The building was commissioned as a market house by the local landowner, Arthur Hill, 3rd Marquess of Downshire,[1] who held the Downshire Estate at Edenderry, and who was responsible for the development of the town in the early 19th century, erecting extensive new housing and several schools.

[2][3][4] The building was designed by Thomas Duff in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £5,000 and was completed in 1830.

[5] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of five bays facing onto JKL Street (named after James Warren Doyle who as Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin signed documents JLK, an acronym for "James Kildare and Leighlin").

[6] In March 1849, during the Great Famine, the local poor law guardians held a meeting in the town hall at which they expressed sympathy with poor people who were starving in the south and west of Ireland and petitioned the UK Government not to impose a tax, based on ratable value, on properties in Ireland.

During the 1950s, Edenderry Rugby Football Club held an annual dance in the assembly hall to raise funds for the club,[10] and, in the 1960s, the pop singer, Joe Dolan, regularly performed in concerts arranged by Seamus Casey there.