The Royal Hospital in Kilmainham was built between 1680-84 as a retirement home for veteran soldiers, mostly Irish, who had served in the British Army. It was the world’s second such institution after Les Invalides in Paris, upon which the layout of the Dublin institution was based. It preceded its more famous counterpart in London, the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, by about 8 years. The architect was Sir William Robinson.
The final pensioner soldiers left for Chelsea in 1928 and Kilmainham soon fell into rack and ruin. A magical restoration, costing £20 million, was carried out in 1980-84 – exactly 300 years after its foundation. While the Dining Hall and Chapel have been restored to their original splendour and are on view to the public, most of the rest of the building and outhouses are now part of the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
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