Cavan Town Hall

The building was commissioned by Cavan Urban District Council in the early 20th century.{{cite book|last=Parker|first=Ciarán|title=Cavan Urban District Council – A Brief Look Back' in Scott, Dr. Brendan (Ed.), Cavan Town, 1610–2010: A Brief History|publisher= Cavan Town Council|location=Cavan|year=2012}} The site they selected had been occupied by a 14th-century Franciscan Friary, known as St Mary's Abbey,{{cite news|url= https://www.anglocelt.ie/2021/05/28/townhall-street-refurb-plan-progresses/ |title= Townhall Street refurb plan progresses|date=28 May 2021|newspaper=The Anglo-Celt| access-date=10 November 2023}}{{cite web|url= https://cavanwalkinghistory.ie/abbey-lands/ |title=Abbey Lands|publisher=Cavan Walking History| access-date=10 November 2023}} and the land was donated to the council by the local lord of the manor, Arthur Maxwell, 11th Baron Farnham.{{cite web|url=https://cavanwalkinghistory.ie/town-hall/ |title=The Town Hall|publisher=Cavan Walking History|access-date=9 November 2023}} The foundation stone was laid by Henrietta Smith, wife of the chairman of the council, Louis Patrick Frederick Smith, in November 1908. It was designed by William Alphonsus Scott in the Arts and Crafts style, and built by William O'Callaghan & Son at a cost of £2,688 using sandstone from a quarry at Latt, on the northern edge of Cavan Town, with the original slates coming from near Carrick-on-Suir in County Tipperary. It was officially opened by Henrietta Smith on 19 January 1910.{{cite news|last=Parker|first=Ciaran|title=Cavan's Town Hall Ball|newspaper=Cavan Echo|date=12 January 2007}}

The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of seven bays facing onto Town Hall Street. The central section of three bays, which was slightly projected forward, featured a wide segmental headed opening on the ground floor, a segmental headed multi-pane French door fronted by a balcony and surmounted by an arch on the first floor, a four-partite multi-pane window on the second floor and a gable and chimney above. The outer bays of the central section contained narrow multi-pane windows on all three floors, with a cornice above, flanked by full-height pilasters. The wings contained large multi-pane windows on both floors in the inner bays, and narrow multi-pane windows on both floors flanked by full-height pilasters in the outer bays. Internally, the principal room was a large assembly hall.{{cite web|url=https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/40000161/cavan-town-hall-town-hall-street-keadew-cavan-rl-and-urban-cavan-cavan|title=Cavan Town Hall, Town Hall Street, Keadew (Cavan RL. and Urban), Cavan, County Cavan|publisher=National Inventory of Architectural Heritage|access-date=9 November 2023}}

The building was an important venue for public meetings. At the meeting of the Cavan Farmers' Union, in January 2022, the farmer and Fianna Fáil politician, Michael Sheridan, spoke out strongly against the Anglo-Irish Treaty, saying "we must break the last link with England".{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=pOF0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT101 |title=The Treaty Debating and Establishing the Irish State|year= 2018|first1=Liam |last1=Weeks|first2=Mícheál |last2=Ó Fathartaigh|publisher=Irish Academic Press|isbn=978-1788550437}} In March 1946, the Town Hall played host for the first time to the Cavan International Drama Festival, a competition which has continued to be held in March each year. A major programme of refurbishment works was undertaken under the direction of a local architect, Philip Cullivan, in the 1980s.{{cite web|url= https://townhallcavan.com/about/ |title=About us|publisher=Townhall Cavan|access-date=10 November 2023}}

In 2014, the council was dissolved and administration of the town was amalgamated with Cavan County Council in accordance with the Local Government Reform Act 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2014/act/1/enacted/en/print |title= Local Government Reform Act 2014|publisher=Irish Statute Book| access-date=4 November 2023}} The building was subsequently converted into a local arts centre by J. J. McCauley Construction at a cost of £1.75 million, with financial support from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Cavan County Council. It was officially re-opened as "Townhall Cavan Arts Space" in May 2022.{{cite news|url=https://www.northernsound.ie/news/cllr-describes-reopening-of-cavan-town-hall-arts-centre-as-historic-193845|title=Cllr describes reopening of Cavan Town Hall Arts Centre as "historic"|date=1 May 2022|newspaper=Northern Sound|access-date=10 November 2023}}{{cite web|url=http://www.townhallcavan.ie/about/|title=About Us – Townhall Cavan Arts Space|publisher=Townhall Cavan|access-date=3 May 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115002856/http://www.townhallcavan.ie/about/|archive-date=15 November 2017}} Performers have included the folk band, The Fureys, in September 2022,{{cite news|url=https://www.anglocelt.ie/2022/09/16/the-fureys-hit-cavan/ |title=The Fureys hit Cavan|date=16 September 2022| newspaper=The Anglo-Celt| access-date=10 November 2023}} the singer-songwriter, Lisa O'Neill in February 2023,{{cite web|url=https://www.hotpress.com/live-review/live-report-lisa-oneill-all-of-this-is-chance-album-launch-in-cavans-town-hall-22951266 |title=Live Report: Lisa O’Neill, All Of This Is Chance Album Launch in Cavan's Town Hall|date=13 February 2023|newspaper=Hot Press| access-date=10 November 2023}} and the rock band, Gina, Dale Haze and the Champions, in September 2023.{{cite news|url=https://www.anglocelt.ie/2023/08/25/gina-and-the-champions-in-a-league-of-their-own/ |title=Gina and the Champions in a league of their own|newspaper=The Anglo-Celt|date=25 August 2023| access-date=10 November 2023}}

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{{City and town halls in Ireland|state=collapsed}}

Category:Government buildings completed in 1910

Category:City and town halls in the Republic of Ireland

Category:Cavan (town)