It was designed by John Loftus Robinson in the Lombard Romanesque style, built by Meade & Son in ashlar stone at a cost of £16,000 and was officially opened on 20 April 1880.

The central bay, which was slightly projected forward, featured, a recessed doorway with lancet windows, flanked by colonnettes, on either side.

[2] The building became the home of Kingstown Urban District Council on its formation in 1899, and was re-named Dún Laoghaire Town Hall in the lead-up to the creation of the Irish Free State in August 1920.

[2] The Irish republican and leader of Fianna Fáil, Éamon de Valera, gave a speech on his party's policies in the town hall in November 1930.

[8] An extensive programme of refurbishment works, involving the replacement of the plaster and timberwork, was carried out at a cost of £800,000 to a design by Gerry McEvoy, and completed in June 1990.