Four Courts Travel Guide

Towards the river and one block east of St Michan's Church are the Four Courts, another of Gandon's majestic architectural pieces. A solid example of Georgian architecture and urban planning, the Four Courts (Mon-Fri 9.30am-5pm), were designed between 1786 and 1802 as the seat of the High Court of Justice of Ireland and a chambers for barristers. From the outside the Four Courts have a grim perfection. Inside, the courts - Exchequer, Common Pleas, King's Bench and Chancery - radiate from a circular central hall. The building holds particular historical significance in that it was here that former comrades turned their guns on one another following the 1921 treaty; it was completely gutted and legal documents dating back to the thirteenth century destroyed, when shelled by pro-treaty forces led by Michael Collins, who received the unwelcome reassurance from Winston Churchill that "the archives of the Four Courts may be scattered, but the title deeds of Ireland are safe."