The first municipal building in the town was a market house which may have dated back to the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century.

[3] In March 1689, during the Williamite War in Ireland, two Williamite officers, Captain Wolstan Dixie, who was the son of Edward Dixie, the Dean of Kilmore, and Lieutenant William Charleton, were captured and executed on the orders of the 3rd Viscount Galmoye, the Jacobite leader, and their severed heads were placed on the roof of the market house.

The works also involved the creation of a new curved glass extension, intended to encase some medieval foundations, which were discovered at the rear of the building.

[12] The works were carried out by J. J. McCauley to a design by Gaffney & Cullivan and financed by the International Fund for Ireland, the Department for the Environment, Community and Local Government and Cavan County Council.

[14] After the works had been completed the building was re-opened by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan, in June 2014.