[6] By the 1880s the building in County Square was deemed too small and it was decided to erect a new courthouse on the north side of St James Street.

[1] The new building was designed by William Clarke and George Bell in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1885.

The central section of five bays featured a portico which formed the centrepiece of a colonnade with Doric order columns supporting an entablature and a balustrade.

[8] The complex was therefore extended to the east by a new seven bay extension designed by George Bell, built in ashlar stone and completed in 1890.

[11] In January 1996, the court was the venue for the fatal accident investigation into the Mull of Kintyre Chinook crash in 1994 when all twenty-five passengers, including almost all the United Kingdom's senior Northern Ireland intelligence experts, as well as four crew on board were killed.