The Custom House is James Gandon's masterpiece and one of the finest neoclassical buildings in Europe. Completed in 1791, it stretches along the north bank of the Liffey with a 114-metre façade of Portland stone, a central Doric portico, and a magnificent copper dome topped by a figure of Commerce. The decorative riverine heads on the keystones represent the rivers of Ireland.
The building was burned by the IRA in 1921 during the War of Independence and carefully restored. The interior houses offices and a small visitor centre. The exterior, best seen from the south quays or from the water, is one of the great set pieces of Dublin's architectural heritage.