1857 – Courthouse, Athy, Co. Kildare

Curvilinear gables on this neo-Tudor style market building are at odds with its later and more severe use as a courthouse. Originally used as the town’s corn exchange and commissioned by Augustus FitzGerald, 3rd Duke of Leinster, officially opened on 6 October 1857. At the time it was described ‘as pretty a building as any in Ireland’ to be used as a corn exchange. It was not a success; newspaper reports over the next few years stated that ‘the ventilation of the building was very defective and the manner in which it is lighted was also objected to’. Within five years the building was lying idle. In the late 19th century was converted into a courthouse. Burnt out during the Irish War of Independence in an attack by Irish Republican Army volunteers on 20 July 1920. Rebuilt around 1928.