In terms of Famine heritage, Skibbereen is almost certainly one of the most important towns in Ireland. Many buildings and areas in the town have a link to the Great Irish Famine (1845-52) and because so much was written and documented about that time in Skibbereen, we know a lot about these sites. In January […]

A recent visitor to our exhibitions, David Charles Hutchins, came to Skibbereen because his two grandfathers once both had businesses in the town. And what a fascinating story he had to tell! One of his grandfathers, Walter Charles Kindred, first came to Skibbereen to work as a chauffeur for Captain Morgan of Hollybrook House.   […]

On this day, 14 October 1800, the sculptor John Hogan was born in Tallow, Co Waterford. John Hogan was Ireland’s most noted neoclassical sculptor, a very gifted man. In Skibbereen we’re lucky to have a work of art by Hogan in St Patrick’s Cathedral, a piece sculpted most likely in 1833. The marble relief, dedicated […]

On Wednesday, 4 October 1944, Micheál O’Sullivan, then a medical student at University College Cork, delivered a lecture in the Town Hall, Skibbereen, under the auspices of the Skibbereen Historical and Archaeological Society. The lecture, delivered in Irish and English, was on the life of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa and especially his association with the Fenian […]

It is always nice to receive a present of a book. Even nicer, in our case, when that book is on history, and even better again when that book has a strong Cork connection in the narrative. I was recently given a copy of ‘A Diary and History of 1914-1918 World War 1: Four brothers […]

EXTRAORDINARY PUBLICATIONS BY ‘SKIBBEREEN’S MAGNIFICENT SEVEN’ At Skibbereen Heritage Centre we get people calling in all the time looking for information on our two exhibitions – the Great Irish Famine and Lough Hyne. We also get any number of enquiries on topics ranging from genealogy, the history of this area, queries on graveyards, people trying […]

We were delighted to join in the celebrations at the official opening of the new Spearline premises in the former St Fachtna’s De La Salle School building today. Skibbereen Heritage Centre manager, Terri Kearney gave a brief history of this iconic Skibbereen building at the official opening where the keynote speaker was Irish ambassador to […]

The best version of the song ‘Dear Old Skibbereen’ by our reckoning is the one recorded by Derry Moynihan which forms part of the Famine exhibition at Skibbereen Heritage Centre. Now, we would say that, wouldn’t we? Well, yes, we would. No two people sing ‘Skibbereen’ the same, Derry’s version is very beautiful and poignant, […]

Following their tour of the Famine exhibition at Skibbereen Heritage Centre, many visitors make their way to Abbeystrowry burial ground, the site of one of the most poignant and significant Famine memorials in Ireland. This is the location of the infamous ‘pits’ or mass graves where possibly between 8,000 and 10,000 Famine victims were buried […]

The second year of the excavation of the McCarthy home by the staff and students from the University of Maryland is coming to an end and and it’s been a fascinating process. We already told the story of last year’s excavation so we thought we’d give a round up of this year’s findings too. The […]

This online archive/book now complete – FULL DETAILS HERE The ‘Stories of the Revolution’ is a school history and folklore project run by Skibbereen Heritage Centre.  Now in its third year, this very popular project invites primary school children from around West Cork  to collect stories relating to the 1916-1923 revolutionary period from their own […]