Custom House, on the northern bank of the River Liffey near the city center, is one of Dublin's finest buildings and certainly one of Dublin's signature buildings. Built to plans by famed architect James Gandon (1743-1823) it dominated the city view from any ship sailing in.
Unfortunately some bright spark decided to put a railway bridge next to Custom House, so the view of Gandon's masterpiece from the city is destroyed. Totally. Today, your best viewpoint would be from either Georges Quay or the Matt Talbot Bridge. The best time? Early mornings in summer, when the sun illuminates the building before traffic starts clogging up in front.
We are lucky that the building is still here – in 1921 the Custom House was torched as a political statement during the Irish Civil War. Destroying priceless records and leaving the building an empty shell, until decades later it was rebuilt, keeping the classical exterior and putting a more modern interior in. It now serves as on of the state's flagship properties and houses the Department of the Environment.
The cupola is nearly forty meters high and the facade is decorated with representations of Ireland's rivers, trade and industry. Above the portico notice a representation of Hibernia enjoying the protective friendship of Britannia. At the back of the building, a statue honoring the Irish Volunteers has been erected – it combines Irish and French symbolism in a strange way
