Four Courts, erected in 1785 by Thomas Cooley and finished in 1802 by James Gandon, housed 4 halls: Chancery, King's Bench, Exchequer and Common Pleas. In 1921, at the start of the Civil War, it was almost entirely destroyed by the explosion of mines, as were the documents of the National Archives which it housed, some of which dated back to 1174, now sadly lost for ever.