Survey Data
Reg No
20854080
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social
Original Use
Shipyard/dockyard
Date
1830 - 1835
Coordinates
177063, 68549
Date Recorded
13/05/2009
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Dockyard, dated 1832, including: Attached three-bay double-height building with shopfront. Now disused. Roughcast walls. Square-headed door opening with rendered Classical doorcase, timber boarded door and overlight. Rendered shopfront (north). Infilled square-headed carriageway (south) with plaques embossed "QUEENSTOWN DRY DOCKS/SHIPBUILDING & ENGINEERING Co./LIMITED" and inscribed "ESTABLISHED/1832/NAMED BY OUR GRACIOUS QUEEN ON HER FIRST/VISIT TO IRELAND AUGUST 6TH 1849/ROYAL VICTORIA DOCK YARD".
Appraisal
This dockyard, established during the maritime boom in Cork, is an important component of the industrial heritage of Passage West. Shipbuilding was an important industry in the locality and, together with the dockyard in Cobh [Queenstown], was a significant source of employment for marine engineers. The "Cork Examiner" commented in 1932 that while, the closure of the dockyard was an economic disaster, the silencing of the hammers and screeching cranes made the area more attractive for its residents.