Cork Courthouse, Anglesea Street

File:Model Schools, Anglesea Street, Cork.jpg

The building that currently serves as a courthouse was originally a school building, which began construction in 1862 and began operation on 11 September 1865.{{cite web |date= |title=Cork District Model School |url=http://www.iar.ie/Archive.shtml?IE%20CCCA/NS/MS |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809123959/http://www.iar.ie/Archive.shtml?IE%20CCCA/NS/MS |archive-date=9 August 2021 |accessdate=6 January 2023 |work=Cork City and County Archives |publisher=Acmhainn Chartlainne na hÉireann}} {{free access}} Known as the "Cork District Model National School", the design of the building is attributed to Board of Works architects James H. Owen, and Enoch T. Owen, with assistance from draughtsman Robert A. Gibbons.{{cite web|url=https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20515047/model-school-anglesea-street-cork-city-cork-city-cork|publisher=National Inventory of Architectural Heritage|website=buildingsofireland.ie|title=Model School, Anglesea Street, Cork City, Cork City Cork|accessdate=9 August 2021}} {{free access}}{{cite web|url=https://www.dia.ie/works/view/13500/CO.+CORK%2C+CORK%2C+ANGLESEA+STREET%2C+MODEL+NATIONAL+SCHOOLS|publisher=Irish Architectural Archive|work=Dictionary of Irish Architects|title=Owen, Enoch Trevor - Co. Cork, Cork, Anglesea Street, Model National Schools|accessdate=9 August 2021}} {{free access}} The school was divided into male, female, and infant designations, along with hosting a maritime college for part of the early 20th century. Two past pupils of the school went on to become Lord Mayor of Cork: Gerald Goldberg, who became the first Jewish Lord Mayor in 1977, and Peter Barry, who would later serve as Tánaiste.

By 1974, the Model School was in poor condition, with the plaster peeling off the walls, the desks in poor condition, and the windows not protecting pupils from the elements.{{Cite news |last=Leland |first=Mary |date=1 February 1974 |title=Burke Shown Poor Conditions in Cork's All-Irish 'Model' School |work=The Irish Times |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/526865149 |access-date=9 August 2021}} {{limited access}} Despite this, parents were reluctant to allow the school to be closed down, as it was then the only Gaelscoil in the city. The building has been designated as a protected structure by Cork City Council.{{cite report |url=https://www.corkcity.ie/en/media-folder/cork-city-development-plan/corkcitydevelopmentplan_volume_3.pdf |title=Volume 3 - Specific Built Heritage Objectives |date=2015 |publisher=Cork City Council |page=83 |work=Cork City Development Plan 2015 - 2021 |accessdate=9 August 2021}} {{free access}}

In 1990 the school was closed down and in 1995 it was reopened as a courthouse. From 1995 until 2015, it functioned as host of the District Court of Cork City. In 2015 it was deemed to no longer be fit for purpose, and it was shut down for renovations, which began in July of that same year.{{Cite journal|last=O'Sullivan|first=Jennie|date=2018-05-28|title=New courthouse opens in Cork city|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/munster/2018/0528/966557-cork-court-house/|journal=RTÉ|language=en}} {{free access}}{{cite web |last=Buckley |first=Dan |date=19 May 2018 |title=Model School to model court in Cork city |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20470843.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809122804/https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20470843.html |archive-date=2021-08-09 |accessdate=9 August 2021 |website=irishexaminer.com |publisher=Irish Examiner}} {{limited access}} It was originally due to reopen in December 2017, but this reopening was delayed due to a shortage of skilled trades people. It reopened in April 2018, when it commenced current operations, functioning at both the District and Circuit level for criminal cases. The total cost of the renovations was €34.8 million, and added a new structure to the complex, one which is over five times bigger than the original building.{{Cite web |last=Roche |first=Barry |title=Renovated and extended €34m Cork courthouse unveiled |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/renovated-and-extended-34m-cork-courthouse-unveiled-1.3511614 |access-date=2021-08-11 |website=The Irish Times |language=en}} {{limited access}} After the renovations, which followed extensive renovations of the Washington Street courthouse that were completed in 2005, Chief Justice Frank Clarke said that "Cork City now has what are probably the best court facilities in the country."

