A short stroll around the Diamond area in Monaghan draws attention to a few coats of arms on nearby buildings.
Monaghan Courthouse
Monaghan courthouse dates
from 1827 and is by Joseph Welland. Described by Mulligan as a classical box
built on the site of the old Gaol. It is one of the few classical buildings
attributed to Welland. The pediment bears the royal arms carved in portland
stone.
The Buildings of
Ireland: Sourh Ulster, Armagh, Cavan and Monaghan by Kevin V. Mulligan.
The courthouse was
constructed using large blocks of creamy-coloured Carnmore Sandstone quarried
at Eshnaglogh, 15km to the north-west of Monaghan. Completed at a cost of
£10,000, the new courthouse was described by Samuel Lewis (1837) in effusive
terms as 'a handsome modern building of hewn stone, containing spacious
court-rooms and all requisite offices, and in every respect well adapted to its
purpose'. The centrepiece of the courthouse, a lofty portico addressed by
a broad flight of steps, carries in its tympanum the quartered Royal
coat-of-arms of the United Kingdom with three lions passant
in the first and fourth quarters for England, a lion rampant in the second
quarter for Scotland and a harp in the third quarter for Ireland. The inescutcheon or smaller shield, was removed from the
coat-of-arms when Queen Victoria succeeded the throne in 1837 and this dates
the courthouse to the reign of King George IV. The coat-of-arms survives
today as a reminder that the nineteenth-century court system was an agent of
the Crown.
http://www.monaghan.ie/en/services/museum/research/monaghantowncourthouse/
Monaghan Court House
The Royal Arms on the Courthouse at Monaghan
The inescutcheon of pretence carries the arms of
Hanover, that contains the white stead of Saxony (Hanover), the blue lion for
Luneburg and the two lions for Brunswick.
In
1801, when George III renounced his title as King of France under the Treaty of
Paris, the French quartering was removed from the royal arms and replaced by the
arms of England which then occupied the first and fourth quarters, the arms of
Scotland the second, and the arms of Ireland the third. For Hanover, there was
an escutcheon overall surmounted by the electoral bonnet, which was replaced in
1816 by a Royal Crown (when Hanover became a Kingdom). In 1837, the
Hanoverian escutcheon and crown were removed because Queen Victoria, as a
woman, was unable to succeed to the throne of Hanover under Hanoverian law. The
royal arms have remained unchanged since then.
The arms of George IV can be seen at:
Market House, Monaghan
The Market
House was designed in 1792 by Samuel Hayes. Mulligan says it is highly pleasing
Neoclassical building by an accomplished amateur for his friend, Robert
Cuninghame. The building carries the inscription, "Dedicated to the
convenience of the inhabitants of Monaghan by the Rt. Hon. Lieu. Gen. Robert Cuninghame
M.D.CC.XC.II S.H. of Avondale Del." The S.H. of Avondale refers to Samuel
Hayes. In the pediment at the west facing side, the date is carved in the
frieze and pediment contains the arms of Cuninghame impaling those of Murray
for Robert Cuninghame and his wife Elizabeth Murray.
The Markethouse at Monaghan
Elizabeth Murray was born
c. 1733 and was the daughter of Colonel John Murray and Mary Cairnes. She
married Lt-Gen Robert Cuninghame, ist Baron Rossmore son of Colonel David
Cuninghame and Margaret Callader on 29 May 1754. She died in 1824/50. As
a result of her marriage, Elizabeth Murray was styled as Baroness Rossmore on 19 October 1796. Elizabeth's
sister, Harriet
Murray married Henry Westenra,
son of Warner Westenra
and Lady Hester Lambart,
on 29 November 1764. Lord Rossmore died childless
and was succeeded according to the special remainder by his nephew Warner
William Westenra, the second Baron.
The impaled arms of Cuninghame and Murray and the family crest.
The Westerna arms and the Town Hall
The Westenra
Arms was by William Hague who had canvassed the Rossmore agent for the
commission in 1872. The same architect also added the Town Hall into the narrow
site to the east. The pediment carries the Rossmore arms in red sandstone.
The arms are described
on page 647 in Debrett's Peerage 1847.
or can be found in GoogleBooks under Baron Rossmore Westerna
Even though part of the
arms are missing in the pediment of the 'Hall' the arms appear to match those
depicted on the stained glass window in Monaghan Church of Ireland. They are
the quartered arms of Westerna and Cairnes with an inescutcheon for Murray.
The arms at the Westerna Hotel (Monaghan Town Hall)
The 'Rossmore' Stained-Glass Window at Monaghan Church of Ireland
The Rossmore Achievement of Arms at Monaghan carrying the quartered arms of Westerna and Cairnes along with an inescutcheon of pretence for Murray.
The inscription on the Rossmore Window at Monaghan.
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