Saint Colman's Catholic Cathedral · Photo: Andreas F. Borchert · CC BY-SA 4.0
367buildings on the National Inventory
History of Cobh · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Cobh: 15% of homes built before 1919
The typical town has 3.4%: Cobh has 4 times the share. The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage records 367 buildings in Cobh, one of them of national importance. For its size that is a lot: 259 for every 10,000 residents, more than in 90% of towns. Its oldest building dates from 1740.
NIAH National or International, and national monuments
Archaeological sites
17
Sites and Monuments Record
Oldest building
1740
the first date on its record
Homes built before 1919
15%
typical town: 3.4%
In pictures
Historic Cobh: 13 photos, 8 old views
Among them: Saint Colman's Catholic Cathedral and Cobh Town Hall and Courthouse. The photos cover 9 of Cobh’s recorded places; the rest have a record card. Cobh before 1950 appears in old photographs from 1874 to 1917.
Photos 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
Cobh from 1874 to 1917
8 old photographs, in date order. All made before 1950.
1875190019251950VictorianEdwardianRevolutionFree State
From 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 Cobh’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 367, by rating
1 National and International366 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 Cobh
Buildings the National Inventory rates National or International: of significance across Ireland or beyond. Each one opens its own page.
Streets with three or more buildings on the record, by the address it gives.
High Road26 on the record
Westbourne Place23 on the record
Lower Road21 on the record
Roger Casement Square19 on the record
The Crescent13 on the record
Park Terrace8 on the record
Pearse Square8 on the record
Lake Road7 on the record
Cathedral Place6 on the record · 1 of national importance
Harbour Row6 on the record
Midleton Street5 on the record
Harbour Hill5 on the record
Of the 367 records, 192 give a street address.
What’s recorded
The record in Cobh starts with homes, at 80%
Cobh’s record covers 10 kinds of building in all. That mix has few churches and chapels: 2% in Cobh, against 7% across the National Inventory. 18 records make street furniture the second group.
Homes295
Street furniture18
Walls, gates and bridges13
Public buildings10
Churches and chapels9
Inns, shops and warehouses3
Mills, stations and works2
Farm and estate buildings2
Memorials and tombs1
Other buildings14
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
How old
Most of Cobh’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
1500–1799 three centuries3
19th century 1800–1899349
1900 and later to today15
3 of the 367 dated ones were built before 1800. The oldest is Cove Fort, from 1740.
Archaeology and around
Archaeology in Cobh
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
17 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.
Fulacht fia3 records
Ringfort - rath2 records
Graveyard2 records
Church2 records
Kiln - lime2 records
Designed landscape - tree-ring1 record
Ritual site - holy well1 record
Burial ground1 record
Battery1 record
Bee-boles1 record
Town1 record
Just outside Cobh: 57
Cuskinny BridgeRegional rating (NIAH) · 500 m outside the town
AvonmoreRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.9 km outside the town
Cuskinny CourtRegional rating (NIAH) · 1 km outside the town
Ballymore LodgeRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.5 km outside the town
CarrigrhuRegional rating (NIAH) · 200 m outside the town
Homes by age
29% of Cobh’s homes were built in the 2000s
The midpoint of Cobh’s housing falls before 2001: half the homes are older. Building since 2011 in Cobh, 6.4% of its homes, keeps pace with the norm of 5.8%. Homes built between the wars make up 4.7% of Cobh’s, about the typical 3.9%.
15%
Before 1919
4.7%
1919–45
20%
1946–80
25%
1981–2000
29%
2001–10
6.4%
Since 2011
CobhTypical 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
16 notable people born in Cobh before 1900
From Robert Ball (1802) to Séamus Fitzgerald (1896): their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Robert Ball
Anne Elizabeth Ball
Michael O'Connor
Francis Orpen Morris
Mary Ball
James O'Connor
Michael P. Grace
Patrick Regan
L. Adams Beck
Patsy Donovan
Arthur Mosse
Bartholomew Stanislaus Wilson
Emmet Fox
Neville Usborne
Frederick Jeremiah Edwards
Séamus Fitzgerald
1800182518501875190019251950
EF
Emmet Fox1886–1951 · American New Thought writer
Michael O'Connor1810–1872 · Irish-born Jesuit and Catholic bishop
AB
Anne Elizabeth Ball1808–1872 · Irish botanist, algologist, and botanical illustrator
Francis Orpen Morris1810–1893 · Irish clergyman and historian
Mary Ball1812–1898 · Irish naturalist, entomologist and botanical collector
James O'Connor1823–1891 · Catholic bishop
Robert Ball1802–1857 · Irish naturalist
L. Adams Beck1862–1931 · British writer
Everyone born in Cobh → Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s English Wikipedia article; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Towns its size
Cobh has the most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 13,400 to 14,900 residents, by buildings on the record.
Few towns are as rich in recorded buildings as Cobh: per resident it has more than 90% of Irish towns of 2,500 or more. In all there are 367 places on the record, 1 of them in the top tier, including Saint Colman's Catholic Cathedral. No town its size has more recorded buildings: it leads the 16 nearest in population. Its housing is old: 15% of homes date from before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town.
High Road alone has 26 places on the record. Of the whole list, 80% are homes. Of the 367 with a date, 349 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 Cobh’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Cobh?
367 buildings on the National Inventory, one of them of national importance, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
Which places in Cobh are of national importance?
Saint Colman's Catholic Cathedral.
What is the oldest building in Cobh?
Cove Fort: the first date on its record is 1740.
Are there archaeological sites in Cobh?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 17 archaeological sites inside Cobh.
How old are the homes in Cobh?
15% 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).
Int
Saint Colman's Catholic Cathedral · Photo: Andreas F. Borchert · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cobh Town Hall and CourthouseRegional rating (NIAH)
Christ Church (Clonmel)Regional rating (NIAH)
Cobh Railway StationRegional rating (NIAH)
Cobh MuseumRegional rating (NIAH)
Bon Secour ConventRegional rating (NIAH)+8See all photos
c. 1874
1877
1885
1890s
1890
1900
1900s
c. 1917
