Library / archive · 1970–1980Bantry LibraryBridge Street, Chapel Street, Bantry
Bantry Courthouse · Photo: Shaneconnolly · CC BY-SA 4.079buildings on the National Inventory
History of Bantry · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Bantry has 79 buildings on the National Inventory, one of them of national importance
Few towns its size have as much on the record as Bantry: 270 buildings per 10,000 residents, more than 91% of them. 12% of its homes date from before 1919; the typical town has 3.4%. Its oldest building dates from 1800. Inside the town, the Sites and Monuments Record lists 12 archaeological sites.
On the National Inventory
79
270 per 10,000 residents
typical town: 48
typical town: 48
Of national importance
1
NIAH National or International, and national monuments
Archaeological sites
12
Sites and Monuments Record
Oldest building
1800
the first date on its record
Homes built before 1919
12%
typical town: 3.4%
In pictures
Bantry in 5 photos and 1 old views
Bantry as it was in 1890, in old photographs. There are photos of 3 of Bantry’s recorded places so far. Look out for Bantry Courthouse and Church of Saint Brendan the Navigator (Kilmocomoge).
Church of Saint Brendan the Navigator (Kilmocomoge)Regional rating (NIAH)
Saint Finbarr's Catholic ChurchRegional rating (NIAH)
Bantry House (country house)National rating (NIAH)
Kilnaruane Pillar StoneNational monument to visit+1See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the place’s page. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Through time
Bantry in old photos
1 old photograph, made before 1950.
1890sFrom 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.
The map
Where Bantry’s history is
Every building and site on the record inside the town, by its rating.
National and InternationalRegional and other sites
Hover a dot for its name; tap one to open its page.
The 79, by rating
1 National and International78 Regional and other sites
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).
National and International
One place of national importance in Bantry
Buildings the National Inventory rates National or International: of significance across Ireland or beyond. Each one opens its own page.
Regional and other sites
78 more historic places in Bantry
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 18, A to Z
Bantry CourthouseBantry Methodist ChurchBantry Post OfficeChurch of Saint Brendan the Navigator (Kilmocomoge)Dunnamark BridgeG.W. Biggs and Company (shop / retail outlet)G.W. Biggs and Company (shop / retail outlet)G.W. Biggs and Company (store / warehouse)J. McSweeneyKelly and CompanyM. EvansMurphyO'ConnellRock HouseSaint Anne'sSaint Brendan's National SchoolSaint Finbarr's Catholic ChurchSandril House
60 recorded by their type and address
60 are recorded only by their type and address: 53 homes, 3 street furniture and 2 other buildings; most date from the 19th century.
18th century6
19th century54
Historic streets
Wolfe Tone Square and New Street have the most
Streets with three or more buildings on the record, by the address it gives.
Wolfe Tone Square12 on the record
New Street12 on the record
Blackrock Terrace9 on the record
Marino Street8 on the record
Glengarriff Road7 on the record
William Street6 on the record
Bridge Street5 on the record · 1 of national importance
Main Street4 on the record
Barrack Street3 on the record
Chapel Street3 on the record
Of the 79 records, 76 give a street address.
What’s recorded
78% of Bantry’s recorded buildings are homes
Bantry shows 7 kinds of building on its record. The next biggest group is inns, shops and warehouses, 4 in all. Leading the record by rating: Bantry Library and Church of Saint Brendan the Navigator (Kilmocomoge).
