The Four Courts, Dublin

The Four Courts is a major court complex in Dublin, built in the Neoclassical style. It remains a working seat of Ireland’s Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court and Dublin Circuit Court. Its familiar title recalls the four superior courts once housed here: Chancery, King’s Bench, Exchequer and Common Pleas.

The present building was completed in 1796, following designs begun by Thomas Cooley and carried through by James Gandon. Its history includes a devastating episode: during the Civil War, bombardment caused a huge explosion that destroyed the west wing and consumed nearly a thousand years of records in the Public Record Office. The courts later returned in a rebuilt form, opened in 1932, though much of the original interior decoration was not restored. The building before you is therefore both an active legal institution and a survivor of Dublin’s upheaval.