Wexford Courthouse | |
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General information | |
Architectural style | Neo-Georgian style |
Address | Wexford, County Wexford |
Country | Ireland |
Coordinates | 52°20′21″N 6°28′24″W / 52.3393°N 6.4732°W |
Completed | 1866 (Tate School), 2018 (Courthouse) |
Wexford Courthouse is a judicial facility on Belvedere Road in Wexford, County Wexford, Ireland. It is at least the fourth building to have served as Wexford Courthouse.
A previous courthouse, located on Commercial Quay, was designed by Sir Richard Morrison in 1803,[1] and was completed in 1806, before undergoing further renovations in 1807.[2] This building was burnt down by the I.R.A. in 1921.[3]
In 1925 Wexford Gaol was converted into a county hall and courthouse. A detached, five-bay, three-storey over basement building, the rear windows of the gaol featured granite Gibbs surrounds. A castellated Gothic screen and gateway serves as the entrance to this building's grounds. The jury room and the judges' chambers were renovated in 1995.[4]
The current courthouse building, originally an educational establishment, was built between 1864 and 1866 and opened as the Tate School in March 1867.[5] This building was designed by architect Sandham Symes.[6] After the school got into financial difficulties and closed in 1949, the building was acquired by Wexford Corporation in 1950, at a cost of IR£5,000.[5] After Wexford Corporation relocated from Wexford Town Hall,[7] it served as the offices of Wexford Corporation until 2007.[8] It was subsequently sold to the Courts Service for conversion into a courthouse to replace the aging courthouse on Hill Street which had been built in 1930.[9] The building underwent extensive renovations and extensions, which were completed in December 2017, and represented an almost ten-fold increase in the size of the building.[10][11] The court commenced sitting on 23 January 2018,[11] and it was officially re-opened as a courthouse by Charles Flanagan, Minister for Justice and Equality, and Frank Clarke, Chief Justice of Ireland, in February 2018.[12]