3-021-595 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Lord Mayor of Dublin presenting the City Keys to the new Lord Lieutenant [John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer],1869. Earl and Countess Spencer were met '...at the Westland-row terminus of the Dublin and Kingston Railway...by Lord Strathnairn, Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, with his staff, and by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Sir William Carroll, with the Town Clerk, the High Sheriff, Mr. E. H. Kinahan, several Aldermen, and a few Town Councillors. The Lord Lieutenant, on alighting from the train, was received upon the platform by the Lord Mayor, while the civic officers placed the keys of the city, with the mace and sword, at his Excellency's feet. The Lord Mayor, in handing the keys to Earl Spencer, bade him a hearty welcome, and expressed a hope that his government would tend to the peace and prosperity of the country. His Excellency replied, and thanked the city for its loyalty; the keys were handed back to the Lord Mayor'. From "Illustrated London News", 1869.