When Judge Harvey Kenny was appointed to the Circuit Court in 1994, he was told the courthouse in Clifden was a "terrible place". He remembers walking out on to the judge's bench and feeling "just terribly saddened". A classic 19th-century public house of justice was crumbling.
But not in his lifetime, he decided; for who could bear to lose the wonderful architecture and intimate atmosphere of the small timber amphitheatre from 1830? He pledged to sit there and to do so more frequently.
And so last week, as witnesses and legal teams huddled over a gas heater and observers shivered on the concrete steps above, the judge sat from 10.30 a.m. until 7 p.m. Even as barristers darted in and out of the court's tunnel entrance, the bench did not wilt. By 4.30 p.m., when most courts in Dublin would have been empty, there was a brief pause for consultation as a family case was introduced.
Before that, the judge listened patiently to a dispute over rented property which was not adequately plumbed. How about a "simple Wavin pipe?", he asked of the agent, who sat, ill at ease, on the witness's chair. Centre-stage on a raised dais, it is a terrifying location; one could almost imagine a trapdoor opening up to catacombs below.
In its 150 years, the courthouse has heard testimonies about the Letterfrack murders; protests over proselytising by the Irish Church Missions; rows over rates and rents. Built 15 years before the Famine, and a decade after the town was founded by landowner John Darcy, the courthouse would have borne witness to many a case of hardship at Clifden Petty Sessions. Transport to the colonies would have been a standard penalty for stealing a chicken.
The judge, who is associated with the case over a year ago involving an Achill woman and her rooster, is worried about the courthouse's future. Preliminary plans agreed by Galway County Council and the Department of Justice, and prepared by the National Building Agency, indicate it will be replaced by a modern interior - "on the level" and with "cinema" rather than theatre seating.
"While we are all delighted at the refurbishment, the townspeople are very upset that the 1830 interior is going to be dumped," Judge Kenny said. "There is nothing on such a grand scale anywhere else on the western seaboard, and I've been in them all," he said. To illustrate his point, he waived the standard court ban on photographers last Tuesday for Joe O'Shaughnessy, representing this newspaper.
Since the nearest centres of justice are at Galway and Westport, Clifden needs its courthouse, he says. Galway is under constant demand for space, particularly during district, circuit and High Court sittings. "It is no longer unusual to have a three-week criminal trial which adds to this pressure. In Clifden, one could work away at one's own speed . . . and bring a bit of economy to the town."
The Department of Justice has promised to consult "all interested parties", including the judiciary, the legal profession, the Garda Siochana and Welfare Service on the refurbishment plans. It says it will also be necessary to consult the Heritage Council, in accordance with the 1995 Heritage Act.
But the building will have to comply with "the latest building regulations and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work legislation", it says, and access for people with disabilities will also be provided.
