Cork Courthouse, Judicial facility on Washington Street in Cork, Ireland.
Cork Courthouse occupies the full block between Washington Street, Liberty Street, Cross Street and Courthouse Street. Its original portico, with limestone cut at Carrigacrump, survived the 1891 fire, and a copper dome was added when William Henry Hill rebuilt the interior by 1895. The building serves as the Cork Court Office for civil and family matters.
Plans for a new courthouse began in July 1827, and a design competition in 1830 was won by brothers James and George Richard Pain with a £16,000 contract. Construction started in 1831 and finished in 1835–36 at a cost of £22,000; the first sitting was held on 12 March 1836. After an accidental fire on 27 March 1891 gutted the building, William Henry Hill won the rebuild competition, the interior was remodelled and a copper dome added, with works completed in 1895 at a cost of £27,000.
The building is crowned by a statue of Lady Justice above the portico; on 23 June 1917 a man climbed to the roof, raised an Irish tricolour and threw the statue's bronze scales into the street, where they shattered. The courthouse now handles civil and family matters at District and Circuit Court level.
The courthouse fills the block bounded by Washington Street, Liberty Street, Cross Street and Courthouse Street, a short walk west of the city centre. It handles civil and family business; criminal trials are heard at the Anglesea Street courthouse. The building was refurbished between 1998 and 2005 after years of poor condition.
On 23 June 1917, a man climbed a ladder to the roof and raised an Irish tricolour, then threw the bronze scales of justice from the statue of Lady Justice on the portico; they shattered on the street below to the applause of the crowd.
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