Saint Brigid's Catholic Church · Photo: Trenchspike · CC BY-SA 4.0Clara has 52 buildings on the National Inventory
Clara has kept more old homes than most towns: 7.9% were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. The earliest building recorded goes back to 1730. Inside the town, the Sites and Monuments Record lists 2 archaeological sites. For every 10,000 residents, Clara has 153 buildings on the record; the typical town has 48.
typical town: 48
Historic Clara through 2 photographs
Pictured and oldest in Clara: Saint Brigid's Church (Kilbride), 1765. So far the camera has reached 2 of Clara’s recorded places. Saint Brigid's Catholic Church and Saint Brigid's Church (Kilbride) lead the set.
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 Clara’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).
52 historic places in Clara
Buildings rated Regional, of significance in their region, and archaeological monuments with an encyclopedia article.
All 28, A to Z
24 recorded by their type and address
24 are recorded only by their type and address: 10 homes, 4 other buildings and 4 street furniture; most date from the 19th century.
Ballycumber Road has the most
Streets with three or more buildings on the record, by the address it gives.
Of the 52 records, 49 give a street address.
In Clara, homes lead the record (52%)
The next biggest group is mills, stations and works, 6 in all. Two of the highest-rated records are Lisieux and The Green House. Every building on Clara’s record is rated regional, none national.
Types as the National Inventory records them, grouped; a building keeps the type it was built as.
Most of Clara’s dated buildings come from the 19th century
Each building by the first date on its record.
13 of the 52 dated ones were built before 1800.
Archaeology in Clara
The Sites and Monuments Record lists every known archaeological site; most are field monuments with little to see. By kind:
2 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.
| Cross - Termon cross1 record |
| Enclosure1 record |
Just outside Clara: 11
| Ballina HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.4 km outside the town |
| Woodfield HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.1 km outside the town |
| Lismoyny BridgeRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.9 km outside the town |
| Ashmount HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 1.5 km outside the town |
| Belview TowerRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.5 km outside the town |
| Ballard HouseRegional rating (NIAH) · 2.2 km outside the town |
| The MonasteryRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
| Building misc, Ballynagall (Moyashel & Magheradernon By.)Regional rating (NIAH) · 1.9 km outside the town |
| House, Raheen (Ki. By.)Regional rating (NIAH) · 600 m outside the town |
| Gates, Ballard (Corkaree By.)Regional rating (NIAH) · 2.2 km outside the town |
| Post box, ClaraRegional rating (NIAH) · 100 m outside the town |
Since 2011, building in Clara has been slow: 3% of its homes, the norm is 5.8%
A full 15% of the homes in Clara went up between the wars, beyond the typical 3.9%. Building in Clara peaked in the 2000s: 32% of the homes now standing. Fewer of Clara’s homes than usual date from 1981 to 2000: 18%, against 24%.
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.
Clara and its neighbours
Clara in brief
Old houses are part of Clara’s character: 7.9% of its homes were built before 1919, against 3.4% in the typical town. All told, the list holds 52 places on the record. For its size, it has more recorded buildings than 81% of Irish towns of 2,500 or more. Most entries on the list, 52%, are homes.
Of the 52 with a date, 31 come from the 19th century. The oldest is Lisieux, from 1740. Otherwise the figures are ordinary: it has 52 recorded buildings, about typical for a town its size (the middle one has 11); and it also has 2 archaeological sites.
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 Clara’s history
How many historic buildings are recorded in Clara?
52 buildings on the National Inventory, from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
What is the oldest building in Clara?
House, Church Street, Chapel Lane, Clara: the first date on its record is 1730.
Are there archaeological sites in Clara?
Yes: the Sites and Monuments Record lists 2 archaeological sites inside Clara.
How old are the homes in Clara?
7.9% 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 (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).