| Green Street Courthouse | |
|---|---|
 Green Street Courthouse | |
  Green Street Courthouse Location within Central Dublin | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical style |
| Location | Smithfield,Dublin,Ireland |
| Coordinates | 53°20′59″N6°16′15″W / 53.349778°N 6.270866°W /53.349778; -6.270866 |
| Completed | 1797 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Whitmore Davis |
Green Street Courthouse (Irish:Teach Cúirte Shráid na Faiche)[1][2] is acourthouse between Green Street and Halston Street in theSmithfield area of Dublin, Ireland.[3] It was the site of many widely discussedcriminal trials from 1797 until 2010, when theCriminal Courts of Justice building opened.
The Dublin City Sessions House, which was designed in theneoclassical style and built inashlar stone, was completed in 1797, on part of the "Little Green", which had been owned bySt. Mary's Abbey before theDissolution of the Monasteries, and was later used as a graveyard.[4][5][6] The previous sessions house was theTholsel, beside theChurch of St. Nicholas Within. The architect of the new Sessions House is believed to have been Whitmore Davis.[3] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage facing Smithfield; the central section featured a largehexastyleportico withDoric order columns supporting anentablature and amodillionedpediment.[3]
The building held different courts, including theDublin Commission Court (for the city and county, similar to theassizes held in otherIrish counties), the cityquarter sessions, and the courts of theLord Mayor, theSheriff, and theRecorder.[7] The courthouse was part of a complex which also included three prisons —Newgate (completed 1781), the Sheriff's Prison (completed 1794), and theCity Marshalsea (completed 1804) — and the Governor of Newgate's residence.[7][5] The Newgate prison replaced the original county gaol of thecounty of the city of Dublin, which was located at the New Gate of thecity wall. Which prison a convict orremanded defendant stayed in depended on the court and crime; besides those on Green Street there wasRichmond Bridewell south of the Liffey,[7] andKilmainham Gaol 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 bothCounty Dublin and the county of the city, it was legally treated as part of both counties.[8]
Green Street Courthouse was the venue of trials of notedIrish republican rebels, includingRobert Emmet in 1803,[9]John Mitchel in 1848,[10] andFenian leaders later.[11] As well as holding trials, the Sessions House was the venue for election ofmembers of the UK parliament for theDublin City constituency.[7]
After the 1922 creation of theIrish Free State, Green Street housed theCentral Criminal Court established by theCourts of Justice Act 1924 to try murder and other serious crimes. Except during theCivil War (1922–23) andthe Emergency (1939–45),all death sentences were handed down in Green Street.[12]
TheSpecial Criminal Court (SCC), for terrorism and organised crime, was revived in 1972 in response tothe Troubles in Northern Ireland, and thereafter sat in Green Street. People convicted there include republicansMartin McGuinness in 1973,Colm Murphy in 2001, andMichael McKevitt in 2009; anarchistsMarie and Noel Murray in 1976; and gangsterJohn Gilligan in 2001.[13] The Courthouse was modified for the February 1976 trial of the kidnappers ofTiede Herrema.[14] On 16 July 1976, three IRA bombs exploded at the Courthouse, breaching a sidedoor and allowing the escape of five on trial for bombmaking.[15][16][17] Four were apprehended in the vicinity.[17]
The courthouse was one of only two in the state to have a dock for the accused.[18] The last criminal trial at Green Street was on 11 December 2009, with the newly openedCriminal Courts of Justice building hosting trials from the start of 2010.[19] The Green Street Courthouse building is still used by theCourts Service for juvenile custodysummary hearings,[20] and for administration, including the Drug Treatment Court Programme Office[21] and the Reform and Development Office.[22]