Editing Four Courts (section)

==History==
Prior to the construction of the modern Four Courts, a previous complex existed close to [[Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin|Christ Church Cathedral]] on what is today St Michael's Hill which was in use from around 1608 to the opening of the present building around 1796. The [[Four Courts Marshalsea]] was also located close by at that time between [[Winetavern Street]] and [[Fishamble Street]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kenny |first1=Colum |title=The Four Courts in Dublin Before 1796 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44027768 |website=Irish Jurist (1966-) |access-date=31 August 2023 |pages=107–124 |date=1986}}</ref>

Even after reconstruction by [[William Robinson (architect)|William Robinson]] in 1695, there were constant complaints about the building's condition and location.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kenny |first1=Colum |title=The Four Courts in Dublin Before 1796 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44027768 |website=Irish Jurist (1966-) |access-date=31 August 2023 |pages=107–124 |date=1986}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Robinson, Sir William {{!}} Dictionary of Irish Biography |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/robinson-sir-william-a7736 |website=www.dib.ie |access-date=31 August 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

===Gandon's building===
[[image:Four-courts-statue.jpg|thumb|left|160px|Part of the original Gandon-designed interior decoration of the dome, lost in the 1922 destruction]]

Work, based on the design of [[Thomas Cooley (architect)|Thomas Cooley]] for the [[National Archives of Ireland|Public Records Office of Ireland]], began in 1776. After Cooley died in 1784, renowned architect [[James Gandon]] was appointed to finish the buildings. It was built between 1786 and 1796, while the finishing touches to the arcades and wings were completed in 1802,<ref>[[Maurice Craig (historian)|Maurice Craig]]: Dublin 1660–1860, page 243</ref> The lands were previously used by the [[King's Inns]].<ref>Colum Kenny, ''King's Inns and the Kingdom of Ireland: The Irish 'inn of court' 1541–1800'' (Irish Academic Press & Irish Legal History Society, 1992), pp. 261–5</ref> and before that a 13th-century Dominican Friary [[St. Saviour's Priory, Dublin|St. Saviour's]] was located on the site, confiscated following the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII.<ref>{{cite web|title=St. Saviour's Dublin|url= https://dominicans.ie/about/communities/st-saviours-dublin/}}</ref>

===Easter Rising===
The Four Courts and surrounding areas were held by Commandant [[Edward Daly (Irish revolutionary)|Edward Daly]]'s 1st Battalion during the [[Easter Rising]] in 1916. Some of the most intense fighting of Easter Week took place in the Church Street, North King Street and North Brunswick Street area. At the end of the week, the Four Courts building itself became the headquarters of the 1st Battalion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://1916.rte.ie/event/four-courts/|title=Four Courts|publisher=RTE|access-date=8 November 2019|archive-date=9 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109004818/https://1916.rte.ie/event/four-courts/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Destruction in Civil War===
{{main|Four Courts explosion}}
[[File:Four Courts Conflagration.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The Four Courts on fire during the [[Irish Civil War|Civil War]]]]

On 14 April 1922, the courts complex was occupied by [[Irish Republican Army (1922–69)|IRA]] forces opposed to the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]], with [[Rory O'Connor (Irish republican)|Rory O'Connor]] acting as their spokesman. On 28 June the new [[National Army (Ireland)|National Army]] attacked the building to dislodge the "rebels", on the orders of the [[Minister for Defence (Ireland)|Minister for Defence]] [[Richard Mulcahy]], authorised by [[President of Dáil Éireann]] [[Arthur Griffith]].<ref name=Townshend>'The Republic – the Fight for Irish Independence 1918–1923' Charles Townshend {{ISBN|978-0-141-03004-3}}</ref> This attack provoked a [[Battle of Dublin (1922)|week of fighting in Dublin]]. In the process of the bombardment, the historic building was destroyed. The west wing of the building was obliterated in a huge explosion, destroying the Irish [[National Archives of Ireland|Public Record Office]] at the rear of the building. Nearly a thousand years of archives were destroyed by this explosion, the ensuing fire, and the water poured onto the fire.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/ruin-of-public-record-office-marked-loss-of-great-archive-1.1069843|title=Ruin of Public Record Office marked loss of great archive|date=30 June 2012|publisher=Irish Times|access-date=9 November 2019|archive-date=30 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130055140/https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/ruin-of-public-record-office-marked-loss-of-great-archive-1.1069843|url-status=live}}</ref>

The IRA was accused of mining the records office; however, those present, who included future [[Taoiseach]] [[Seán Lemass]], said that, while they had used the archive as a store of their ammunition, they had not deliberately mined it. They suggest that the explosion was caused by the accidental detonation of their ammunition store during the fighting.<ref name=Townshend />

===Reopening in 1932===
[[File:The Four Courts.JPG|thumb|right|150px|alt=The Four Courts, Dublin.|The Four Courts at Inns Quay]]
For a decade after the destruction of the Civil War, the courts sat in the old viceregal apartments in [[Dublin Castle]]. In 1932, a rebuilt and remodelled Four Courts was opened. However, much of the decorative interior of the original building had been lost and, in the absence of documentary archives (some of which had been in the Public Records Office and others of which were among the vast amount of legal records lost also), and also because the new state did not have the funds, the highly decorative interior was not replaced.<ref name=iclr/>

=== Further development ===
The [[Office of Public Works]] added a modern two-storey extension to the roof of the old Public Records Office in the late 1960s. They also built [[River House (Dublin)|River House]] on Chancery Street, which served as Dublin's only motor tax office for a number of years.<ref>{{Cite book|last=McDonald|first=Frank|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60079186|title=The destruction of Dublin|date=1985|publisher=Gill and Macmillan|isbn=0-7171-1386-8|location=Dublin|pages=159|oclc=60079186|access-date=11 January 2021|archive-date=24 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924144503/https://www.worldcat.org/title/destruction-of-dublin/oclc/60079186|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Criminal courts===
Prior to 2010, both civil and criminal trials were heard in the Four Courts, which was also the location of the Court of Criminal Appeal. When the [[Criminal Courts of Justice (Dublin)|Criminal Courts of Justice]] building, near the [[Phoenix Park]], opened in January 2010, all criminal trials were transferred there.<ref name="independent-pantheon">{{Cite news |last=McDonald |first=Dearbhail |date=24 November 2009 |title=New order in court as €140m legal 'Pantheon' opens doors |url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/new-order-in-court-as-8364140m-legal-pantheon-opens-doors-1951951.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513083006/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/new-order-in-court-as-8364140m-legal-pantheon-opens-doors-1951951.html |archive-date=13 May 2011 |work=[[Irish Independent]]}}</ref><ref name="it-new-criminal-courts">{{Cite news |last=Coulter |first=Carol |date=24 November 2009 |title=First case set for new criminal courts |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1124/1224259339011.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101231005146/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1124/1224259339011.html |archive-date=31 December 2010 |work=[[The Irish Times]] |authorlink=Carol Coulter}}</ref> The Four Courts remain in use for civil matters.<ref name="independent-pantheon" />