THE TOWN HALL AT BRAY, COUNTY WICKLOW, IRELAND.

Notes compiled by Ann Shevill - September 2003

Since the early 1600s Brabazons have been in the area now known as Bray, which has indeed a very
interesting history.
It is unlikely that there was a permanent settlement there before the Norman invasion of England in 1066
which was the year that Jacques le Brabancon crossed the English Channel with William the Conqueror.
All Brabazons are descendants of Jacques, known then as the Great Warrior.

There is known history of Bray since the mid 12th century.

From 1850 to 1870 apparently there was a degree of political tension within the town

A diary note reads:

In 1880 Lord Brabazon offered to build a new Market House and Town Hall for the town. It is an important example of the quaint tudor style architecture popularized in England by Shaw and Nesfield in the 1870s. It is of three bays and two storeys, built of red brick with central carriage arch containing wrought-iron gates. The ground floor served as a covered market. On the first floor there was a chamber room with windows incorporating Coats of Arms of the Brabazon family. 

In 1881 a Town Hall and Market House was commissioned by Lord Brabazon (afterwards the 12th Earl) at a cost of six thousand pounds.





A plaque at the entrance states

“This Town Hall and MarketHhouse was erected by Reginald Lord Brabazon, son of William 11th Earl of Meath and by Mary Lady Brabazon only daughter of Thomas 11th Earl of Lauderdale in the year of our Lord 1882”

In the front of the town hall is a unique stone fountain with a statue of a wyvern on top, which has frequently
been mistaken by locals for a devil.

The wyvern is a mythological creature whose upper half is a dragon and whose lower half is a serpent or
viper. The wyvern comes from the Meath Coat of Arms; in the windows of the Council Chamber wyverns
can be seen in their correct armorial colors of gold, with red wings and limbs, collared and chained in gold.
In 1883 there were serious tensions in the district at the time Lord Brabazon began to discuss how the Town Hall could be utilized to best advantage; the Land Leagues opposed him vehemently and his life was at one
time threatened.

However the Town Hall was to become the meeting place for the Town Commissioners and was also utilized for a diverse number of social functions, dances, and meetings.

More information - http://www.brabazonarchive.com/Pages/Brabazons%20of%20Meath.htm