It is one of the great fortresses of Europe, and was nicknames Ireland's Bastille. It was here that the King's Viceroy ran the government of Ireland, here that official functions and state entertainment were held. These reached their peak in the late 19th century. The castle was one of the places attacked during the Rising, and it played its role in both the maintenance of the old rule, and the arrival of the new. Here, in St Patrick's Hall, the Presidents of Ireland are now inaugurated.