Market Houses in the Republic of Ireland

Market houses are a notable feature of many Irish towns with varying styles of architecture, size and ornamentation making for a most interesting feature of the streetscape. Originally there were three, four or even five bays on the ground floor which were an open arcade. An upper floor was often used as a court house or ballroom. Ornamentation consited of a cupola, a clock or sometimes a dome or tower. Today most of the Market Houses in Ireland have been put to use as cultural venues or business premises. Some are still derelict.

Sort by Town, County or Date

Town	County	Built (date)	Current use	Image and/or link
Abbeyleix	Laois	1836	5 bay, 2 story building until 2005 used as a fire station and library - currently (2007) being renovated as a state of the art library/exhibition centre.
Ardara	Donegal	1840 (circa)	Heritage Centre
Arvagh	Cavan	1837	Library & council offices
Athlone	Westmeath	18th century	Demolished 1830s
Athy	Kildare	1745	Heritage Centre, & Library (formerly Town Hall & Fire Station)	Athy Town Hall
Aughrim	Wicklow	1860 (circa)	Restaurant
Bailieborough	Cavan	1818	Library (previous uses Co-op store and jam factory)	Market House Archived link, 2010.
Balbriggan	Dublin	1811	Furniture Store
Ballinagh	Cavan	1821	Disused
Ballinamore	Leitrim	-	Library
Ballybay	Monaghan	1848	For Sale
Ballinrobe	Mayo	1752	District Court House
Ballitore	Kildare	1780 (circa), renovated circa 1840	In ruins
Ballybofey	Donegal	1820 (circa)	Post Office & Training Centre
Ballyconnell	Cavan	1838 (circa)	Disused
Ballyhaise	Cavan	20th century ?	-
Ballyjamesduff	Cavan	1813	Restaurant & Shop
Ballymote	Sligo	1870 (circa)	South Co. Sligo Community Mental health service of the Health Service Executive
Ballymahon	Longford	1819	Renovated into new Library, One stop shop and Community Hall 2011
Bantry	Cork	-	Offices
Birr	Offaly	1845	Formerly a Church Hall, now a Market
Blacklion	Cavan	-	Tourist information centre
Blessington	Wicklow	1820 (circa)	Credit Union
Boyle	Roscommon	-	Unused ?
Bray	Wicklow	1881–1883	Previously Town Hall, now McDonald's fast food outlet
Buttevant	Cork	18th century	Community Centre (formerly Court House) Community Hall.
Cahir	Tipperary	1770 (circa)	Library & Court House[citation needed]
Cahirciveen	Kerry	19th century ?	Shops & Filling Station
Callan	Kilkenny	1825 (circa)	Town hall
Cappoquin	Waterford	-	Shop
Carrick-on-Shannon	Leitrim	1830	Design & Craft Centre
Cashel	Tipperary	1866	Formerly Town Hall, now Tourist information centre
Castleblayney	Monaghan	1826	To be restored.
Castlecomer	Kilkenny	1800 (circa)	Court House
Castleisland	Kerry	1745 (circa)	Department Store
Castlemartyr	Cork	-	Car Showroom
Castlepollard	Westmeath	1815 (circa), burned circa 1921, rebuilt circa 1926	Town Hall, fire station
Castlerea	Roscommon	1825 (circa)	Shop
Celbridge	Kildare	17th century	School in 1709, later incorporated in mill complex
Charleville	Cork	1769	Shops
Churchtown	Cork	1845	Restored in 2000 as Offices and Residential. See www.markethousegroup.net	[1]
Clonakilty	Cork	1642	Chinese restaurant	History of Clonakilty Market House
Clones	Monaghan	1844	-
Clonmany	Donegal	1840 (circa)	Derelict, undergoing restoration
Clonmel	Tipperary	1673	Former Court house, later a public house - Substantially restored - now houses art exhibitions, with scale models of historic Clonmel
Clonmellon	Westmeath	1836	-
Collinstown	Westmeath	1806	Demolished in 1950s, for road straightening Relocation programmed 2010 T.B.C.-
Cootehill	Cavan	-	Demolished
Delvin	Westmeath	1850 (circa)	Youth club and Credit Union
Dungarvan	Waterford	19th century	Arts Centre (formerly a Museum)
Dunlavin	Wicklow	1743 ?	Library, Courthouse and art gallery during the annual Dunlavin Arts Festival
