1911–1919
Overview | Sir Walter Hartley | The War Effort | Sophie Peirce
Department of Agriculture & Technical Instruction
With the completion of the new college building, work began on the two wings on either side, intended to provide accommodation for the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland (DATI) on the south side and the Irish Local Government Board on the north. Temporary accommodation in the college building was given to some of the DATI offices, such as the seed testing station, and from 1914 DATI requisitioned space in the college for food production research.
Construction work on the two wings was delayed by a number of factors. There were disputes over the purchase of buildings on Merrion Street, the 1913 strike in Dublin delayed building work and the outbreak of war in 1914 introduced new concerns and responsibilities for the department. It was 1917 before DATI moved into the south block of the complex. By 1918 the political climate in Ireland had changed radically, and when the north block of the complex was completed in 1922 it became the headquarters of the provisional government of the Irish Free State.
