Photo: Sebastian “sebrem” B… · CC BY-SA 3.0Old homes in Blackpool: 23% built before 1919
Against 3.4% in the typical town, Blackpool has 7 times the share. On the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, Blackpool counts 69 buildings. The earliest building recorded goes back to 1790. Inside the town, the Sites and Monuments Record lists 2 archaeological sites.
typical town: 48
Blackpool from 1893 to 1920
6 old photographs, in date order. All made before 1950.
1890–1897
c. 1895
c. 1900
1914
1920
c. 1920From 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 Blackpool’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).
69 historic places in Blackpool
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 34, A to Z
35 recorded by their type and address
35 are recorded only by their type and address: 31 homes, 2 walls, gates and bridges and 1 other buildings; most date from the 19th century.
Old Youghal Road has the most
Streets with three or more buildings on the record, by the address it gives.
Of the 69 records, 62 give a street address.
68% of Blackpool’s recorded buildings are homes
Nationally, public buildings are 6% of the record; in Blackpool they are 16%. Two of the highest-rated records are Bruce College Bruce College and “Blast walls, Collins Barracks”. All of Blackpool’s recorded buildings carry a regional rating.
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
Most of Blackpool’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
2 of the 69 dated ones were built before 1800. The oldest is Bruce College Bruce College, from 1790.
Archaeology in Blackpool
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
2 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.
| Ritual site - holy well1 record |
| Distillery1 record |
Little new building in Blackpool: 3.2% of homes date from 2011 on, against 5.8%
Blackpool’s largest group of homes, 31%, went up in the 2000s. Few of Blackpool’s homes date from 1981 to 2000: 10%, the norm 24%. In most towns 3.9% of homes were built between the wars; in Blackpool, 8.9%.
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.
Blackpool has the 3rd most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 2,900 to 3,300 residents, by buildings on the record.
Only Crosshaven and Bantry have more. The typical town its size has 23. One of the 16 has none.
Blackpool and its neighbours
| Town | People | National Inventory | National | Archaeological sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackpool | 3,124 | 69 | 0 | 2 |
| Farranree | 3,824 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| Shandon | 3,539 | 196 | 5 | 9 |
| St Luke's | 4,278 | 382 | 1 | 2 |
| The Glen | 6,119 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Cork City Centre | 3,701 | 671 | 14 | 19 |
| Gurranebraher | 4,502 | 31 | 0 | 1 |
Blackpool in brief
Old houses are part of Blackpool’s character: 23% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. In all there are 69 places on the record. Per resident, it has more recorded buildings than 89% of Irish towns of 2,500 or more. Only 2 of the 16 towns nearest its size have more recorded buildings.
On Old Youghal Road alone there are 20 places on the record. Of the whole list, 68% are homes. Most of its dated monuments come from the 19th century: 58 of 69. The rest is about typical: it also has 2 archaeological 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 Blackpool’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Blackpool?
69 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Blackpool?
Bruce College Bruce College: the first date on its record is 1790.
Are there archaeological sites in Blackpool?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 2 archaeological sites inside Blackpool.
How old are the homes in Blackpool?
23% 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 (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).