The current building was commissioned to replace the old City Hall which had started life as a
corn exchange. The old City Hall was designed by Cork architect
Henry Hill in the
neoclassical style, built by
Sir Thomas Deane in
ashlar stone and was completed in 1843. In 1852 the building was altered by
Sir John Benson to facilitate the
Cork Exhibition, opening on 10 June 1852. Following the closure of a second exhibition in 1883, the building was converted for public use. It was offered to the Cork Corporation at a price of
IR£10,000 and, following the passing of the Cork Corn Markets Act 1889, it became property of the Corporation in 1893. The building was opened to the public as a city hall in roughly 1903, and a brass plaque commemorating this event is on display in the
Cork Public Museum. The old city hall was destroyed on 11 December 1920 by the
Black and Tans during the
Irish War of Independence as part of the
Burning of Cork. In the late 1920s, the civic leaders decided to rebuild City Hall. Following a design competition, designs by
Alfred Jones and Stephen Kelly (Jones and Kelly architects, based in Dublin) were selected, and the construction contract for the replacement civic buildings awarded to
John Sisk & Son. The foundation stone of the new City Hall building was laid by
Éamon de Valera on 9 July 1932. The cost of this new building was provided by the British Government in the 1930s as a gesture of reconciliation. On 24 April 1935, Cork Corporation held a meeting in the new hall for the first time, when the Council Chambers were first opened. The City Hall was officially opened by de Valera on 8 September 1936. == Architecture ==