Ennis Courthouse
{{short description|Judicial facility in County Clare, Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Ennis Courthouse
| native_name =
| image = Ennis - The Court House (geograph 4637099).jpg
| caption = Ennis Courthouse
| address = Ennis, County Clare
| location_city =
| location_country = Ireland
| map_type = Ireland
| map_dot_label = Ennis Courthouse
| coordinates = {{coord|52.8487|-8.9805|display=inline,title}}
| completion_date = {{Start date and age|1852}}
| architect = John Keane and Henry Whitestone
| architectural_style = Neoclassical style
}}
Ennis Courthouse ({{langx|ga|Teach Cúirte na hInse}}){{cite web|url = http://www.courts.ie/offices.nsf/pagecurrent/A823F7C6D3F54B3C802573E10056D469?opendocument&l=ga | publisher = Courts Service of Ireland | website = courts.ie | title = Oifig Cúirte Inis | accessdate = 9 November 2019 | language = Irish }} is a judicial facility in Gort Road, Ennis, County Clare, Ireland.
History
The courthouse, which was designed by John Keane and Henry Whitestone in the neoclassical style and built in ashlar stone, was completed in 1852.{{cite web|url=http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=CL®no=20000114|title=Ennis Courthouse|publisher=Buildings of Ireland|accessdate=31 October 2019}} The design involved a symmetrical main frontage facing the junction of Gort Road and New Road; there was a flight of steps leading up to a large hexastyle portico with Ionic order columns supporting an entablature and a modillioned pediment. A Russian artillery piece, which had been used in the Crimean War, was brought back to Ireland and placed on the lawn outside the building. A statue of Michael O'Loghlen, former Master of Rolls in Ireland, by the sculptor Joseph Robinson Kirk was installed in the courthouse in the mid-19th century.{{cite web|url=http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/oloughlin_family.htm|title=O'Loghlen Family|publisher=Clare Library|accessdate=31 October 2019}}
The building was originally used as a facility for dispensing justice but, following the implementation of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, which established county councils in every county, it also became the meeting place for Clare County Council.{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1982-05-26/121/|title=Local Authorities|date=26 May 1982|publisher=Oireachtas|accessdate=26 October 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.clarecoco.ie/your-council/[news]/120-years-of-clare-county-council-is-marked.html|title=120 years of Clare County Council is marked|date=8 April 2019|publisher=Clare County Council|accessdate=31 October 2019}} A monument to Éamon de Valera, former President of Ireland, was designed by the sculptor Jim Connolly and erected outside the courthouse in 1981.{{cite web|url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/2016/1010/822844-memorial-to-eamon-de-valera/ |title=Éamon de Valera Statue For Ennis1981|publisher=RTE|accessdate=31 October 2019}} The county council moved to the Áras Contae an Chláir in New Road in May 2008.{{cite web|url=https://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/article/1500654/winning-design|title=Winning Design|publisher=World Architecture News|accessdate=31 October 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.e-architect.co.uk/ireland/clare-county-council-hq|title=Clare County Council HQ|publisher=E-architect|accessdate=31 October 2019}}