Gates / railings / walls · 1780–1820Kent LodgeSpa
Photo: Robert Ashby · CC BY-SA 2.01building on the National Inventory
History of Spa · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Spa has 1 building on the National Inventory
Old homes stand out in Spa: 11% were built before 1919, where the typical town has 3.4%. The oldest record dates from 1780. The Sites and Monuments Record adds 6 archaeological sites inside the town.
On the National Inventory
1
Of national importance
0
NIAH National or International, and national monuments
Archaeological sites
6
Sites and Monuments Record
Oldest building
1780
the first date on its record
Homes built before 1919
11%
typical town: 3.4%
Through time
Spa from 1600 to 1917
8 old photographs, in date order. All made before 1950.
c. 1600
1856
1866–1870
1891
c. 1891
1894
c. 1911
1917–1918From 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 Spa’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 1, by rating
1 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
One historic place in Spa
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
Archaeology and around
Archaeology in Spa
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.
| Ringfort - rath3 records |
| Souterrain2 records |
| Enclosure1 record |
Homes by age
New homes stand out in Spa: 11% built since 2011, where most towns have 5.8%
Half of the homes standing in Spa today were built before 2001. More of the homes standing in Spa today were built from 1981 to 2000 than in any other period: 31%. About as many of Spa’s homes as usual date between the wars: 4%, against 3.9%.
11%
Before 1919
4%
1919–45
21%
1946–80
31%
1981–2000
21%
2001–10
11%
Since 2011
SpaTypical 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.
Neighbours
Spa and its neighbours
| Town | People | National Inventory | National | Archaeological sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spa | 362 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Tralee | 26,079 | 283 | 8 | 119 |
| Milltown | 1,118 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Killorglin | 2,163 | 10 | 1 | 3 |
In brief
Spa in brief
More of Spa’s homes are old than in most places: 11% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. In all there are 1 place on the record. The archaeological record adds 6 sites. The oldest, Kent Lodge, dates from 1780.
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 Spa’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Spa?
1 building on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Spa?
Kent Lodge: the first date on its record is 1780.
Are there archaeological sites in Spa?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 6 archaeological sites inside Spa.
How old are the homes in Spa?
11% 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).