Everything about The Custom House totally explained
The Custom House (
Irish:
Teach an Chustaim) is a
neoclassical 18th century building in
Dublin,
Ireland which houses the
Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government. It is located on the north bank of the
River Liffey, on Custom House Quay between
Butt Bridge and
Talbot Memorial Bridge.
It was designed by
James Gandon to act as the new
custom house for
Dublin Port and was his first large scale commission. When it was completed and opened for business on the 7th November
1791, it cost £200,000 to build — a huge sum at the time. The four facades of the building are decorated with
coats-of-arms and ornamental sculptures representing Ireland's rivers.
As the port of Dublin moved further downriver, the building's original use for collecting custom duties became obsolete, and it was used as the headquarters of local government in Ireland. During the
Anglo-Irish War in 1921, the
Irish Republican Army burnt down the Custom House, in an attempt to disrupt British rule in Ireland. Gandon's original interior was completely destroyed in the fire and the central dome collapsed. A large quantity of irreplaceable historical records were also destroyed in the fire, including parish records of Irish births, marriages and deaths going back in some cases to the
Middle Ages. Despite achieving its objectives, the attack on the Custom House was a disaster for the IRA because a large number of its members were captured fleeing the scene.
After the
Anglo-Irish Treaty, it was restored by the
Irish Free State government. The results of this reconstruction can still be seen on the building's exterior today — the dome was rebuilt using Irish
Ardbraccan limestone which is noticeably darker than the
Portland stone used in the original construction. This was done as an attempt to promote Irish resources.
Further restoration and cleaning of the stonework was done by an
Office of Public Works team in the 1980s.
Further Information
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