Dublin Castle was the power centre from which English, and later British, power ruled and administered Ireland from the 12th century. Functioning as a surrogate court headed by successive lords deputy and lords lieutenant, its levees, balls and other social events were the epitome of conspicuous consumption.
Pomp and circumstance was also visible on the streets of Dublin as the cavalcade of the lord lieutenant frequently traversed the city. Peter Gray and Olwyn Purdue, in The Irish Lord Lieutenancy have remarked on the passing of this era and how British rule "unceremoniously came to an end" with the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922.
The Irish Times summed up the transition very well in its reporting of the handing over of Dublin Castle on 17 January 1922: "Having withstood the attacks of successive generations of Irish rebels, Dublin Castle was quietly handed over to eight gentlemen in three taxicabs."
These contrasting video clips, captured less than seven years apart, illustrate the transition from British rule to independence.
The first clip shows the state entry of the lord lieutenant, Viscount French of Ypres, at Dublin Castle in 1915 with all the attendant ceremony while the second shows its informal handover to the "eight gentlemen in three taxicabs," including Michael Collins and Kevin O'Higgins.
You might say there had been a transition from 'royals' to 'rebels'.