Monaghan Courthouse is a judicial facility in

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7 ...

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Cou ...

, Ireland

History

The courthouse, which was designed by

Joseph Welland Joseph Welland (6 May 1798 – 6 March 1860) was born in Middleton, County Cork and became an Irish Architect for the Board of First Fruits and later the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. He was as a student to John Bowden and became his assista ...

in the

neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the 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 prevailing sty ...

and built in

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

stone, was completed in 1827. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing Church Square; 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 an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

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 ...

with a coat of arms in the tympanum. 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

Monaghan County Council Monaghan County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Mhuineacháin) is the authority responsible for local government in County Monaghan, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for ho ...

Monaghan County Museum Monaghan County Museum ( ga, Músaem Chontae Mhuineacháin) is a museum which documents the history of County Monaghan. History First opened in 1974, it was the first full-time, professionally staffed, and local authority funded Irish local mus ...

was established in the courthouse in 1974. After a major fire in the courthouse in May 1981, the museum moved to Hill Street and the county council moved to the County Offices in Glen Road. A memorial to the victims of the 1974 Monaghan bombing was unveiled outside the courthouse by President

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ga, Máire Pádraigín Mhic Ghiolla Íosa; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer and former politician who served as the eighth president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. She is an academic ...

in 2004 and the courthouse was extensively refurbished in 2011.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in County Monaghan Courthouses in the Republic of Ireland