Have you ever wondered what it’s like to live in an ambassador’s residence? Is it all about glittering receptions and pyramids of Ferrero Rocher everywhere you turn?
Canada’s newest ambassador to Ireland, Dennis King, is happy to satisfy that curiosity by throwing open the doors of his Ranelagh residence, Glanmire, as part of this year’s Open House Dublin festival.
It won’t be the first time he has opened the gate to curious onlookers.
“People stop at the gate and take photos so I’ll pop out all the time and open the gate and say, ‘Oh, come on in. Do you want to get your picture taken in front?’” he says.
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“I’m trying to open it up a little bit. I mean, this is a piece of Canada, but it’s also a great piece of Irish history, and history is something that we all should experience and we all should share.”
The house on Oakley Road was built between 1848 and 1851, but designed in the earlier Regency style, with its tall sash windows and symmetrical proportions. It has a storied history. Long before the house was built, this townland of Cullenswood was the site of a 13th century massacre, when between 300-500 settlers from Bristol were ambushed and killed by native Irish people.
Glanmire was built on land belonging to Cullenswood House, and in 1908, Patrick Pearse bought both properties and founded Scoil Éanna in Cullenswood House. Frederick Furnell Armstrong was leasing Glanmire at that time, and Pearse leased back land from him for use as playing fields, before the school moved to Rathfarnham. Visitors can see a framed document in the hall of Glanmire, outlining an agreement between Armstrong and Pearse.
The ambassador is constantly struck by the age of Irish buildings. “In Canada, if you have a house on a farm that’s 100 years old, we put a plaque on it and call it Century Farm. I always joke at home that when something’s 100 years old here, it still has the new car smell. This house would be a temple in Canada because of its age.”
Of course, a house with that much history is bound to have a few stories attached to it. Before he moved here, he searched for the house online and was slightly spooked. A previous ambassador, Kevin Vickers, had said he thought it might be haunted and claimed he had heard unusual bangs, heavy footsteps and laboured breathing.
“I was like, oh my gosh, I don’t think I can live here,” King jokes. “But no, I’ve stayed here for six months and I haven’t heard any bumps in the night or anything like that. It’s a large place, but it’s very warm and cosy inside here ... I haven’t seen Pádraig Pearse yet anyway.”
When he’s not at the embassy, he and his wife, Jana Hemphill, tend to gravitate towards the warm and inviting kitchen where they can look out on the gardens and the recently restored greenhouse.
“Whenever the weather will allow us, we’ll sit out. It’s a lovely backyard and it’s very peaceful and there’s lots of birds and there’s a fox that comes around here. It’s a little bit of country in the city and it’s very peaceful.” They’ve put the greenhouse to use, planting tomatoes and green beans, “so that’s been a fun experience for us”.
It’s not surprising that they gravitate towards the outdoors, as they left their horse farm on Prince Edward Island (PEI) to come here. King was premier of the island on Canada’s east coast for almost six years before he resigned in March. It had been a turbulent time to lead the province, with two severe hurricanes, a rail blockade, Covid and other crises during his premiership. The region is highly dependent on trade with the United States, so the final straw came with US president Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs. “It just seemed like we were mired in this chaos,” he recalls.
Shortly after he resigned, he was offered the role of ambassador to Ireland and arrived in early April. The family’s logistics are still being worked out, as the couple has three children, aged between 18 and 30. The youngest has just started university back home, and his wife is still overseeing the equestrian centre on their farm, “so we’re trying to stay connected to home a little bit. My wife’s been back and forth, seven or eight times so far.”
But, he says Ireland is far more accessible than he expected, pointing to the direct flight from Halifax that takes five-and-a-half hours. “And even the overnight flight from Toronto is six-and-a-half. It’s much further to go to Vancouver than it is for me to go to Ireland.”
He says he settled in very easily, as there are many similarities between Irish people and the islanders back home. “Everybody who I run into is interesting, they’re funny, they’re self-deprecating, which is very similar to what I would deal with on a daily basis at home. They’re inquisitive – some might say nosy – which we are too.”
Monaghan is twinned with Prince Edward Island, because of the large number of Monaghan people who settled there in the 1800s, and when he visited Monaghan, he said it was like being at home, “with the rolling hills and the green and the colour and the community names”.
But of course there are differences between the countries, and he says driving in Ireland has been harrowing at times. “Just going into a roundabout has been an adventure for us for sure.” And as a big sports fan, he misses coverage of the Canadian Football League, the baseball and the NHL hockey season. “But I’ve really taken to the Gaelic sports. I was at the All-Ireland semi-final with Tipperary and Kilkenny in hurling and loved it. It’s kind of a gladiator type of sport.”
He feels this is a consequential time to be in Ireland, as Canada tries to forge stronger links with the EU and the world because of the trade barriers with the US. “And I do think that it’s going to be diplomacy that’s going to help us all find our way through this very uncertain global situation.
“Our friendships with the European Union and the member states are really something that is critical to our short, mid and long-term success.”
His day-to-day work also involves supporting the almost 100 Canadian businesses in Ireland, and Glanmire is frequently pressed into service to host receptions and entertain visitors.
“Canada Day would be our big event here,” he says. “We had close to 300 people in the backyard for Canada Day this year. Sometimes when dignitaries from Canada travel abroad, they will stay here. So, we’ll use this to the full extent that we can. It’s a great asset to show off Canada”.
People touring this Canadian outpost for Open House will also be able to admire the many pieces of Canadian artwork on display.
“We have a very broad national art bank in Canada and we try to share as much Canadian art as we can in the residences and the embassies around the world,” he says. Art lovers will also notice a familiar Irish artist on display. In the dining room, a Quebecois snowscape by Frederick S. Coburn has been paired with a Paul Henry painting of a Scottish landscape. It was gifted by John Kearney, who served as Canada’s second High Commissioner to Ireland in the early 1940s.
The current ambassador’s small contribution to the artwork is a cardboard cut-out of Anne of Green Gables, the biggest literary sensation to come out of Prince Edward Island. “It doesn’t compare to any of the art that’s here, but it’s my own little piece of PEI that I brought here,” he says.
And while he entertains many important people at the house, he and his wife are looking forward to the arrival of the most significant VIPs of all in December, when their two younger children arrive for their first family Christmas in Ireland. “We’re interested to see what Christmas looks like here as compared to home,” he says. “We tend to go all out with lights and things, so I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that to the full extent, but we really want to have a Canadian Christmas in Dublin.”
The Open House Dublin tours of Glanmire will be held on Friday, October 17th, from 10am-4.30pm
