Saint Mary's Catholic Church · Photo: Caolan · CC BY-SA 4.0Claddagh has 19 buildings on the National Inventory
History in Claddagh goes back at least to 1795, the date of its oldest recorded building. The Sites and Monuments Record adds 11 archaeological sites inside the town. For every 10,000 residents, Claddagh has 69 buildings on the record; the typical town has 48.
typical town: 48
3 photos of Claddagh’s landmarks
Of the places on Claddagh’s record, 3 have a photo here. Saint Mary's Catholic Church and Nimmo's Pier lead the set. Nimmo's Pier, dated 1810, is the oldest pictured in Claddagh.
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.
Where Claddagh’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).
19 historic places in Claddagh
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 11, A to Z
8 recorded by their type and address
8 are recorded only by their type and address: 6 homes, 1 walls, gates and bridges and 1 inns, shops and warehouses; most date from the 19th century.
Dominick Street and Claddagh Quay have the most
Streets with three or more buildings on the record, by the address it gives.
Of the 19 records, 15 give a street address.
The record in Claddagh starts with homes, at 58%
The record in Claddagh runs as late as 1940. 2 records make walls, gates and bridges the second group. At the top of the record: The Bridge Mills and Eglinton House.
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
Most of Claddagh’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
1 of the 19 dated ones were built before 1800. The oldest is The Bridge Mills, from 1795.
Archaeology in Claddagh
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
11 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.
| Bridge2 records |
| Battery1 record |
| Designed landscape feature1 record |
| Religious house - Dominican friars1 record |
| Graveyard1 record |
| Chapel1 record |
| Settlement cluster1 record |
| Water mill - unclassified1 record |
| Mill - unclassified1 record |
| Fortification1 record |
Few of Claddagh’s homes are newer than 2011: 1.4%, against 5.8%
The largest single period is from 1946 to 1980, with 38% of Claddagh’s homes. Homes dated between the wars are commoner in Claddagh than in most towns: 22%, against 3.9%. Few of Claddagh’s homes date in the 2000s: 9.6%, the norm 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.
Claddagh and its neighbours
| Town | People | National Inventory | National | Archaeological sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claddagh | 2,755 | 19 | 0 | 11 |
| Woodquay and Nuns Island | 4,948 | 120 | 6 | 59 |
| Salthill | 5,445 | 38 | 0 | 8 |
| Taylor's Hill | 3,141 | 16 | 0 | 5 |
| Eyre Square | 6,801 | 81 | 2 | 27 |
| Newcastle | 4,032 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Dangan | 4,621 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Claddagh in brief
More of Claddagh’s homes are old than in most places: 3.9% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. All told, the list holds 19 places on the record. Most entries on the list, 58%, are homes. Of the 19 with a date, 12 come from the 19th century. The oldest is The Bridge Mills, from 1795.
It also has 11 archaeological sites on the record. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: it has 19 recorded buildings, about typical for a town its size (the middle one has 19); per resident it sits near the middle of Irish towns of 2,500 or more; and Thomas Grady (1831) was born here before 1900.
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 Claddagh’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Claddagh?
19 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Claddagh?
The Bridge Mills: the first date on its record is 1795.
Are there archaeological sites in Claddagh?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 11 archaeological sites inside Claddagh.
How old are the homes in Claddagh?
3.9% 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).