Main Guard, Clonmel

In the seventeenth century County Tipperary was a palatinate ruled by James Butler, Duke of Ormond, and when the duke needed a new courthouse he built one in the heart of Clonmel, forming one end of the town's main street. A fine two-storey symmetrical building with an open arcade of five sandstone arches, a clock pediment and an octagonal cupola, some elements of its design were based on works by Sir Christopher Wren. In the eighteenth century it hosted the Clonmel Assizes, whose most notable trial was that of Father Nicholas Sheehy, the anti-Penal Laws agitator, who was hanged, drawn and quartered; later, as a barracks, it became known as the Main Guard. In about 1810 the ground floor became shops, but an award-winning restoration has returned the arcade to the streetscape and made the interior an exhibition and event space on two floors with a lift. Entry is free; the building opens from mid March to late September and may close at short notice.