Number 58 Merrion Square was home to the celebrated early nineteenth-century Irish Catholic political leader, Daniel O’Connell. Known as The Liberator, O’Connell led the battle for Catholic Emancipation, achieving full civil rights for Irish Catholics in 1829. Notre Dame restored the building sensitively to meet the academic, programmatic and administrative needs of the university in Ireland. Mary McAleese, President of Ireland, officially opened O’Connell House in 2004. It contains Saint Patrick’s Chapel with a superb stained glass window by Harry Clarke. The Library has an outstanding collection of the works of Seamus Heaney. O’Connell House embodies all the elegance, charm and heritage of a characteristic Dublin Georgian building.
