Four Courts

Four Courts, Dublin, the seat of the state's Supreme Court and High Court. The construction of a records storage building at the west end of the present site began in 1776, under the direction of Thomas Cooley. Cooley died in 1784, and the following year it was decided to enlarge his scheme by transferring the courts of law from St Michael's Hill, beside Christ Church, to the site. James Gandon was the architect appointed, in 1786, to complete the scheme.

The Four Courts project presented Gandon with a number of problems. The available site was small, and new construction had to accommodate Cooley's buildings. There were financial difficulties and also, following his involvement with the unpopular new Custom House, some personalized criticism of Gandon's architectural ability.

Gandon adapted Cooley's original plan for a single quadrangle, by modifying the north and west ranges. Cooley's east range was replaced by a monumental, centrally domed block, and the south side was replaced by a screen wall with a central triumphal arch. The new quadrangle was repeated to the east of the domed block, making it the impressive centrepiece of the building. Inside, the four courts (King's Bench, chancery, exchequer, and Common pleas) and the rolls court radiated from the central rotunda.

In 1922 the building was severely damaged by shelling and many of the irreplaceable documents from the Public Record Office were destroyed. It was reconstructed by the Board of Works, who closed off Gandon's open arcades in the quadrangles, and most of the interior was replanned.

Rachel Moss