Homes62
Inns, shops and warehouses4
Public buildings3
Churches and chapels3
Street furniture3
Walls, gates and bridges1
Other buildings3
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
How old
Most of Bantry’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
1500–1799 three centuries0
19th century 1800–189974
1900 and later to today5
Archaeology and around
Archaeology in Bantry
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
12 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.
| Enclosure2 records |
| Mill - unclassified2 records |
| Bastioned fort1 record |
| Country house1 record |
| Settlement cluster1 record |
| Souterrain1 record |
| Mill - corn1 record |
| Burial ground1 record |
| Church1 record |
| Graveyard1 record |
Just outside Bantry: 22
| Kilnaruane Pillar StoneNational monument to visit · 500 m outside the town |
| Reendisert CourtNational rating (NIAH) · 2.9 km outside the town |
| Bantry House (country house)National rating (NIAH) · 500 m outside the town |
| Middle BatteryRegional rating (NIAH) · 2 km outside the town |
| East BatteryRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.3 km outside the town |
| The Old RectoryRegional rating (NIAH) · 1 km outside the town |
| Drombrow HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.4 km outside the town |
| Bantry House (stables)Regional rating (NIAH) · 400 m outside the town |
| Bantry House (gate lodge)Regional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| Bantry House (stables)Regional rating (NIAH) · 500 m outside the town |
| ArdeevinRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.3 km outside the town |
| Convent of Mercy (convent / nunnery)Regional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| School, Convent of MercyRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| Convent of Mercy (church / chapel)Regional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| School, Convent of MercyRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| School, Convent of MercyRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| Seaview House HotelRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.8 km outside the town |
| Stella MarisRegional rating (NIAH) · 1 km outside the town |
| Farm house, BaurgormRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.1 km outside the town |
| Farm house, BeachRegional rating (NIAH) · 2 km outside the town |
Homes by age
Since 2011, building in Bantry has been slow: 3% of its homes, the norm is 5.8%
The period that gave Bantry the most homes is from 1946 to 1980: 32%. 7.1% of Bantry’s homes were built between the wars, more than the typical town’s 3.9%. Most of the houses in Bantry today, over half, were up by 1981.
12%
Before 1919
7.1%
1919–45
32%
1946–80
26%
1981–2000
21%
2001–10
3%
Since 2011
BantryTypical town
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.
Born here
8 notable people born in Bantry before 1900
From Timothy Daniel Sullivan (1827) to Timothy O'Sullivan (1899): their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Timothy Daniel Sullivan
John Sullivan
Richard Alphonsus Sheehan
Timothy Harrington
Thomas Joseph Healy
Timothy Michael Healy
Maurice Healy
Timothy O'Sullivan
1800182518501875190019251950
Timothy Michael Healy1855–1931 · Irish politician and barrister
Timothy Daniel Sullivan1827–1914 · Irish politician
Timothy Harrington1851–1910 · Irish politician
Maurice Healy1859–1923 · Irish politician
TO
Timothy O'Sullivan1899–1971 · Irish politician
JS
John Sullivan1830–1884 · Irish sailor and recipient of the Victoria Cross
RS
Richard Alphonsus Sheehan1845–1915 · Roman Catholic bishop
TH
Thomas Joseph Healy1854–1925 · Irish solicitor and politician
Everyone born in Bantry → Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s English Wikipedia article; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Towns its size
Bantry has the 2nd most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 2,800 to 3,000 residents, by buildings on the record.
Bantry79
#2 of 16for buildings on the record per resident (270 per 10,000). Skibbereen, Bantry and Moate lead.
Only Skibbereen has more. The typical town its size has 18. 2 of the 16 have none.
In brief
Bantry in brief
For its size, Bantry has more recorded buildings than 91% of Irish towns of 2,500 or more. All told, the list holds 79 places on the record, 1 of them in the top tier, including Bantry Library. Of its homes, 12% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. Only one of the 16 towns nearest its size has more recorded buildings.
Wolfe Tone Square alone has 12 places on the record. Of the whole list, 78% are homes. Of the 79 with a date, 74 come from the 19th century.
How to read these numbers
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 Bantry’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Bantry?
79 buildings on the National Inventory, one of them of national importance, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
Which places in Bantry are of national importance?
Bantry Library.
What is the oldest building in Bantry?
Coaching inn, New Street, Bantry: the first date on its record is 1800.
Are there archaeological sites in Bantry?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 12 archaeological sites inside Bantry.
How old are the homes in Bantry?
12% 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).