Chapel Royal and Record Tower The Chapel Royal was constructed between 1807 and 1814, and was used as a private chapel by the Viceregal Court and by those who lived at Dublin Castle. The Chapel continued to function throughout the War of Independence, holding its final service on Christmas Day of 1922. The last marriage to be celebrated there was between the daughter of the Recorder of Dublin (a legal office, effectively the chief magistrate for Dublin) and a British Major. All the important figures in the British administration were due to attend, including the Chief Secretary, the Under-Secretaries and several generals. David Neligan passed a list of the guests to Michael Collins, who declared, “We’ll plug the bloody lot of them!”
After the wedding was celebrated in the Chapel, the party returned to the bride’s family home on Fitzwilliam Square, where Neligan could see members of Collins’s “Squad” from the window, waiting outside to carry out the assassinations. However, as Neligan explained, none of the “high-ups” had come along. Instead, they had sent their private secretaries. He left the house to confer with Collins, who was waiting at a nearby pub, and the job was called off. Neligan also left us with a description of the Chapel itself, noting:
Each window contains a representation of the coat-of-arms of two Viceroys. Curiously enough, the last half-window is filled with the arms of the last Viceroy, Lord Fitzalan.
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