Saint Patrick's Catholic Cathedral · Photo: JohnArmagh · Public domain
119buildings on the National Inventory
History of Skibbereen · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Old homes in Skibbereen: 15% built before 1919
Against 3.4% in the typical town, Skibbereen has 4 times the share. It is a historic town on the Sites and Monuments Record, with 5 archaeological sites inside it. Skibbereen has 119 buildings on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. For its size that is a lot: 410 for every 10,000 residents, more than in 96% of towns.
NIAH National or International, and national monuments
Archaeological sites
5
Sites and Monuments Record
Oldest building
1800
the first date on its record
Homes built before 1919
15%
typical town: 3.4%
In pictures
Skibbereen in 3 photos
There are photos of 2 of Skibbereen’s recorded places so far. Saint Patrick's Catholic Cathedral and Skibbereen Town Hall lead the set. The oldest building pictured in Skibbereen is Saint Patrick's Catholic Cathedral, from 1825.
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.
The map
Where Skibbereen’s history is
Every building and site on the record inside the town, by its rating.
Regional and other sites
Hover a dot for its name; tap one to open its page.
The 119, by rating
119 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).
Regional and other sites
119 historic places in Skibbereen
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
Streets with three or more buildings on the record, by the address it gives.
North Street35 on the record
Bridge Street31 on the record
Main Street8 on the record
Market Street7 on the record
Upper Bridge7 on the record
Townshend Street6 on the record
Mardyke Street5 on the record
Baltimore Road4 on the record
Ilen Street3 on the record
Of the 119 records, 113 give a street address.
What’s recorded
In Skibbereen, homes lead the record (77%)
10 records make public buildings the second group. Nationally, churches and chapels are 7% of the record; in Skibbereen they are only 4%. Leading the record by rating: Norton House and O'Leary.
Homes92
Public buildings10
Street furniture6
Churches and chapels5
Inns, shops and warehouses2
Walls, gates and bridges1
Mills, stations and works1
Memorials and tombs1
Other buildings1
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
How old
Most of Skibbereen’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
1500–1799 three centuries0
19th century 1800–189988
1900 and later to today31
The oldest is Norton House, from 1800.
Archaeology and around
Archaeology in Skibbereen
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
5 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.
MimosaRegional rating (NIAH) · 500 m outside the town
Ard MhuireRegional rating (NIAH) · 200 m outside the town
Homes by age
Skibbereen grew fastest in the 2000s, when 31% of its homes were built
Only 16% of Skibbereen’s homes were built from 1981 to 2000, less than the typical town’s 24%. A full 12% of the homes in Skibbereen went up between the wars, beyond the typical 3.9%. New building is strong in Skibbereen: 8.2% of homes date from 2011 on, where most towns have 5.8%.
15%
Before 1919
12%
1919–45
17%
1946–80
16%
1981–2000
31%
2001–10
8.2%
Since 2011
SkibbereenTypical 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
11 notable people born in Skibbereen before 1900
From Alexander Clerke (1804) to Gearóid O'Sullivan (1891): their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Alexander Clerke
Maurice Power
John Richard Wolfe
Ellen Mary Clerke
Agnes Mary Clerke
Minnie Cormack
Marian Curran
Jasper Wolfe
James Burke
Percy Ludgate
Gearóid O'Sullivan
1800182518501875190019251950
Agnes Mary Clerke1842–1907 · Irish astronomer and writer
Gearóid O'Sullivan1891–1948 · Irish politician
Ellen Mary Clerke1840–1906 · Irish writer
Percy Ludgate1883–1922 · Irish accountant and inventor
MC
Minnie Cormack1862– · Irish painter
MC
Marian Curran1871–1921 · Trade unionist and tailor (fl. 1890–1910)
JW
Jasper Wolfe1872–1952 · Irish politician
JB
James Burke1873–1936 · Cork politician (20th century)
Everyone born in Skibbereen → Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s English Wikipedia article; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Towns its size
Skibbereen has the 2nd most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 2,800 to 3,000 residents, by buildings on the record.
#2 of 16for buildings on the record per resident (410 per 10,000). Sunday's Well, Skibbereen and Bantry lead.
Only Sunday's Well has more. The typical town its size has 18. One of the 16 has none.
In brief
Skibbereen in brief
For its size, Skibbereen has more recorded buildings than 96% of Irish towns of 2,500 or more. All told, the list holds 119 places on the record. Of its homes, 15% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. Only one of the 16 towns nearest its size has more recorded buildings.
On North Street alone there are 35 places on the record. Most entries on the list, 77%, are homes. Most of its dated monuments come from the 19th century: 88 of 119.
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 Skibbereen’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Skibbereen?
119 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Skibbereen?
House, 2 Bridge Street, Skibbereen: the first date on its record is 1800.
Are there archaeological sites in Skibbereen?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 5 archaeological sites inside Skibbereen.
How old are the homes in Skibbereen?
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.
This page describes its history; it gives no grade.
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).
Saint Patrick's Catholic Cathedral · Photo: JohnArmagh · Public domain
