{"id":59892,"date":"2014-10-01T00:05:13","date_gmt":"2014-09-30T23:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/?post_type=building-otm&p=59892"},"modified":"2025-08-27T17:37:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T16:37:24","slug":"roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork","status":"publish","type":"building-otm","link":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/","title":{"rendered":"Roches Stores, Saint Patrick’s Street, Cork, County Cork"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Figure 1: Roches Stores, Saint Patrick’s Street, Cork.\u00a0 The destruction of large swathes of Saint Patrick’s Street in the Burning of Cork (11th-12th December 1920) was the catalyst for a programme of reconstruction which gave the city’s main thoroughfare an unprecedentedly grand air.\u00a0 Roches Stores, designed by Chillingworth & Levie and the largest of the rebuilt sites, is distinguished by its extended glazed shopfront, Classical breakfront and copper-covered dome.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The fire that engulfed nearly five acres of Cork on the night of 11th<\/sup>-12th<\/sup> December 1920 left a trail of debris and ruin in the city.\u00a0 Amidst the turmoil of the years of 1921 and 1923 Saint Patrick’s Street traders sought, and successfully achieved, compensation for the loss of their premises and stock.\u00a0 Chief amongst that group was William Roche (d. 1939) who had developed his business from a small warehouse premises in 29-32 Merchant Street in 1900 to take over the London House at 15 Saint Patrick’s Street at the time of the War of Independence (1919-21).<\/p>\n

The reconstruction of Saint Patrick’s Street included eight large shops which were rebuilt between 1924 and 1928.\u00a0 All of the main architectural firms in the city involved.\u00a0 The reconstruction was not developed according to a single master plan but the designs for each shop had to be approved by the Corporation.\u00a0 A project to redesign the junction of Saint Patrick’s Street and Winthrop Street was included in the new building line.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Figure 2: A sketch of the front elevation from the Chillingworth & Levie Collection at Cork City and County Archives.\u00a0 Discrepancies between the sketch and the finished building include what appear to be gabled or pedimented camber-headed window openings on the upper floors; the shallow triangular pediment over the entrance which gave way to a dentilated open bed pediment; and the saucer dome on panelled base which was built as a chamfered rectangular dome.\u00a0 \u00a9 Cork City and County Archives, ref.: ARC1\/537<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Roches Stores<\/a> (1924-5), designed by Chillingworth & Levie of 11 South Mall, was the largest of the new shops, the premises amalgamating the plots of four buildings destroyed in the Burning of Cork (figs. 1-2<\/em>)<\/strong>.\u00a0 In addition to its commercial space, the new building housed government offices in its upper floors.\u00a0 The front elevation is nine bays wide with a pedimented central breakfront and two canted half-bays at either end.\u00a0 Chillingworth & Levie used a generic Classical style based upon a palatial elevation comprising a ground floor, two tiers of upper floors and an attic storey.\u00a0 The elevation is centred on a pedimented niche decorated with a collection of loose Classical references, typical of the transitional period before historical styles gave way to the Modern Movement and common for this type of commercial architecture.\u00a0 The outstanding feature of the building is its copper-covered dome (fig. 3<\/em>)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Figure 3: A view of the copper-covered dome that has become a landmark on the city skyline.\u00a0 Raised lettering perpetuates the memory of the now-defunct Roches Stores.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The general influence of the designs of Harrods (1905-12) and Selfridge and Company (1909) in London may be seen in the vertical divisions of the elevation and the dome respectively.\u00a0 A single shopfront, originally divided by brass mullions, also reflected the impact of the great London department stores and featured in other reconstructions in Saint Patrick’s Street.\u00a0 Inside the shop, a central light well was used for illuminate the display of goods.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Figure 4: A drawing from the Chillingworth & Levie Collection titled “Roches Stores Detail of Porch” showing proposals for the doors emblazoned with the Roches Stores monogram, the floor paved with “plain 14 [inch] tiles” and the ceiling with its oval centrepiece.\u00a0 \u00a9 Cork City and County Archives, ref.: ARC1\/468<\/figcaption><\/figure>The aspirations of the proprietor are seen not only in the scale of the building and its dome, but also in the sourcing of shop fittings from some of the best British shop fitting firms of the day (fig. 4<\/em>)<\/strong>.\u00a0 These included Frederick Sage and Company, London, for iron grilles and marble tiling; Walter McFarlane and Company, Glasgow, for steel windows (both firms had supplied fittings for the construction of Harrods); and the Marble and Mosaic Company, London, for “imperator” terrazzo<\/em> flooring.\u00a0 The collection held by the Cork City and County Archives includes specifications from these companies and many other details that highlight the level of craftsmanship that was involved in pre-World War II department store building.\u00a0 These were finished largely in brass, bronze, cast-iron and hardwoods before the advent of plastics.<\/p>\n

