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In Dame-street most of the Irish banks have their offices. At the end of
the street furthest from the College is the City Hall. The building was
originally the Royal Exchange, but in the middle of the nineteenth
century it was handed over to the Dublin Corporation. The Corinthian
columns which form the portico are very handsome. The entrance is
modern, the older structure having given way in "the troubled times,"
while a crowd of citizens were beguiling the time watching a public
whipping of a malefactor from the steps. The centre hall is crowned with
a decorated dome. The hall contains statues of O'Connell,
Under-Secretary Drummond, Grattan, and Dr. Lucas, a publicist in
eighteen-century Dublin. The Council Chamber is well furnished, and some
of the portraits of former Lords Mayor are very fine. Immediately behind
the City Hall is Dublin Castle, far from being the imposing structure
those familiar with its history may suppose. The Lower Castle Yard is
entered from Palace-street. It contains the Birmingham Tower, a modern
structure replacing the fortress, some of the walls of which still
stand, from which the fiery Red Hugh O'Donel, Prince of Tyrone, escaped.
The Castle Chapel is beside the Tower, and permission to visit it is
easily obtained.
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