Minister Kieran O’Donnell attends the Four Courts to see ongoing conservation works

Minister Kieran O’Donnell attended the Four Courts to see the ongoing conservation works up close. This is a complex project led by an excellent OPW team (Dublin Conservation and Capital Works). It is fantastic to see such intricate work on the stone capitals, being repaired or entirely replaced with new hand carved capitals. Well done to all involved.

One of the landmarks of the city, the Four Courts was constructed between 1776 and 1796 to designs by Thomas Cooley and eminent architect, James Gandon.

The ongoing conservation works is primarily focusing on the Portland Stone capitals that ring the drum of the Four Courts and support the dome above. The stone capitals are in poor condition having been damaged by past events, including a major fire at the Four Courts during the civil war in 1922. The Outer Dome and Inner Dome, located above the Rotunda, suffered extensive damage as a result of the fire. The original timber roof and much of the interior and exterior were destroyed. An extensive restoration programme, carried out under the direction of T.J. Byrne, Principal Architect at the Office of Public Works was completed in 1932. Almost a century later, each capital must now be carefully removed from its position under the dome for a detailed structural examination.

Carving of replacement capitals has been taking place at the workshop of Irish Natural Stone Ltd. in Co. Clare. Each intricate capital has been painstakingly hand-carved by a team of stonemasons, with over 1,000 hours of work required per capital. The masons use the same traditional techniques as in James Gandon’s day to create moulds and templates of the capitals. The capitals are then carved and finished by hand from blocks of Portland Stone in accordance with best conservation principles. On completion, the capitals will be transported to the Four Courts for installation.