Green Street Courthouse () is a

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

between Green Street and Halston Street in the Smithfield area of Dublin, Ireland. It was the site of many widely discussed criminal trials from 1797 until 2010, when the Criminal Courts of Justice building opened.

Under British rule

The Dublin City Sessions House, which was designed 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 ...

and built in

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

stone, was completed in 1797, on part of the "Little Green", which had been owned by St. Mary's Abbey before the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and was later used as a graveyard. The previous sessions house was the

Tholsel Tholsel was a name traditionally used for a local municipal and administrative building used to collect tolls and taxes and to administer trade and other documents in Irish towns and cities. It was at one stage one of the most important secular ...

, beside the Church of St. Nicholas Within. The architect of the new Sessions House is believed to have been Whitmore Davis. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage facing Smithfield; the central section featured a large

hexastyle A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultu ...

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

with

Doric order The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

columns supporting an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

and a

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...

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 ...

. The building held different courts, including the Dublin Commission Court (for the city and county, similar to the

assizes The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

held in other

Irish counties The counties of Ireland ( Irish: ) are historic administrative divisions of the island. They began as Norman structures, and as the powers exercised by the Cambro-Norman barons and the Old English nobility waned over time, new offices of polit ...

), the city

quarter sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts that were traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388; they were extended to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Scotland establ ...

, and the courts of the

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

, the

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

, and the

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

. The courthouse was part of a complex which also included three prisons —

Newgate Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...

(completed 1781), the Sheriff's Prison (completed 1794), and the City Marshalsea (completed 1804) — and the Governor of Newgate's residence. The Newgate prison replaced the original county gaol of the county of the city of Dublin, which was located at the New Gate of the

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...

. Which prison a convict or

remand Remand may refer to: * Remand (court procedure), when an appellate court sends a case back to the trial court or lower appellate court * Pre-trial detention, detention of a suspect prior to a trial, conviction, or sentencing See also

*''Reman ...

ed defendant stayed in depended on the court and crime; besides those on Green Street there was Richmond Bridewell south of the Liffey, and

Kilmainham Gaol Kilmainham Gaol () is a former prison in Kilmainham, Dublin. It is now a museum run by the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Government of Ireland. Many Irish revolutionaries, including the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising (Patrick Pea ...

west of the city took prisoners from the County Commission Court. (Kilmainham Courthouse held the county quarter sessions). Because the courthouse held Commission Courts for both

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

and the county of the city, it was legally treated as part of both counties. Green Street Courthouse was the venue of trials of noted Irish republican rebels, including

Robert Emmet Robert Emmet (4 March 177820 September 1803) was an Irish Republican, orator and rebel leader. Following the suppression of the United Irish uprising in 1798, he sought to organise a renewed attempt to overthrow the British Crown and Prote ...

in 1803,

John Mitchel John Mitchel (; 3 November 1815 – 20 March 1875) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist writer and journalist chiefly renowned for his indictment of British policy in Ireland during the years of the Great Famine (Ireland), Great Famin ...

in 1848, and

Fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood. They were secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...

leaders later. As well as holding trials, the Sessions House was the venue for election of members of the UK parliament for the Dublin City constituency.

Independence

After the 1922 creation of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

, Green Street housed the Central Criminal Court established by the

Courts of Justice Act 1924 The Courts of Justice Act 1924 () was an Act of the Oireachtas (No. 10 of 1924) that established a new system of courts for the Irish Free State (now the 26 county only Republic of Ireland). Among the new courts was the Supreme Court of the I ...

to try murder and other serious crimes. Except during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

(1922–23) and the Emergency (1939–45), all death sentences were handed down in Green Street. The

Special Criminal Court The Special Criminal Court (SCC; ) is a juryless criminal court in Ireland which tries terrorism and serious organised crime cases. Legal basis Article 38 of the Constitution of Ireland empowers the Dáil to establish "special courts" with ...

(SCC), for terrorism and organised crime, was revived in 1972 in response to

the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

in Northern Ireland, and thereafter sat in Green Street. People convicted there include republicans

Martin McGuinness James Martin Pacelli McGuinness (; 23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was an Irish republican politician and statesman for Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during The Troubles. He was the deputy First Minist ...

in 1973,

Colm Murphy Colm Murphy (18 August 1952 – 18 April 2023) was an Irish republican who was the first person to be convicted in connection with the Omagh bombing, but whose conviction was overturned on appeal.

in 2001, and

Michael McKevitt Michael McKevitt () (4 September 1949 – 2 January 2021) was an Irish republican and paramilitary leader. He was the Provisional Irish Republican Army's Quartermaster General. Due to the Provisional IRA's involvement in the Northern Ireland pe ...

in 2009; anarchists Marie and Noel Murray in 1976; and gangster John Gilligan in 2001. The Courthouse was modified for the February 1976 trial of the kidnappers of

Tiede Herrema In October 1975, Dutch businessman Tiede Herrema (21 April 1921 – 24 April 2020) was kidnapped by the Provisional IRA in Castletroy, near Limerick. This triggered a large police investigation and a two-week siege, after which Herrema was rele ...

. On 16 July 1976, three IRA bombs exploded at the Courthouse, breaching a sidedoor and allowing the escape of five on trial for bombmaking. Four were apprehended in the vicinity. The courthouse was one of only two in the state to have a dock for the accused. The last criminal trial at Green Street was on 11 December 2009, with the newly opened Criminal Courts of Justice building hosting trials from the start of 2010. The Green Street Courthouse building is still used by the

Courts Service The Courts Service is a statutory body that provides administration and support services to the Courts of the Republic of Ireland. It was established in 1999 by the ''Courts Service Act 1998''. Its head office is at Phoenix House, Smithfield, ...

for juvenile custody

summary may refer to: * Abstract (summary), shortening a passage or a write-up without changing its meaning but by using different words and sentences * Epitome, a summary or miniature form * Abridgement, the act of reducing a written work into a shor ...

hearings, and for administration, including the Drug Treatment Court Programme Office and the Reform and Development Office.

References

Citations

Sources

* {{Judiciary of the Republic of Ireland, state=collapsed Buildings and structures in Dublin (city) Courthouses in the Republic of Ireland Government buildings completed in 1797 1797 establishments in Ireland Georgian architecture in Dublin (city)