1806 – Former Court House, Wexford, Co. Wexford

The old Wexford Court House was situated on Wexford’s Commercial Quay, directly across from the town-side entrance of Wexford Bridge. The building was built in 1806 as a replacement for the courthouse that had been present in The Bullring. Throughout its existence, the structure suffered from a number of issues, with minutes from local authority meetings paint the picture of a building that was constantly falling into disrepair. Between 1899 and 1920, the courthouse was used by the Wexford County Council, which held its meetings in the Grand Jury room.

During the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), the courthouse was targeted by the Wexford branch of the I.R.A. During the early hours of Saturday, the 18th of June, 1921, nine members of the I.R.A arrived at the courthouse with cans of petrol and torches. After entering via a window, the commanding officer Francis Carthy and another member of the 4th Battalion Wexford Brigade spread petrol throughout the building. Afterwards, they set the petrol alight by tossing paraffin torches into the building. The Wexford Fire Service were quick to reach the scene and managed to get the fire under control before it spread to nearby buildings. However, the courthouse was completely gutted, with the exception of the Petty Sessions court, which remained intact.

Throughout the 1920s and the 1930s, the remainder of the building fell into such a dilapidated state that the local authority decided that it was no longer feasible to invest money in repairing it. It was finally demolished in the early 1960s.