The Four Courts

The Four Courts is the location of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Dublin Circuit Court. The building originally housed the four courts of Chancery, King's Bench, Exchequer and Common Pleas, giving the name to the building. The building was designed by 2 people, Thomas Cooley who died during the build and James Gandon who finished the building. Building of the Four Courst began in 1776 and the first case was heard in 1796. Cooley also designed the Dublin City Hall while Gandon also designed the Custom House. During the Easter Rising its location gave it a strategic importance. It was adjacent to the north quays, which ensured that Volunteers in this area were in a position to interfere with troop movements to and from both the Royal Barracks and Kingsbridge (Heuston) Station. In 1916 the Four Courts area formed the garrison for the 1st Battalion of the Dublin Brigade led by Commandant Edward Daly. Some of the fiercest fighting of the Rising took place in and around the Four Courts. On the 14th of April 1922 roughly 200 Anti Treaty IRA members took over the Four Courts and occupied them until they were dislodged by the Free State Army. The occupiers of the Four Courts were given an ultimatum on the night of the 27th of June, to evacuate the Four Courts or face, military action by the Free State Army. The occupation of the Four Courts created a Headache for the British government. The Free State began negotiaons to remove the swearing of allegience to the Crown to help resolve the occupation. The British would not renegotiate and offered weaponry, ammunition and personnell to help end the siege. If the Free State did not end the siege the British Goverment threatened to invade and re-occupy Ireland. There were 12 members of the Irish Republican Army Executive, including Chief-of-Staff Joe McKelvey, Director of Engineering Rory O'Connor and Quartermaster General Liam Mellows inside the Four Courts at the time of the siege, along with over 180 men from the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 1st Dublin Brigade. On the 30th of June at 3.30 p.m., the anti treaty IRA surrendered under orders from Oscar Traynor. The day of the surrender the Irish Public Record Office located in the western block of the Four Courts, exploded, distroying all documents held there. The damaged to the Four Courst was so bad, the building was unusable for the next 10 years. The dome of the Four Courts was printed on the £20 note before the change to the Euro.