Building the Irish Courthouse and Prison

Cork University Press

Building the Irish Courthouse and PrisonA Political History, 1750-1850\nAuthor(s): Richard Butler\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Cork University Press, Ireland\nImprint: Cork University Press\nISBN-13: 9781782053699, 978-1782053699\nSynopsis\nThis book is the first national history of the building of some of Ireland's most important historic public buildings. Focusing on the former assize courthouses and county gaols, it tells a political history of how they were built, who paid for them, and the effects they had on urban development in Ireland. Using extensive archival sources, it delves in unprecedented detail into the politics and personalities of county grand jurors, Protestant landed society, government prison inspectors, charities, architects, and engineers, who together oversaw a wave of courthouse and prison construction in Ireland in an era of turbulent domestic and international change. It investigates the extent to which these buildings can be seen as the legacy of the Brit.