The following description of the Bank is taken from From Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland (1900):
This magnificent edifice, on the north side of College Green, was formerly the Irish House of Parliament, and is reminiscent of some of the noblest associations in Irish history. Within its walls were heard some of the loftiest bursts of eloquence that adorn the legislative annals of any country. There Grattan, Curran, Flood, Plunket and other oratorical giants struggled in intellectual combat, and there were witnessed some of the most inspiring acts of patriotism, and unhappily, too, some of the basest acts of treachery that ever befell a people struggling for freedom.
The building is of rare artistic and classic beauty, being unsurpassed in elegance, grace and symmetry by any edifice in Europe. Strange to say, the name of the genius who designed this marvelous specimen of architecture is unknown. It is built of Portland stone, "and derives all its beauty from a single impulse of fine art, and is one of the few instances of form only, expressing true symmetry." The grand Ionic portico in front is 147 feet in extent.
References
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