The Tourist Information Dublin website [visit
link] tells us:
"The Custom House in Dublin is a neoclassical 18th
century building which houses the Department of the Environment, Heritage and
Local Government.
The Visitor Centre is located in and around the Dome or
Clock Tower area that contains the most important interior features to have
survived the destruction of the buildings by fire in 1921 during one of the more
dramatic events of the War of Independence.
The Custom House was designed by James Gandon to act as
the new custom house for Dublin Port and was his first large scale commission.
Every available mason in Dublin was engaged in the work and it cost £20,000 and
opened in 1791.
The four facades of the building are decorated with
coats-of-arms and ornamental sculptures (by Edward Smyth) representing Ireland's
rivers. Another artist, Henry Banks, was responsible for the statue on the dome
and other statues.
Overtime, the port of Dublin moved further downriver, so
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 Irish War of Independence in 1921, the Irish
Republican Army burnt down the Custom House, in an attempt to disrupt British
rule in Ireland. The original interior was completely destroyed in the fire and
the central dome collapsed. A large quantity of irreplaceable historical records
including birth certificates were also destroyed in the fire.
The restoration work was completed in 1928 and 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.
Further restoration and cleaning of the stonework was
done in the 1980s."
The Archiseek website [visit
link] tells us more:
"The Custom House is often considered architecturally
the most important building in Dublin and is sited on the river front with
Beresford Place to the rear. The Custom House was the first major public
building built in Dublin as an isolated structure with four monumental façades.
The previous Custom House by Thomas Burgh and built in 1707 was sited up river
at Essex Quay and was judged as unsafe just seventy years later. The site chosen
for the new Custom House met with much opposition from city merchants who feared
that its move down river would lessen the value of their properties while making
the property owners to the east wealthier.
The decision to built further down river was forced by
the Rt. Hon. John Beresford (1738-1805) who was appointed Chief Commissioner
from 1780 onwards and was instrumental in bringing James Gandon to Ireland. He
favoured shifting the city centre eastwards from the Capel – Parliament Street
axis towards a new axis on College Green with Drogheda Street and the
construction of a new bridge linking the two sides. The building was built on
slob land reclaimed from the estuary of the Liffey when the Wide Streets
Commissioners constructed the Quays. The line of the crescent Beresford Place
that surrounds the Custom House follows roughly the line of the old North Strand
along the estuary before the construction of the Quays.
Started in 1781, the new Custom House was finished ten
years later at a cost of over £200,000. The finished external design consisted
of four façades each different but consistent and linked by corner pavilions.
The exterior of the building is richly adorned with sculptures and coats-of-arms
by Thomas Banks, Agnostino Carlini and Edward Smyth who carved a series of
sculpted keystones symbolising the rivers of Ireland.
In the Irish Civil War of 1921-1922 the interior of the
Custom House was destroyed when the building was completely engulfed by fire lit
by the IRA. The fire blazed for five days, destroying a huge quantity of public
records. The heat was so intense that the dome melted and the stonework was
still cracking because of cooling five months later and Gandon’s interior was
completely destroyed.
The building underwent serious reconstruction and the
dome and drum were completely rebuilt in Ardbraccan limestone as opposed to the
original Portland stone. The limestone is a much darker colour and this can be
seen in the illustrations. The building was further restored by the Office of
Public Works in the 1980s after it was discovered that the large cornice was in
danger of collapsing from the damage caused by the fire and the rusting of the
ironwork braces holding the stonework together. The fine sculptures and
coats-of-arms that adorn the building were restored and a new Portland Stone
cornice fitted to replace the sub standard one fitted after the
fire.
The finished external design consisted of four façades
each subtlety different but consistent and linked by identical corner pavilions.
The exterior of the building is richly adorned with sculptures and coats-of-arms
by Thomas Banks, Agnostino Carlini and Edward Smyth who carved a series of
sculpted keystones symbolising the rivers of Ireland. The main façade is typical
of James Gandon’s façade treatment with an interplay between projections of
block with the two end pavilions projected clear of the arcaded sections.
Originally the windows on the first floor alternated between windows and blind
niches but this was changed during the reconstruction following the fire. The
central block is based on the design of the pavilions with a pavilion façade
each side of the entrance portico.
In the plan above which shows the building as originally
constructed, there were two courtyards either side of a great hall. This hall
destroyed in the fire was never rebuilt and a single storey block replaced it.
Visually this is invisible from outside but from above and internally, the
original intent is lost. Originally the eastern block was a bonded warehouse and
was framed by two portals into the courtyard. The entrance into the Great Hall
was processional through the entrance hall which opens up into the centre of the
dome. To either side are two smaller domed chambers connecting to side
corridors.
The eastern side was enclosed in the 19th century as a
dining hall. Originally this was a bonded warehouse with entrance portals
through to the eastern courtyard at each end. The northern façade is place on an
axis with Gardiner Street – ending the magnificent vista from Mountjoy Square.
This façade is visually more horizontal than the main façade as it lacks the
vertical emphasis of the drum and dome.
The exterior of the Custom House is richly adorned with
sculptures, carved keystones and coats-of-arms by Thomas Banks, Agnostino
Carlini and Edward Smyth.
There is a strong Irish theme to the sculpture with the
Irish rivers being symbolised and Hibernia in the main pediment sculpture.
Bearing in mind that that there was an Irish Parliament at this time – the
building is a demonstration of the aspirations of the Irishmen who were
responsible for running the country at this time. On the main pediment, Hibernia
is seen embracing Britannia while Neptune drives away famine and despair. Above
the pediment stand four more figures symbolising Neptune, Mercury, Industry and
Plenty. Atop the dome stands a large figure of Commerce.
Unusually as might be expected on a crown property the
roof line coats of arms are not that of King George III but of the Kingdom of
Ireland with a Lion and a Unicorn either side of the Irish Harp.
On the north face at Beresford Place are
personifications of the four continents of world trade – Africa, America, Asia,
and Europe. This mirrors the four statues on the south façade. The sculptures
that most associate with the Custom House are the keystones of riverine heads
personifying the Atlantic, and the rivers Bann, Barrow, Blackwater, Boyne, Erne,
Foyle, Lagan, Lee, Liffey, Nore, Shannon, Slaney and the Suir. The heads of the
rivers are laden with the fruits of their basins."