Photo: William Murphy · CC BY-SA 2.0Blackrock: 13 buildings on the National Inventory
Blackrock has kept more old homes than most towns: 13% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. The earliest building recorded goes back to 1755. The Sites and Monuments Record adds 6 archaeological sites inside the town. Blackrock has 10 buildings on the record for every 10,000 residents, against 48 in the typical town.
typical town: 48
Blackrock from 1875 to 1880
2 old photographs, in date order. All made before 1950.
1875
1880sFrom 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 Blackrock’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).
13 historic places in Blackrock
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 11, A to Z
2 recorded by their type and address
2 are recorded only by their type and address: 2 street furniture; most date from the 20th century.
More homes than anything else in Blackrock: 54%
The record in Blackrock runs as late as 1939. 4 records make walls, gates and bridges the second group. Two of the highest-rated records are Rockfield House and Abilene.
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
Most of Blackrock’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
2 of the 13 dated ones were built before 1800. The oldest is Rockfield House, from 1755.
Archaeology in Blackrock
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
6 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.
| Castle - unclassified3 records |
| Cross1 record |
| Ritual site - holy well1 record |
| Cist1 record |
Few of Blackrock’s homes are newer than 2011: 2.9%, against 5.8%
Before 2001, Blackrock had already built more than half of the homes it has now. Building between the wars went further in Blackrock than in most towns: 8.2%, against 3.9%. Blackrock built little in the 2000s: 12% of its homes, where most towns have 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.
Blackrock and its neighbours
| Town | People | National Inventory | National | Archaeological sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackrock | 12,816 | 13 | 0 | 6 |
| Monkstown | 9,831 | 20 | 0 | 15 |
| Stillorgan | 18,212 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| Booterstown | 8,505 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Sandyford | 8,844 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| Foxrock | 12,163 | 94 | 4 | 5 |
| Sallynoggin | 13,245 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Blackrock in brief
Old houses are part of Blackrock’s character: 13% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. In all there are 13 places on the record. Of the whole list, 54% are homes. Most of its dated monuments come from the 19th century: 7 of 13. The oldest, Rockfield House, dates from 1755.
The archaeological record adds 6 sites. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: it has 13 recorded buildings, about typical for a town its size (the middle one has 25); and per resident it sits near the middle of Irish towns of 2,500 or more.
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 Blackrock’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Blackrock?
13 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Blackrock?
Rockfield House: the first date on its record is 1755.
Are there archaeological sites in Blackrock?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 6 archaeological sites inside Blackrock.
How old are the homes in Blackrock?
13% 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).