In March 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tralee Courthouse ceased hearing jury cases. Since that time, criminal and family proceedings at the circuit court level typically heard in the courthouse have been held both in Limerick Courthouse and at Anglesea Street.{{Cite web |date=12 April 2022 |title=Circuit criminal court sittings to return to Kerry this summer |url=https://www.radiokerry.ie/news/circuit-criminal-court-sittings-to-return-to-kerry-this-summer-277717 |access-date=2022-05-11 |website=RadioKerry.ie |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Lucey |first=Anne |date=26 November 2021 |title=The fight for a modern court complex in Tralee: ‘All we want is a functioning court’ |work=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/the-fight-for-a-modern-court-complex-in-tralee-all-we-want-is-a-functioning-court-1.4739072 |access-date=28 November 2022}}

File:Cork Courthouse Anglesea Street Union Quay Lane.jpgWhile the original building which hosted the Model School sat on a 1,500 m² site, after the 2015-18 renovations to the courthouse, the site now measures 8,500 m².

The building's original elevation is Italianate-inspired.{{Cite news |last=Roche |first=Barry |date=15 January 2018 |title=Delay in completion of Cork courthouse due to shortage of trades people |website=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/delay-in-completion-of-cork-courthouse-due-to-shortage-of-trades-people-1.3355890?mode=amp |access-date=2021-08-11}} {{limited access}} The entrance porch features a Serlian style opening and capitals into which foxes, rabbits, and monkeys are carved.{{Cite book |last=Keohane |first=Frank |title=The Buildings of Ireland: Cork City and County |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978 0 300 22487 0 |location=New Haven & London |pages=157}} It was the first major public building in Cork adjudged to be built with "brick comparable to the best English types".{{Cite book|url=https://www.corkcoco.ie/sites/default/files/2020-04/ccc-industrial-heritage.pdf|title=Industrial Heritage of County Cork|publisher=Heritage Unit; Cork County Council|year=2019|isbn=978-0-9935969-6-4|location=Cork|pages=93}} {{free access}} As evidenced by surviving contemporary drawings, the plans drawn up by Owens are an example of total design. Areas of the school building are made from Cork limestone. It has pitched roofs, with contrasting red clay ridge tiles. Sawtooth limestone eaves course on brick brackets, and finials top the roof's gables. The roof has gabled timber vents, and decorative brick chimney stacks with sawtooth detail to limestone capping. While the front façade is in redbrick, the rear of the building is in silver limestone with brick dressings. The masonry style of the front façade is English Garden wall bond. It features a rusticated base in brick, with honey-coloured limestone dressings. As part of the 2015-2018 renovations, 25,000 bricks which were inappropriately added to the building in the 1990s were replaced by hand in order to preserve the English garden bond style.{{Cite web|date=28 May 2018|title=Opening of the refurbished and extended Cork Courthouse on Anglesea Street|url=https://boda.ie/archives/1412|url-status=live|access-date=28 August 2021|website=Bluett&O’Donoghue|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804171059/https://boda.ie/archives/1412 |archive-date=2020-08-04 }} {{free access}}

File:Cork Courthouse Anglesea Street Copley Street.jpg

The building incorporates a large new development to the rear of the original building, accessed through the original campanile entrance. This new building was designed by Wilson Architecture, and is six storeys tall.{{Cite web|date=2018-05-28|title=Official Opening of Cork Courthouse PPP Project|url=https://www.bamireland.ie/2018/05/28/official-opening-of-cork-courthouse-ppp-project/|access-date=2021-08-11|website=BAM Ireland|language=en}} {{free access}} It hosts all of the courtrooms, whereas the old school building hosts support facilities. When building the new section of the courthouse, it was desired that Cork limestone be used to create a visual connection between the two portions of the courthouse. Unfortunately, the quarrying of Cork limestone had ceased by this juncture, and matching limestone from County Roscommon was utilised instead. During the construction of the new structure, care was taken not to impact the existing walls of the Model School as far as was possible. The structure is described by Shane Kerrish, of Wilson Architecture, as a "zinc-clad, lightweight" structure.

Of the design, Kerrish further states that "The lightness of the structure is to serve as direct contrast with the solidity of the Model School and the new stone mass of the new facility behind, allowing old and new come together, in a manner that respects both designs".

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Category:Courthouses in the Republic of Ireland

Category:Buildings and structures in Cork (city)