Old Courthouse in Limerick

ShaneMc2012

I passed the old Limerick Courthouse at the bottom of Henry Street, and it got me wondering, what are they doing with it? Is it used at all or is just left to fall into ruin? I saw the thread on the old Jesuit Church being re-opened recently and some people mentioned turning it into a library. Well if this building is just sitting empty could they use this as a new library instead?
It really is a nice looking building and it would be a shame to see it fall into ruin.

source

ShaneMc2012 wrote: »

I passed the old Limerick Courthouse at the bottom of Henry Street, and it got me wondering, what are they doing with it? Is it used at all or is just left to fall into ruin? I saw the thread on the old Jesuit Church being re-opened recently and some people mentioned turning it into a library. Well if this building is just sitting empty could they use this as a new library instead?
It really is a nice looking building and it would be a shame to see it fall into ruin.

There was no courthouse on Henry St.

The old courthouse is now a gaelscoil on Bridge St.

Do you by any chance mean the old Franciscan friary by any chance?

Kess73

If the OP is talking about the Franciscan church, did one of the colleges not buy/lease that some time back?

Maybe it was only talk of them doing so and it never happened.



Would make for a fantastic museum though if it was done along the lines of the Natural History museum in Dublin

source

Kess73 wrote: »

If the OP is talking about the Franciscan church, did one of the colleges not buy/lease that some time back?

Maybe it was only talk of them doing so and it never happened.



Would make for a fantastic museum though if it was done along the lines of the Natural History museum in Dublin

It was gifted, I believe, to Mary I, but they've done very little with it.

The Lopper

If its the Franciscan Friary then it is still in use for a variety of purposes, for instance the Limerick City Rehearsal Studios have a couple of sound-treated rooms in there for bands to rent out.

zulutango

I assume he means the old Franciscan friary too.

UL recently held their design graduates exhibition there (architecture, product design, etc).

It's clearly being used, but not to its potential.

ShaneMc2012

source wrote: »

Do you by any chance mean the old Franciscan friary by any chance?

That's the one! I just assumed it was a courthouse by looking at it.
So they do use it now and again? Its just the doors under the columns would look so much better open! Was it ever for sale ao anything? Im just surprised something wasn't done with it between 1995-2007!

source

ShaneMc2012 wrote: »

source wrote: »

Do you by any chance mean the old Franciscan friary by any chance?

That's the one! I just assumed it was a courthouse by looking at it.
So they do use it now and again? Its just the doors under the columns would look so much better open! Was it ever for sale ao anything? Im just surprised something wasn't done with it between 1995-2007!

It was a fully operational church up until 2007, my gran used to work there.

meoklmrk91

Kess73 wrote: »

If the OP is talking about the Franciscan church, did one of the colleges not buy/lease that some time back?

Maybe it was only talk of them doing so and it never happened.



Would make for a fantastic museum though if it was done along the lines of the Natural History museum in Dublin

That would be awesome, I love the natural history museum and there isn't any really good museums in Limerick, could be real money maker too with tourists and school tours.

Kess73

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

That would be awesome, I love the natural history museum and there isn't any really good museums in Limerick, could be real money maker too with tourists and school tours.

Would agree with that actually. The Hunt museum gets lauded a lot but if one compares it to many of the other museums in Ireland it pales beside them let alone some of the museums around Europe.


For me, the Jesuit church or the Franciscan church would have made for a fantastic museum as both have the size to house a decent sized museum, and both already have fantastic looking interiors that would compliment such a venture.

zulutango

Kess73 wrote: »

Would agree with that actually. The Hunt museum gets lauded a lot but if one compares it to many of the other museums in Ireland it pales beside them let alone some of the museums around Europe.


For me, the Jesuit church or the Franciscan church would have made for a fantastic museum as both have the size to house a decent sized museum, and both already have fantastic looking interiors that would compliment such a venture.

The Hunt Museum is a private historic art collection rather than a museum, I guess.

There's some good discussion on the possibilities for a science museum in Patrick Street here .. http://www.patrickstreet.com

Kess73

zulutango wrote: »

The Hunt Museum is a private historic art collection rather than a museum, I guess.

There's some good discussion on the possibilities for a science museum in Patrick Street here .. http://www.patrickstreet.com

That is a fair point, and also one that pretty much backs up my comment about Limerick not having a "proper" full size museum.


Will have a look at that link soon, cheers for it.

macgabhs

The Irish Chamber Orchestra used it for a series of concerts in 2009

http://www.cinews.ie/article.php?artid=6189

There was hopes that it would be used as a venue again but never has as far as I know, well apart from a Hermitage Green video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEzyctVRCxw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Berty

The Courthouse on Henry St was Haworth Barstow and Charlton but they have since closed down and have been amalgamated into BDO Simpson Xavier opposite the library.

There were still prison cells in the basement and they used it for file storage. They still represent some big clients, one of the partners is on NAMA but they moved away from the Franchise they have with HB&C in the UK and back into the folk of BDO. Many of the partners came from BDO to set up their own practice anyway but with the slump they mostly moved back to BDO.

The church used to wreck the receptionists head because tourists would wander in and if she was on the phone they would just wander past her into the offices.

Still, one of the only churchs I know of with underground parking.

zulutango

Had forgotten about that. It was only a courthouse for a very short time though during the Celtic Tiger years, wasn't it? What court was it anyway?

source

That was a temporary arrangement while the Circuit Court house was being renovated.