Kevin Street, the longest operational Garda Station in the country, closes after almost two hundred years.
'The Last Post' sounds and the Irish tricolour is lowered as Kevin Street Garda Station in Dublin closes its doors for the last time. Cells that once held gangsters from past and present, from John Gilligan and Tony Felloni, to those involved in the Hutch -Kinahan feud now lie empty.
Superintendent Patrick McMenamin believes Kevin Street Garda Station is probably one of the oldest buildings in Dublin. It has been occupied since 1184. For 600 years it was the official home of Dublin’s archbishops and was known as the Palace of St Sepulchre. The building has been used as a garda station since the foundation of the State, and by the Dublin Metropolitan Police since 1836.
Superintendent Patrick McMenamin is proud the building,
Endured to serve as a police station right up to today, the modern era.
Many of the building fixtures and fittings are from bygone times. Garda William Mooney highlights some ornate doors originally from France, one of only two sets in Europe.
The position of archbishop of Dublin was not just pastoral; he also served as a judge.
People were hanged here, their bodies dropped into this 60 foot well and washed into the River Poddle.
As the country’s longest operational garda station, the iconic building’s closure marks the end of an era. Kevin Street Garda Station has been replaced with a modern purpose built facility next door. It is uncertain what will happen to the old building.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 14 May 2018. The reporter is Paul Reynolds.
