Galway Courthouse
The columned front on Courthouse Square has been the city's courthouse since 1 April 1815. Sir Richard Morrison designed it to replace the Tholsel, the old court and market house on Shop Street in use since 1641, and his son designed the bridge behind it that led straight to the gaol. Across the square the matching portico is the Town Hall Theatre, built ten years later as the town courthouse.
Checked against the source on 2026-09-19.
N Chadwick, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Galway Courthouse, Town Hall Theatre, Salmon Weir Bridge on the 3D model; tap a pin for its page and directions.
From the Tholsel to the square
Construction began in 1812 and the building opened on 1 April 1815. Morrison gave the square a neoclassical facade of columns carrying an entablature. On top of it sat the royal arms of the United Kingdom, taken down during the War of Independence; they survive behind the Quadrangle at the University of Galway. In 1818 the Salmon Weir Bridge, by William Vitruvius Morrison, was begun to connect the courthouse to the new gaol on Nun's Island.
Around the square
The Town Hall Theatre opposite began life in 1825 as the Galway Town Courthouse and later housed Galway Corporation. The cathedral stands on the gaol site across the river. The model on this page pins the courthouse, the theatre and the bridge; Eyre Square and the train station are a short walk east.
Questions people ask
When was Galway Courthouse built?
Who designed Galway Courthouse?
What was there before the courthouse?
Written from Wikipedia, "Galway Courthouse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), read on 2026-09-19, and from the OpenStreetMap places on the model. Nothing has been added from memory; follow the source for its footnotes.