Old Linen Hall

Corner-sited attached four-bay two-storey former linen hall, built 1817, with chamfered bay to corner (south-west) and timber shopfront. Formerly in use as bakery, now disused. Hipped slate roof with rendered eaves course, chimneystack and cast-iron rainwater goods. Rendered walls throughout, having rendered platband to first floor. Square-headed window openings with rendered sills and timber casement windows throughout. Timber shopfront to ground floor comprising carved timber scroll consoles, flanking architrave, frieze with painted signage and stepped cornice. Square-headed window openings with fixed timber-framed display windows over rendered stall risers. Square-headed door opening to corner (south-west) with double-leaf timber battened doors and overlight.

The Earl of Shannon erected this spacious linen hall for the accommodation of dealers soon after 1800, when the linen industry in Clonakilty was flourishing, with six hundred weavers recorded in the town. The building retains much of its original form and character, which together with its corner siting, allow it to make a striking contribution to the streetscape.