The Physical Development of Cobh/Queenstown during the Potato Famine and After

8 March: Dr Tom Spalding

As part of the Friends Spring Lecture Series 2024

No booking required but places are limited so arrive early to avoid disappointment.
Friends €5 | General Public €8 | Students go free with a valid I.D.

An Cóbh is synonymous with the Famine as a port of last resort to tens of thousands of Irish people fleeing deprivation in search of a better life in Britain and further afield. At the same time, there was a small but important group of people making journeys to the town in the opposite direction. This talk will illustrate some of the far-reaching developments which occured in An Cóbh and the lower harbour between 1840 and 1860 and which changed its design and appearance for ever. The cast of characters includes Anglo-Irish landlords, local property speculators and builders and British elite architects. The talk will argue that the Famine is something that happened more through Cove (as it was) than to it, and that by looking at the designed environment we can start to understand the town in a more nuanced way beyond the doom laden emigration-Titanic-Luisitania triangle.

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