The building is on Back Lane, off High Street, near Christ Church Cathedral, which overlooks the River Liffey.

It was described as having, on one side of the entrance, a principal room of 45 by 21 feet (13.7 by 6.4 m), with a gallery, a throne for the Guild Master, and paintings of Dean Swift, a St Homohon and two past kings.

[6][7] Aside from their own meetings, the guild commissioned the hall to be suitable for leasing, and included living quarters (a kitchen, parlour and garrets) also for rental.

Rental uses included meetings of other Dublin guilds (including those of the shoemakers, hosiers, glovers, shearmen, smiths, joiners, brewers, and apothecaries and barber-surgeons), and the Freemasons, along with Methodist and Baptist gatherings, and classes such as dancing and fencing, as well as balls, theatrical performances, concerts and drawings of lotteries.

[4] Legal reforms in the mid-19th century, after a parliamentary report noted the loss of the monopolies of the guilds over trades, included the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 (3 & 4 Vict.

[4] The Workers' Union of Ireland planned to take over the building but never actually moved, and the lease was taken by the Legion of Mary until the Corporation decided it had become wholly uninhabitable.

[4] A public meeting was held "to save the building from demolition" in October 1966, followed by a Bring-and-Buy Sale at the Mansion House.

[9] The first £5,000 of fundraising allowed the securing of walls – including repointing of the brick courses – and roof, with the windows to follow, then interiors.

[9] It was handed over to the Tailors' Hall Fund for a nominal rent of one shilling, for 99 years, in 1968, with the keys passed from the Lord Mayor to Desmond Guinness.

[11] The National Trust for Ireland, An Taisce, took the leasehold of the building from Dublin Corporation on 1 February 1984, and operates it as its headquarters, sometimes letting some of the facilities.

[13] Tailors' Hall is a registered National Monument and heritage site and, in its restored form, won the Europa Nostra Award in 1988.