Glenties Courthouse closes after 172 years

A 172-year-old courthouse is closing down under health and safety regulations.
District Court Judge Paul Kelly said he was sitting for the last time today in Glenties courthouse, built in 1843, which is moving temporarily across the road to a community centre across the street.
He pleaded with the Court Service not to shut the historic old building on a permanent basis, saying the building is being closed for a relatively small amount of money, and urged the powers-that-be in the Court Service to reconsider the situation.
The judge noted that a limit on the numbers allowed in the room of 30 was probably exceeded as he mde his announcement.
He described it as a magnificent building which once housed members of the constabulary as well as a number of prisoner cells.
Lst January hailstones blowing in through a broken window smattered the court benches and it was so cold that day that when a garda had to step outside during one case the judge observed that he would have to wrap up well.