The historic Main Guard building in Clonmel will reopen this week after almost 10 years of painstaking restoration.
The 328-year-old building, with its imposing clock tower, was in a very poor state of repair before it was closed in 1987.
Built by the first Duke of Ormond, James Butler, in 1675, the Main Guard at one stage served as a courthouse in the Co Tipperary town. Stone believed to have come from a 12th-century Cistercian abbey at Inislounaght was used in its construction.
The building was acquired by Clonmel Borough Council in the mid-1980 and its conversion was begun in 1995.
Properties in nearby Mitchel Street and Sarsfield Street were purchased to assist with the expanded restoration, which has cost about €1.3 million.
The consultant architect on the project, Ms Margaret Quinlan, said that the building was in a very bad state when it was taken over.
She explained that an archaeological excavation had to be carried out and said that extensive temporary works had to be completed before the restoration proper could begin. These included the provision of a steel frame to support the front wall of the building, which is a metre thick. Half-rotten timber beams also had to be removed.
"The site is tiny and from a health and safety point of view it is terribly tight, which caused its own complications," she said.
Where possible, all of the original fabric has been retained. The building's clock dial, complete with gilded numerals, has been replaced. The clock motor will follow shortly and there is a possibility that the clock's original hands may be reinstated. The dome, which has a gilded weather vane, has also been restored.
Oak flooring is being laid in the building and closed-circuit television cameras will be installed to deter vandalism when the plastering has been completed.
The bulk of the funding for the project came from EU structural funds. The restoration was also included in a multi-million-euro expenditure plan for the State's built heritage under the National Development Plan.