Armagh Courthouse is a judicial facility in

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. The courthouse, which accommodates hearings for the local

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

s' courts and county courts, is a Grade A listed building.

History

The courthouse was commissioned to replace an earlier assizes house in Market Street. The new building, which was designed by Francis Johnston in the

Neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The pr ...

, was built between 1806 and 1809. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto College Hill; the central section featured a

tetrastyle A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

with

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

columns supporting a

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

with

triglyph Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are ...

s and a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

: the building was faced with Armagh

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. The building was originally used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the

Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. 37) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that established a system of local government in Ireland similar to that already created for England, ...

, which established county councils in every county, it also became the meeting place for

Armagh County Council Armagh County Council was the authority responsible for local government in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. History Armagh County Council was formed under orders issued in accordance with the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 which came into e ...

. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, county leaders decided that the courthouse was too cramped to accommodate the county council in the context of the county council's increasing administrative responsibilities, especially while the courthouse was still acting as a facility for dispensing justice, and therefore chose to move to new premises at Charlemont Place in 1945. The courthouse underwent a complete reconstruction in the mid-1960s and by 1971 the plasterwork, staircase, balusters and most of the woodwork had been replaced. On 3 September 1993, a 1,000 lb

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...

exploded directly outside the courthouse causing major structural damage to the roof, façade and walls. The main courtrooms were damaged and in the force of the blast one of the pillars was moved back a full 9 inches. An extensive programme of reconstruction and enlargement, with a new 3-storey extension added to the rear, was carried out at a cost of £8 million and the courthouse was officially re-opened by

Lord Irvine Alexander Andrew Mackay Irvine, Baron Irvine of Lairg, (born 23 June 1940), known as Derry Irvine, is a Scottish lawyer, judge and political figure who served as Lord Chancellor under his former pupil barrister, Tony Blair. Education Irvine ...

, the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

, on 15 January 1999. The courthouse was the venue for the trial and conviction of Robert Black for the murder of Jennifer Cardy in September 2011. In May 2012 the justice minister, David Ford, said that he accepted an inspection report recommending that the Armagh Courthouse should close in a proposed rationalisation of the court system.

Cases

Petty crime A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence). Canada In Canada, summary offenc ...

cases are the main focus in Armagh Courthouse. It is also used by county court and district judges for civil case hearings.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Armagh (city) Courthouses in Northern Ireland Grade A listed buildings Government buildings completed in 1809