Of the eight shops rebuilt, only Roches Stores and Alex Grant and Company<\/a> (1923) by J.F. McMullen and Son were completed in plaster.\u00a0 The other shops used limestone with Henry Hill’s Cash and Company<\/a> (1924-5) being the most notable example.\u00a0 Chillingworth & Levie also designed O’Regan and Company<\/a> (1921) at 26 Saint Patrick’s Street; 33-34 Saint Patrick’s Street<\/a>; and the Winthrop Arcade<\/a> (1924-6).<\/p>\n

While the Burning of Cork was a hugely traumatic event which resulted in significant economic hardship, the ensuing reconstruction of much of Saint Patrick’s Street gave a facelift to the city’s main thoroughfare.\u00a0 It was an opportunity to smarten up some of Cork’s finest stores and created a legacy of retail architecture from the early part of the twentieth century.<\/p>\n

Louise M. Harrington is an architectural and landscape historian and curated the Chillingworth & Levie: 20th<\/sup> Century Architecture in Cork Exhibition at Cork City and County Archives<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":59894,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"county":[],"class_list":["post-59892","building-otm","type-building-otm","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRoches Stores, Saint Patrick's Street, Cork, County Cork - Buildings of Ireland<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Roches Stores, Saint Patrick's Street, Cork, County Cork - Buildings of Ireland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The fire that engulfed nearly five acres of Cork on the night of 11th-12th December 1920 left a trail of debris and ruin in the city.\u00a0 Amidst the turmoil of the years of 1921 and 1923 Saint Patrick’s Street traders sought, and successfully achieved, compensation for the loss of their premises and stock.\u00a0 Chief amongst\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Buildings of Ireland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-27T16:37:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Roches-Stores-Cork-01-Representative-View-1200x902.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"902\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/\",\"name\":\"Roches Stores, Saint Patrick's Street, Cork, County Cork - Buildings of Ireland\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Roches-Stores-Cork-01-Representative-View.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-30T23:05:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-27T16:37:24+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Roches-Stores-Cork-01-Representative-View.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Roches-Stores-Cork-01-Representative-View.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1504},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Roches Stores, Saint Patrick’s Street, Cork, County Cork\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/\",\"name\":\"National Inventory of Architectural Heritage\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/#organization\",\"name\":\"National Inventory of Architectural Heritage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/app\/uploads\/2019\/10\/niah-black.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/app\/uploads\/2019\/10\/niah-black.jpg\",\"width\":457,\"height\":69,\"caption\":\"National Inventory of Architectural Heritage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Roches Stores, Saint Patrick's Street, Cork, County Cork - Buildings of Ireland","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/","og_locale":"ga_IE","og_type":"article","og_title":"Roches Stores, Saint Patrick's Street, Cork, County Cork - Buildings of Ireland","og_description":"The fire that engulfed nearly five acres of Cork on the night of 11th-12th December 1920 left a trail of debris and ruin in the city.\u00a0 Amidst the turmoil of the years of 1921 and 1923 Saint Patrick’s Street traders sought, and successfully achieved, compensation for the loss of their premises and stock.\u00a0 Chief amongst","og_url":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/","og_site_name":"Buildings of Ireland","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/","article_modified_time":"2025-08-27T16:37:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":902,"url":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Roches-Stores-Cork-01-Representative-View-1200x902.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/","url":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/","name":"Roches Stores, Saint Patrick's Street, Cork, County Cork - Buildings of Ireland","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Roches-Stores-Cork-01-Representative-View.jpg","datePublished":"2014-09-30T23:05:13+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-27T16:37:24+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"ga-IE","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ga-IE","@id":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Roches-Stores-Cork-01-Representative-View.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Roches-Stores-Cork-01-Representative-View.jpg","width":2000,"height":1504},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/building-of-the-month\/roches-stores-saint-patricks-street-cork-county-cork\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Roches Stores, Saint Patrick’s Street, Cork, County Cork"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/","name":"National Inventory of Architectural Heritage","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"ga-IE"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/#organization","name":"National Inventory of Architectural Heritage","url":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ga-IE","@id":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/app\/uploads\/2019\/10\/niah-black.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/app\/uploads\/2019\/10\/niah-black.jpg","width":457,"height":69,"caption":"National Inventory of Architectural Heritage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/building-otm\/59892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/building-otm"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/building-otm"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/building-otm\/59892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59903,"href":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/building-otm\/59892\/revisions\/59903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"county","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buildingsofireland.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/county?post=59892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}