This is a history of the Dublin City Lord Mayor’s Ceremonial Chair, which was originally commissioned by Dublin City Council in 1852 for the new Council Chamber in City Hall.

1. The Lord Mayor’s
Ceremonial Chair
1852

2. The Lord Mayor’s
Ceremonial Chair
1852
Commissioned by Dublin City Council in
1852 for the new Council Chamber in City
Hall, which was then in the process of being
converted from its previous use as the
Coffee Room of the Royal Exchange. The
chair is in carved Irish oak and was made by
J. Kerr and Co., cabinetmakers, 42-3
Stafford Street, Dublin (present-day Wolfe
Tone Street) at a cost of £25-10s and its
manufacture number, stamped on the chair,
is 19981. The design is by the noted
furniture maker Arthur Jones, who was
based at St. Stephen’s Green and was the
cabinetmaker to the Board of Works.

3. The Lord Mayor’s
Ceremonial Chair
1852
The chair features symbols of Irish
nationalism, including harps and garlands of
shamrocks.The Lord Mayor’s arms are
featured on the top of the chair, with the cap
of maintenance surmounting the three
castles of Dublin on a shield. The arms of
the chair are formed by two Irish
wolfhounds, representing Bran and Sceolán,
the hunting companions of the legendary
Irish giant, Fionn Mac Cumhal.

4. The Lord Mayor’s
Ceremonial Chair
1852
The Lord Mayor sat in the chair when
presiding over meetings of the Dublin City
Council, but it was also used occasionally for
civic ceremonies, such as the conferring of
the Honorary Freedom of Dublin. For
example, when Noel Purcell and Maureen
Potter received the Honorary Freedom in
1984, the chair was moved to the Mansion
House Round Room for the ceremony and
when Stephen Roche received the Honorary
Freedom in 1987, the chair was moved to
the portico of the Bank of Ireland,
overlooking College Green.

5. The Lord Mayor’s
Ceremonial Chair
1852
The chair was in use in City Hall until the
Council Chamber was re-designed and
modernized in 1993.The Chair was then
moved to the Dublin Civic Museum for
safe-keeping, and it was placed on public
display in the Museum. Dublin City
Council held a special meeting at the Civic
Museum in June 1999, for the election of
the Lord Mayor. On that occasion, the
Lord Mayor sat in the 1852 ceremonial
chair, the last time it was used for official
business. It has now been returned to
Dublin City Hall, where it is on public
display in the Rotunda.

6. The Lord Mayor's
Arms festooned
with shamrocks are
at the top of the
chair.
The Lord Mayor’s
Ceremonial Chair
1852

7. A triumphal urn
with a garland
of oak leaves
and an acorn.
The Lord Mayor’s
Ceremonial Chair
1852

8. Shamrock and oak
leaves carved into
the pediment of
the pillars.
The Lord Mayor’s
Ceremonial Chair
1852

9. Pillar with garland
of shamrocks on
each of the back
supports.
The Lord Mayor’s
Ceremonial Chair
1852

10. Harp supported by
shamrocks at the
top of each leg.
The Lord Mayor’s
Ceremonial Chair
1852

11. Fionn McCumhaill’s
woflhounds Sceolain
and Bran form the
arms of the chair.
The Lord Mayor’s
Ceremonial Chair
1852

12. A carved garland
beneath the chair
with shamrocks
The Lord Mayor’s
Ceremonial Chair
1852