In 1917, Albert Power carved decorative stonework for the Munster & Leinster Bank on O’Connell Street, Dublin — one of his earliest major commercial architectural commissions, predating his work on the Royal Bank of Ireland (1919) and Gresham Hotel (1926) on the same street.
The commission included a keystone frieze with tiny heads of female classical figures, carved in a style influenced by gargoyle traditions — a distinctive decorative treatment within Power’s largely classical architectural vocabulary. This work was carried out the year before the end of the First World War and the year before the 1918 general election that reshaped Irish politics, situating it at an early point in Power’s career as Ireland moved toward independence.