County Hall is a municipal facility in

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

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 ...

. It served as the headquarters of

Londonderry County Council Londonderry County Council was the authority responsible for local government in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. History Londonderry County Council was formed under orders issued in accordance with the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 wh ...

from 1960 to 1973.

History

During the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, meetings of

were held at the Coleraine Courthouse. In the 1960s, 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 acquire the site of a former manor house in the grounds of

Coleraine Castle Coleraine Castle was a castle situated at Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The '' Annals of Ulster'' reports that the Earl of Atholl The Mormaer or Earl of Atholl was the title of the holder of a medieval comital lordship ...

. The new building, which was designed by Smyth, Cowser and Partners in the

modern style The Modern Style is a style of architecture, art, and design that first emerged in the United Kingdom in the mid-1880s. It is the first Art Nouveau style worldwide, and it represents the evolution of the Arts and Crafts movement which was native ...

, was opened on 6 July 1970. The design for the seven-storey building involved continuous bands of glazing with concrete panelling above and below. In February 1972, it was the venue for the hearings of the

Widgery Inquiry John Passmore Widgery, Baron Widgery, (24 July 1911 – 26 July 1981) was an English judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 1971 to 1980. He is principally noted for presiding over the Widgery Tribunal on the events ...

, chaired by

Lord Widgery John Passmore Widgery, Baron Widgery, (24 July 1911 – 26 July 1981) was an English judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 1971 to 1980. He is principally noted for presiding over the Widgery Tribunal on the events ...

, into " the events on Sunday, 30 January 1972 which led to loss of life in connection with the procession in Londonderry on that day". After the county council was abolished in 1973, the building became the regional office of several government departments. The local district of the Northern Health and Social Services Board was located in County Hall but relocated to the former nurses' home on the Route Hospital site in Ballymoney in 1991. Approximately 160 civil servants were still employed by the

Northern Ireland Assembly sco-ulster, Norlin Airlan Assemblie , legislature = 7th Northern Ireland Assembly, Seventh Assembly , coa_pic = File:NI_Assembly.svg , coa_res = 250px , house_type = Unicameralism, Unicameral , hou ...

in the building as at 1 January 2014. However, in March 2014, about 300 jobs associated with Northern Ireland's Driver and Vehicle Agency were transferred from County Hall to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in County Londonderry County halls in Northern Ireland Government buildings completed in 1970