coastguard station

Terraced single-bay two-storey former coastguard's house, built 1864, having flat-roofed side entry porch to front (north). Currently disused. Pitched slate roof with rendered chimneystack, limestone eaves course and cast-iron rainwater goods. Roughcast rendered walls with limestone plinth. Square-headed window openings with limestone sills, having bipartite timber framed window to first floor with four-over-four pane timber sliding sash windows. Window to ground floor blocked. Square-headed door opening to porch, having timber panelled door and limestone threshold. Rubble stone enclosing wall to front, having rendered square-profile gate piers, entrance blocked with timber panelling. Enclosed yard to rear (south) with rubble stone outbuilding and enclosing wall.

Forming part of a long terrace, which comprises the former coastguard station, this group has played a significant role in the local maritime heritage. Set overlooking the sea, close to the road, it is notable feature. The length of the terrace indicates the number of men who were required to man the station, the more substantial end houses indicate the higher status of the officers in charge, while the watch tower is a reminder of the surveillance and defensive function of the station. The coastguard was armed and so was a potential weapons source for insurgents. The coastguard was established in 1831 as part of the customs service and became part of the Admiralty in 1857. Built in the 1860s, this coastguard station forms one of a number which were built in Cork harbour to monitor the movements of foreign warships, enforce custom and excise, and implement British law in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.