257 



income of £146 Ms. 8d. This is entirely distinct from the grant 

 first made in 1816, which is annually inserted in the Treasury Es- 

 timates, and which has always been appropriated to the general pur- 

 poses of the Academy. 



The interest of which the Academy ultimately became possessed 

 in the house in Grafton-street is as follows : — The ground and the 

 house belongs to the Corporation of the City of Dublin, by whom 

 it was let on a lease for three lives, renewable during a period of 60 

 years, to a tenant under whose representative the Academy holds. 

 This period of 60 years expired in Easter, 1851, when it appeared 

 that two of the lives then in the lease were those of persons above 

 70 years of age, whilst of the third nothing was known, as the per- 

 son had not been heard of for many years. Thus it was manifest that 

 the Academy's tenure of the house, depending upon two such ad- 

 vanced lives, was near its termination. 



Under these circumstances, the President made energetic repre- 

 sentations to the Government, praying that a permanent and suit- 

 able residence might be granted to the Academy. This application 

 was successful. The Government being assured that the house in 

 which we now are was in every respect eligible, obtained a lease of 

 it at a rent of £155 17s. 6d. per annum. For the payment of this, 

 our annual grant under Acts of Parliament, of £146 17s. 8^., is 

 available in the first instance, and is to be handed over, half-yearly, 

 by the Treasurer of the Academy, to the Commissioners of the 

 Board of Public Works, who will put the balance in their annual 

 estimates. 



The Academy House being for the future placed on the same 

 footing as other public buildings, its repairs will be undertaken by 

 the Commissioners of the Board of Works, and at their charge. 

 For the purpose of putting it into a fit state to meet all the requi- 

 sitions of the Academy, the Commissioners expect to obtain a spe- 

 cial Parliamentary Grant for additions, alterations, and repairs, to 

 be executed in the course of the current year. The proposed addi- 

 tions consist of a fire-proof building on the ground-floor at the rere 

 of the house, containing a Museum and a Library ; the latter on 

 such a scale as to answer for a meeting-room on occasions when a 

 very large assemblage of persons is expected to take place. It is 



