Royal Hospital Kilmainham Royal Hospital Kilmainham The Royal Hospital Kilmainham () in Kilmainham, Dublin, is one of the finest 17th-century buildings in Ireland. The hospital was built in 1684 by Sir William Robinson, official State Surveyor General for James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to King Charles II, as a home for retired soldiers of the Irish Army 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 courtyard. The Royal Hospital Chelsea in Chelsea, London was completed two years later and also
Royal Hospital Kilmainham the creation of the Irish Free State the Royal Hospital was considered as a potential home for Oireachtas Éireann, the new Irish national parliament. Eventually it was decided to keep parliament in its temporary home in Leinster House. The Hospital remained the home of a dwindling number of soldiers, before being variously used by the Garda Síochána and as a storage location for property belonging to the National Museum of Ireland. The large statue "Queen Victoria" which used to stand in the forecourt of Leinster House, before its removal in 1947, was stored in the main courtyard of the Hospital,