[2] It was designed by Alexander Hay in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1825.

The central section of three bays featured a tetrastyle portico formed by Doric order columns supporting an entablature.

After it was reformed in 1937, Galway Corporation was mostly based at offices in Dominick Street and Fishmarket.

Galway Corporation (renamed Galway City Council in 2001), with the assistance of a grant from the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, undertook a major refurbishment of the building between 1993 and 1995 and it reopened as a municipal theatre in October 1995.

[5][6][7] The venue attracts audiences in excess of 100,000 annually (close to 2 million since being officially re-opened on 1 February 1996) making it the most successful theatre of its size in Ireland.