Custom House Dublin

Opened on November 7, 1791 as the Custom House for the port of Dublin. During the Anglo-Irish War in 1921, the Irish Republican Army burnt down the Custom House, in an attempt to disrupt British rule in Ireland. Gandon's original interior was completely destroyed in the fire and the central dome collapsed. A large quantity of irreplaceable historical records were also destroyed in the fire, including parish records of Irish births, marriages and deaths going back in some cases to the Middle Ages. Despite achieving its objectives, the attack on the Custom House was a disaster for the IRA because a large number of its members were captured fleeing the scene. The building was later restored and is now a museum.