The Four Courts, Dublin, Ireland, has been the centre of the Irish legal system for over 225 years. The building takes its name from the old superior courts of Chancery, King’s Bench, Equity and Common Law, which it was originally built to house. Although these four courts were subsequently merged into a single court, the High Court, the name still lives on today.

Comprehensively destroyed during the Irish Civil War of 1922, the Four Courts was reconstructed in the 1930s along the same structural lines as the original building. It has remained in place since.

This site uses old newspaper articles and historical images to bring the reader back in time to the Four Courts of the 19th and early 20th centuries, when it was, for a time, the centre of Dublin life. A short guide to the resources used in compiling the posts is available here.