II be-
came the seat of the English government
In 1910 King John visited Ireland again
and conferred many privileges unon the