Little Ratra

Little Ratra, sometimes called Ratra House, is one of the minor state residences located in Dublin's Phoenix Park. Until recently it was used as the Civil Defence School. The building, which was built circa 1876 and originally known as the Little Lodge, was the official residence of the Private Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who lived out of season in the next door Viceregal Lodge. Its first resident was Lord Randolph Churchill who was appointed his Private Secretary by the then Lord Lieutenant, his father John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough. Churchill lived there with his wife Jennie Jerome, and his young son Winston Churchill. Winston Churchill in his writings described his four years, from aged 2 to...