The Embassy History
Find out about the Embassy's history, including where we are and some of our former Ambassadors.
Diplomatic relations between Ireland and Denmark were established in 1962. From 1962 until 1972, the Irish Ambassador in the Netherlands was also accredited to Denmark, after which time a resident Ambassador was appointed.
The Embassy has been at its current location since the early 1980s. It is situated in a building called Gylfe, built in 1902, and is connected to another building, Gefion.
The names Gefion and Gylfe are found in Norse mythology. The legend tells that the Swedish King, Gylfe, offered the goddess Gefion as much land as she could plough out of Sweden in one day and one night. Gefion transformed her four sons into oxen and they ploughed Zealand (the island where Copenhagen is situated) out of Sweden and placed it in the sea between Skaane (Sweden) and Fyn (the island between Zealand and Jutland).
Irish Ambassadors to Denmark
| Robert McDonagh | Chargé d'affaires a.i. | 1962 - 1965 |
| Denis Holmes | Chargé d'affaires a.i. | 1965 |
| C.P. Fogarty | Chargé d'affaires a.i. | |
| J.O. Burke | Chargé d'affaires a.i. | |
| Brendan Dillon | Ambassador | 1972 |
| Dermot Waldron | Ambassador | |
| F. Mahon Hayes | Ambassador | |
| Florence O'Riordan | Ambassador | 1981 - 1985 |
| Liam Rigney | Ambassador | 1985 - 1990 |
| Sean O'Huiginn | Ambassador | 1990 - 1991 |
| Andrew O'Rourke | Ambassador | 1991 - 1996 |
| James Sharkey | Ambassador | 1997 - 2001 |
| James Brennan | Ambassador | 2002 - 2006 |
| Joe Hayes | Ambassador | 2006 - 2010 |
| Brendan Scannell | Ambassador | 2010 - 2014 |
| Cliona Manahan | Ambassador | 2014 - 2019 |
| Adrian McDaid | Ambassador | 2019 - 2022 |
| Jerry O'Donovan | Chargé d'affaires a.i. | 2022 - 2023 |
| Elizabeth McCullough | Ambassador | 2023 - |
Documents on Irish Foreign Policy project
Learn more about the history of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and our collaboration with the Royal Irish Academy's Documents on Irish Foreign Policy project