155 years ago today 14 May 1865 marked the death of a famous lawyer Sir Thomas Staples, 9th Baronet of Lissane Co. Tyrone (1775–1865), who has risen to be the Queen’s Advocate in 1845 and a bencher of the Queen’s Inns. He was the last surviving member and Speaker of the Irish 
Irish House of Commons which was abolished following the Act of Union in 1800.
In 1829 he had purchased the largest town house on Merrion Square in Dublin, No. 45, now the Irish Architectural Archive. The house had been built in an ambitious & optimistic age, but in the Dublin
In 1829 he had purchased the largest town house on Merrion Square in Dublin, No. 45, now the Irish Architectural Archive. The house had been built in an ambitious & optimistic age, but in the Dublin
of the late 1820s its huge size was somewhat anachronistic and certainly uneconomical, so Sir Thomas had the building carefully divided into two separate houses.
In the 20th century successive Government departments and agencies moved in and out over the decades.
The last to go
In the 20th century successive Government departments and agencies moved in and out over the decades.
The last to go
was the Irish Patents Office, relocated to Kilkenny in 1996. Strangely enough, Sir Thomas had represented Knocktopher Co. Kilkenny in the House of Commons.