Edenderry	Offaly	1826	Formerly Ballroom and Museum, now Court House
Edgeworthstown	Longford	-	Supermarket
Enniscorthy	Wexford	1813 (before)	Previously a school and a Methodist chapel
Ennistymon	Clare	-	Restaurant
Eyrecourt	Galway	17th century	Derelict
Finnea	Westmeath	1850 (circa)	Private House
Frenchpark	Roscommon	1840 (circa)	Derelict
Glenties	Donegal	1840 (circa)	-
Gorey	Wexford	1709	Previously a prison and a court house now Local Government Administration & Tourist information centre
Graiguenamanagh	Kilkenny	-	Shop
Granard	Longford	-	Courthouse and branch library; part still used for farmers' market	History of Granard Market House History with Photograph
Innishannon	Cork	-	Unused and in disrepair (slates missing)
Kanturk	Cork	1657 (circa)	Replaced in 1747
Kanturk	Cork	1747	(2nd Market House) Replaced in 1839
Kanturk	Cork	1839	(3rd Market House) Credit Union
Keadue	Roscommon	1830 (circa)	-
Kells	Meath	1800 (circa)	Commercial outbuilding
Kenmare	Kerry	1790 (circa)	Auctioneer's Premises
Kilbeggan	Westmeath	1828	Unoccupied
Kildare	Kildare	19th century	Bus Station, Public Toilets, Museum	History of Kildare Market House
Kilfinane	Limerick	18th century	Ruins ?
Kilkenny	County Kilkenny	1761	-
Killucan	Westmeath	1838 (circa)	-
Kilrush	Clare	-	Town Hall
Killeshandra	Cavan	1792 (circa)	Demolished late 1960's, present site of community resource centre. The original MH commemoration stone is built into the wall of a shop further up the street.	History of Killeshandra
Kiltyclogher	Leitrim	1831	Guest House, pre-school
Kinsale	Cork	1600 (circa)	Regional Museum (formerly Court House)
Letterkenny	Donegal	-	Offices
Macroom	Cork	19th century ?	-
Manorhamilton	Leitrim	1834	Shop, retail outlet
Midleton	Cork	19th century	Library & Court House (formerly Town Hall)
Miltown Malbay	Clare	19th century	Restaurant
Mitchelstown	Cork	1823	Shop
Monaghan	Monaghan	1792	Arts Venue - see Market House, Monaghan
Monasterevin	Kildare	1830 (circa)	-
Mullingar	Westmeath	-	Tourist information centre
Nenagh	Tipperary	1812	Adult Education Centre for North Tipperary Vocational Education Committee and Restaurant/take away ( part)
Newbliss	Monaghan	1830	-
Newcastle West	Limerick	-	-
New Ross	Wexford	1749, rebuilt 1806 - 1810	Tholsel, Court House, Town Hall from 1840
Piltown	Kilkenny	-	-	Photograph of Piltown Market House
Portarlington	Laois	1800 (circa)	Petrol station & Garage
Rockcorry	Monaghan	1805	Filling Station
Roscommon	Roscommon	-	Bank
Scarriff	Clare	-	-
Shercock	Cavan	1825	Shops
Strokestown	Roscommon	1830 (circa)	Shop, retail outlet
Templemore	Tipperary	1816	Town/County Hall
Timoleague	Cork	-	Vacant
Tinahely	Wicklow	1820 (circa)	Branch Library
Tralee	Kerry	1847	Chinese Restaurant
Trim	Meath	c.1850[1]	Town Hall
Tulla	Clare	1833 (circa)	Branch Library
Tullamore	Offaly	1789	Building Society
Virginia	Cavan	1815 (circa)	Courthouse and County Council offices
Wexford	Wexford	1776	Wexford Arts Centre (formerly Town Hall)
Youghal	Cork	-	Heritage Centre

See also

• Architecture of Ireland
• Irish Architectural Archive
• List of towns and villages in Ireland
• Market Houses in Northern Ireland

References

• An Bord Pleanála re Buttevant
• A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Samuel Lewis (1838)
• Trim Development Plan - Record of Protected Structures. http://www.meath.ie/LocalAuthorities/Publications/PlanningandDevelopmentPublications/TrimElectoralAreaPlanningPublications/TrimDevelopmentPlan2008-2014/File,34458,en.PDF

Further reading

• McParland, Edward (2001) Public Architecture in Ireland 1680-1760 Yale University Press ISBN 0-300-09064-1

External links

• National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
• Buildings of Ireland
• Irish Antiquities (with many pictures of Market Houses)