Saint James's Church (Kilfearagh) · Photo: The Banner · CC BY-SA 4.0Old homes in Kilkee: 16% built before 1919
The typical town has 3.4%: Kilkee has 5 times the share. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage records 15 buildings in Kilkee. The earliest building recorded goes back to 1800. The Sites and Monuments Record adds 16 archaeological sites inside the town.
Kilkee from 1880 to 1890
2 old photographs, in date order. All made before 1950.
1880
1890From Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server: public domain, or from the National Library of Ireland’s collections (Lawrence, Poole, Eason and others) with no known copyright restrictions. Each credit opens the image’s page.
Where Kilkee’s history is
Every building and site on the record inside the town, by its rating.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one to open its page.
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage is the State’s survey of buildings from 1700 to today, county by county; each record gives a rating, dates, a type and an appraisal. Being on it is not legal protection: that is each council’s Record of Protected Structures.
Points from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and the Sites and Monuments Record, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0).
15 historic places in Kilkee
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 9, A to Z
6 recorded by their type and address
6 are recorded only by their type and address: 6 homes; most date from the 19th century.
73% of Kilkee’s recorded buildings are homes
Regional importance is the highest rating any of Kilkee’s buildings holds. In second place come public buildings, with 2. Two of the highest-rated records are Bernadette House and Clifton House.
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
Most of Kilkee’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
Archaeology in Kilkee
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
16 archaeological sites inside the town
Sites on the Record of Monuments and Places, the statutory list drawn from this record, are protected by law: anyone planning work at or near one must give the National Monuments Service two months’ notice.
| Ringfort - rath5 records |
| Earthwork3 records |
| Structure1 record |
| Fish-pond1 record |
| Burial ground1 record |
| Megalithic structure1 record |
| Castle - tower house1 record |
| Ritual site - holy well1 record |
| Souterrain1 record |
| Standing stone1 record |
Just outside Kilkee: 1
| Blackweir BridgeRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.2 km outside the town |
Kilkee’s building boom came from 1946 to 1980: 28% of its homes
Count back from today and half of Kilkee’s homes are older than 1981. Homes built between the wars make up 8.6% of Kilkee’s, against 3.9% in the typical town. Only 16% of Kilkee’s homes were built in the 2000s, less than the typical town’s 25%.
Census 2022, households by the year their home was built (CSO, Small Area Population Statistics, CC BY 4.0); the typical town is the middle Irish town of 2,500 or more.
3 notable people born in Kilkee before 1900
From Charles Fitzgerald (1792) to Edwin John Butler (1874): their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Everyone born in Kilkee → Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s English Wikipedia article; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Kilkee and its neighbours
| Town | People | National Inventory | National | Archaeological sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kilkee | 1,214 | 15 | 0 | 16 |
| Kilrush | 2,649 | 19 | 1 | 1 |
| Ballybunion | 1,618 | 20 | 0 | 8 |
Kilkee in brief
Old houses are part of Kilkee’s character: 16% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. In all there are 15 places on the record. Of the whole list, 73% are homes. Of the 15 with a date, 14 come from the 19th century. The oldest is Bernadette House, from 1840.
Edwin John Butler (1874), Charles Fitzgerald (1792) and Harry Foran (1850) were all born here before 1900. The archaeological record adds 16 sites.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The National Inventory. The State’s survey of post-1700 buildings, made county by county since 1990 (NIAH); a few records are older. It records; it does not protect.
- Ratings. International and National: of significance across Ireland or beyond. Regional: in its region. Local and record-only buildings get no page here.
- Archaeology. The Sites and Monuments Record (National Monuments Service) lists known archaeological sites; the national monuments to visit and the sites with an encyclopedia article get pages here.
- Protection. Both registers are surveys, not protection: a building is protected by its council’s Record of Protected Structures, and no national open list joins the 31 councils’ records.
- The grade. Ireland’s History grade is not built yet: the page describes, and gives no grade.
Questions about Kilkee’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Kilkee?
15 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Kilkee?
House, West End, Kilkee: the first date on its record is 1800.
Are there archaeological sites in Kilkee?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 16 archaeological sites inside Kilkee.
How old are the homes in Kilkee?
16% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town.
Are the buildings on this page protected?
Being on the National Inventory or the Sites and Monuments Record is a record, not protection by itself: buildings are protected by their council’s Record of Protected Structures, which each council keeps and no national open list gathers, so this page can’t say which are on it.
History is described here, not graded.
Source: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and Sites and Monuments Record, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY 4.0); Wikidata (CC0).
Sources: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (buildingsofireland.ie) · Sites and Monuments Record and the National Monuments Service’s monuments to visit · CSO Census 2022 (homes by the year built) · Photos: Wikimedia Commons, including the National Library of Ireland’s collections, each credited with its licence and copied to our own server · Wikidata and English Wikipedia for people born here · Wikidata (CC0) for other names and articles. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).