Four Courts, Dublin, Éire

What you see above is Ireland's answer to England's Old Bailey, and it contains the highest courts in the Irish Republic: the High Court and the Supreme Court. The main building with its columned facade dates from 1786 and is one of James Gandon's masterpieces, the most famous of which being Dublin's Custom House. It has survived occupation by anti-treaty forces and associated shelling during the Irish Civil War in 1922 and originally was built despite initial local opposition and a landslide that delayed the arrival of its Portland stone. The building's history is a troubled one, but it remains a very imposing structure.