Four Courts

Overlooking the River Liffey, the Four Courts was built between 1796 and 1802 by renowned architect James Gandon, who also built The Custom House. The building originally housed the four courts of Chancery, King's Bench, Exchequer, and Common Pleas, hence the name of the building. A major revision in the legal structures in the late nineteenth century saw these courts replaced, but the building retained its historic name. The new courts system remained until 1924, when the new Irish Free State which had replaced British rule introduced a new courts structure, replacing the old High Court of Ireland, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland and the Lord Chancellor of Ireland with a new Supreme Court presided over by the Chief Justice and a High Court of Justice, presided over by the President of the High Court.