Look at the left-hand Doric columns of Monaghan Courthouse and you’ll find faint pockmarks in the stone: bullet marks from the Irish Civil War, when a National Army company was stationed here. That’s the thing to seek out, because the courthouse is a working court and the interior is off-limits unless you’re attending a public sitting. The building anchors the south side of Church Square, and the real reason to stop is the façade, the memorial in the square and a couple of pieces of civic sculpture – ten minutes, honestly told.
History
The current building replaced an eighteenth-century sessions house on the old ‘Diamond’ site. William Deane Butler’s 1826 design was rejected, and the commission went to Dublin architect Joseph Welland, a pupil of John Bowden better known for his churches. Construction began in 1827 on the footprint of the former county gaol and finished in 1830 at a cost of £10,000. Samuel Lewis’s 1837 survey called it a ‘handsome modern building of hewn stone’.
The twentieth century was harder on it. During the Irish Civil War (1921–23) a National Army company held the building, and the bullet marks on the left-hand pillars date from then. In 1928 a suite of solicitors’ rooms became Monaghan’s first public library. The courthouse also housed county council offices until the 1980s, and Monaghan County Museum opened here in 1974, staying until the 1981 fire forced it out; it eventually settled on Hill Street.
That fire, in May 1981, gutted the interior. The ruined façade became a backdrop for demonstrations during the Maze hunger strikes of the early 1980s. Reconstruction began in 1986, and after the Courts Service Act of 1998 the Courts Service took over the building.
Architecture and restoration
The five-bay frontage rests on a rusticated plinth under giant fluted Doric columns, the whole thing faced in creamy Carnmore sandstone from the quarry at Eshnaglogh, 15 km north-west of the town. Look up at the pediment: it carries the United Kingdom’s Royal coat-of-arms, with lion, unicorn and Irish harp. The crown-topped in-escutcheon was removed after Queen Victoria’s accession in 1837, which dates the carving to the reign of George IV.
The 2011 refurbishment by the Office of Public Works cleaned the weathered stone, replaced damaged sections with fresh Carnmore sandstone from Rossmore Quarry in County Fermanagh, and enlarged the foyer. Inside – not open to casual visitors – went a top-lit atrium, an Irish oak staircase and Carlow limestone lining, with two jury courtrooms and a family law court panelled in oak. The work won the Irish Architecture Award for Best Conservation/Restoration in 2012.
What to see
- Bullet-scarred pillars – The pockmarks on the left-hand columns are a direct link to the Civil War fighting of the early 1920s. This is the detail most people walk past.
- The Royal coat-of-arms – Study the pediment carving, then note the missing crown on the in-escutcheon, the quiet marker that dates the stonework to George IV.
- Monaghan bombing memorial – In the square, a sandstone and metal pillar unveiled by President Mary McAleese in 2004. Designed by Ciaran O’Cearnaigh, it remembers the seven people killed in the 1974 Monaghan bombing with seven shafts of light above bronze name plates.
- Hive of Knowledge – A blacksmith-forged sculpture drawn from ancient beehive huts, made at the International Forge-in in June 2011 and set directly in front of the courthouse.
- Heritage trail – The courthouse is a stop on the Monaghan Town Heritage Trail, which also takes in St Patrick’s Church, the 1792 Market House, the Rossmore Monument and the Monaghan County Museum.
Visiting
The exterior, memorial and sculptures are open at all times and free. Public court sittings run roughly Monday–Friday 11am–5pm and Saturday 12pm–5pm, though access closes during active hearings, so treat the interior as a maybe rather than a plan. The nearest car park is on the north side of Church Square, and Bus Éireann services stop within a few minutes’ walk. For the fuller story of the building’s civic life, pair it with the Monaghan County Museum, which was once housed inside these walls.