The Bishop Street Courthouse is a judicial facility in Bishop Street,

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. It is a Grade A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The building, which was designed by John Bowden in the

Neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, was first used in 1816, although it was not fully completed until 1817. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage facing the Bishop Street; the central section featured a tetrastyle portico with

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

columns supporting a

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

and a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

. A carving depicting the Royal coat of arms was installed at the apex of the pediment and statues depicting

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

and

Peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

carved by Edward Smyth were erected above the end bays. Architectural critic, Ian Nairn, described it as "Derry's best Georgian building" in '' The Listener'' in December 1961, having regard to the high quality white sandstone which was brought locally from Dungiven to build it. The building was originally used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the

Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 ( 61 & 62 Vict. c. 37) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that established a system of local government in Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots diale ...

, which established county councils in every county, the Bishop Street Courthouse was also used to discharge some county council functions. On 25 January 1989, the Provisional IRA Derry Brigade exploded a 400lb van bomb outside the courthouse causing extensive damage. In May 2012 the justice minister, David Ford, said that he accepted an inspection report recommending that the Enniskillen Courthouse should be designated a "super court" in a proposed rationalisation of the court system. On 19 January 2019 there was a car bomb attack on the Bishop Street Courthouse initiated as part of a

dissident Irish republican campaign The dissident Irish republican campaign began at the end of the Troubles, a 30-year political conflict in Northern Ireland. Since the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA or PIRA) called a ceasefire and ended Provisional Irish Republican Arm ...

, the first such attack in several years. There were no injuries from the attack but four men were subsequently arrested in relation to the incident. It led to concerns that former members of the

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

were constructing bombs for the dissidents.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in County Londonderry Courthouses in Northern Ireland Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 2019 2010s crimes in Northern Ireland 2019 crimes in Ireland Grade A listed buildings Government buildings completed in 1822 Terrorist incidents in Ireland in the 2010s