Building misc, Birr Castle · Photo: Working Men's Educational Union · Public domain
298buildings on the National Inventory
History of Birr · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Birr: 298 buildings on the National Inventory, 3 of them of national importance
Few towns its size have as much on the record as Birr: 631 buildings per 10,000 residents, more than 97% of them. Of its homes, 15% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. It is a historic town on the Sites and Monuments Record, with 24 archaeological sites inside it. The oldest record dates from 1630.
NIAH National or International, and national monuments
Archaeological sites
24
Sites and Monuments Record
Oldest building
1630
the first date on its record
Homes built before 1919
15%
typical town: 3.4%
In pictures
17 photos of Birr’s landmarks, and 1 old views
Birr as it was in 1880, in old photographs. 14 of the places on Birr’s record are pictured here; the others show their record card. Of Birr’s places of national importance, 3 are photographed.
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.
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 Birr’s history is
Every building and site on the record inside the town, by its rating.
National and InternationalRegional and other sites400 m from Birr Castle
3 of 3within 400 m of Birr Castle, the heart of the town’s history
Hover a dot for its name; tap one to open its page.
The 298, by rating
3 National and International295 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
3 places of national importance in Birr
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.
Main Street26 on the record
Emmet Street22 on the record
Oxmantown Mall22 on the record
John's Place19 on the record
John's Mall14 on the record
Connaught Street13 on the record
Compton Row12 on the record
Emmet Square11 on the record
O'Connell Street11 on the record
Market Square9 on the record
Castle Street8 on the record
Rosse Row8 on the record
Of the 298 records, 261 give a street address.
What’s recorded
The record in Birr starts with homes, at 80%
The runner-up group is walls, gates and bridges: 10 records. Across Ireland churches and chapels make up 7% of the record, so Birr’s 3% is low. Two of the highest-rated records are “Foot bridge, Birr Castle” and Birr Castle.
Homes238
Walls, gates and bridges10
Mills, stations and works9
Street furniture9
Churches and chapels8
Public buildings8
Memorials and tombs3
Farm and estate buildings2
Other buildings11
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
How old
Most of Birr’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
1500–1799 three centuries33
19th century 1800–1899253
1900 and later to today12
33 of the 298 dated ones were built before 1800. The oldest is Walled garden, Birr Castle, from 1630.
Archaeology and around
Archaeology in Birr
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
24 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.
The biggest share of Birr’s homes dates in the 2000s: 30%
A full 6.5% of the homes in Birr went up between the wars, beyond the typical 3.9%. Builders have been quiet in Birr since 2011: 4.1% of its homes, the norm 5.8%. Take 2001 as the dividing line: more of Birr’s homes stand on the older side.
15%
Before 1919
6.5%
1919–45
23%
1946–80
22%
1981–2000
30%
2001–10
4.1%
Since 2011
BirrTypical 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
19 notable people born in Birr before 1900
From Henry Palmer (1821) to John Caffrey (1891): their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Henry Palmer
John Doyle
Thomas Bernard Hackett
John Murray
Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse
Thomas Waters
Joseph Johnstone Muir
Charles Egerton
Lawrence Parsons
Percy Crutchley
Michael F. Farley
Hugh Fenwick Brooke
Fanny Susan Copeland
Frederic Charles Dreyer
Alice Cashel
Caitlín Brugha
Henry George Farmer
Olive Purser
John Caffrey
1800182518501875190019251950
Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse1840–1908 · British astronomer
HF
Henry George Farmer1882–1965 · British musicologist and Arabist
Thomas Waters1842–1898 · Architect, civil engineer
Frederic Charles Dreyer1878–1956 · Royal Navy admiral
Fanny Susan Copeland1872–1970 · Irish translator, mountaineer, journalist, linguist
Caitlín Brugha1879–1959 · Irish politician
Charles Egerton1848–1921 · Army Officer
Percy Crutchley1855–1940 · British cricketer
Everyone born in Birr → Birthplaces from Wikidata, each checked against the person’s English Wikipedia article; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Towns its size
Birr has the most of 16 towns its size
Towns of 4,500 to 4,900 residents, by buildings on the record.
Few towns are as rich in recorded buildings as Birr: per resident it has more than 97% of Irish towns of 2,500 or more. In all there are 298 places on the record, 3 of them in the top tier, including Foot bridge, Birr Castle. 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.
Its places of national importance cluster together: 3 of them stand within 400 m of Birr Castle. Main Street alone has 26 places on the record. Most entries on the list, 80%, are homes.
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 Birr’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Birr?
298 buildings on the National Inventory, 3 of them of national importance, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
Which places in Birr are of national importance?
Foot bridge, Birr Castle, Birr Castle and Building misc, Birr Castle.
What is the oldest building in Birr?
Walled garden, Birr Castle: the first date on its record is 1630.
Are there archaeological sites in Birr?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 24 archaeological sites inside Birr.
How old are the homes in Birr?
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).
Building misc, Birr Castle · Photo: Working Men's Educational Union · Public domain
Birr CastleNational rating (NIAH)
Foot bridge, Birr CastleNational rating (NIAH)
Birr Post OfficeRegional rating (NIAH)
Birr Methodist ChurchRegional rating (NIAH)
Bridge, Birr CastleRegional rating (NIAH)+12See all photos
1880s
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Nat
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