| Description : The commemorative coin celebrates the first sitting of the
"Assembly of Ireland", the Dáil Éireann (House of Assembly), on the 21st of January 1919, at which
Ireland's independence was proclaimed, invoking the Easter Proclamation of 1916, triggering the two‐year Irish War of
Independence. The unicameral Parliament met in the Round Room of Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin,
built in 1710. Since 1922, Leinster House, the former Dublin ducal palace, has been the seat of Dáil Éireann,
the House of Representatives. The inspiration for the coin motif stylised by Emmet Mullins is a photograph taken in
August 1921 showing the "Round Room" filled with members of parliament and others, surrounded by an audience in the
gallery. The heads of those present in the round and in the gallery are symbolised by dots. At the top of the coin is "1919"
and across the middle "An Chéad Dáil" (the first assembly) in traditional uncial (majuscule) script, below which
is the country name "ÉIRE" (Ireland) and the year of issue "2019". The coin was minted without mint marks by the Irish
mint Lárionad Airgeadra an Bhainc Ceannais / Central Bank Currency Centre in Áth an Ghainimh / Sandyford.
Coins minted in the proof production process were made by the Bavarian mint Bayerisches Hauptmünzamt in
Munich. |
