The Guildhall is the house where the elected members of Derry City and Strabane District Council meet. It is a Grade A listed building.
The current building was preceded by an earlier town hall called the Market House which was built in the 17th century and destroyed in the Siege of Derry in 1689. The current building, which was designed by John Guy Ferguson and financed by The Honourable The Irish Society, was completed in 1890. The design for the clock tower was modelled on the Elizabeth Tower in London.
After a disastrous fire in 1908, in which only the tower and rear block survived, and more funding from The Honourable The Irish Society, the Guildhall was rebuilt to the design of Mathew Alexander Robinson in 1912. The current organ, which was designed by Sir Walter Parratt and has 3,132 pipes, was installed in 1914.
During The Troubles, the Guildhall was the focus of multiple terror attacks. The building was badly damaged by two bombs in 1972, but was restored at a cost of £1.7 million and reopened in 1977. On 23 September 1980 the Field Day Theatre Company presented its first production, the premiere of Brian Friel's Translations, in the Guildhall.
The guildhall, which had been the meeting place of the county borough of Londonderry for much of the 20th century, continued to be the local seat of government after the formation of Londonderry City Council in 1972; the council was renamed Derry City Council in 1984.
References:Inverness Castle sits on a cliff overlooking the River Ness. The red sandstone structure evident today was built in 1836 by architect William Burn. It is built on the site of an 11th-century (c. 1057) defensive structure. Today, it houses Inverness Sheriff Court.
The castle is said to have been built by Máel Coluim III of Scotland, after he had razed to the ground the castle in which Macbeth of Scotland according to much later tradition, murdered Máel Coluim"s father Donnchad I of Scotland, and which stood on a hill around 1 km to the north-east.
The first Inverness Castle was partially destroyed by King Robert I of Scotland and a replacement castle was sacked in the 15th century by the Clan Donald during the Siege of Inverness (1429). The castle was occupied during the Raid on Ross in 1491.
In 1548 another castle with tower was completed by George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly (1514–1562). He was constable of the castle until 1562.