james gandon

The three most spectacular buildings in Dublin - the Custom House, the Four Courts and the King's Inns - are all the work of James Gandon, an English architect who was persuaded by Lord Beresford to come to Dublin to design his new Custom House in 1781. Gandon turned down an offer to design public buildings in St Petersburg in Russia, and made his home in Ireland. The Custom House project was fiercely opposed by rival interests whose business depended on retaining the old site further inland; there were attacks on the site and Gandon was obliged to wear a sword to work. Even the opening of the building in 1791 was carried out in stealth. Gandon's next great work, the Four Courts, was also attended by controversy and politcial intrigues. The King's Inn job had to be completed by Gandon's partner Henry Aaron Baker after the architect's resignation in 1808 following thirteen years of difficulties and delays. These three buildings, and the east portico of the Bank of Ireland, stand as his monuments in Dublin.