Hibernian Hall, Greek Revival landmark on Meeting Street, Charleston, US.
Hibernian Hall is a two-story brick building at 105 Meeting Street, clad in white-painted stucco, with a Greek temple front of six fluted Ionic columns copied from the Temple of Ilissus and carrying an entablature and pediment. A triangular pediment with a row of dentils tops the facade, and a small semicircular window with two dark panes sits beneath its peak. Above the central door a panel reads "A. D. 1849" over a green harp, and the brown double door bears a gold harp; Christopher Werner made the wrought iron gates.
Hibernian Hall was built in 1840 to a design by Philadelphia architect Thomas U. Walter for the Hibernian Society of Charleston, an Irish benevolent society organized in 1801. During the 1860 Charleston Convention it served as headquarters for the faction backing Stephen A. Douglas; delegates slept on hundreds of cots on the second floor, and no candidate won the nomination. The building was named a National Historic Landmark in 1973.
The Hibernian Society, an Irish benevolent group organized in 1801, built the hall in 1840; the green harp emblem below the "A. D. 1849" panel and the gold harp on the brown double door mark that Irish identity. The wrought iron gates at the street were made by German-American ironworker Christopher Werner.
The building serves as a venue for social gatherings, society meetings, the annual Saint Patrick's Day celebration, and debutante balls. Visitors should be aware that many of these events are private functions and access may be restricted during certain occasions.
The wrought iron gates at the Meeting Street entrance were made by Christopher Werner, a German-American master ironworker working in Charleston. The pediment's arched Italianate window and the dentils and modillions on the cornice were added in the late 19th century, during repairs after the 1886 Charleston earthquake.
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