Cork School of Art

Throughout the nineteenth century, many talented people were associated with the School of Art, or, as it later became, the Crawford School of Art. Its founder William Horatio Crawford, (1815-1888) gave generous support for an important extension to the school in 1884 and it was thus to bear his family name. Its early Head was James Brenan, who held the post from 1860-1889.

Its original location had been intended for the Cork Old Custom House, (built in 1724) and would include a School of Art and Science. Today the wrought-iron gates at the entrance to the present Crawford Art Gallery do bear the inscriptions 'Art' and 'Science'. Eventually, the proposal was scaled down and the building which now stands on Emmet Place was formally titled the Crawford School of Art. Today, the School of Art continues to flourish although it is no longer located in the Old Custom House, having been transferred to the former Technical School on Sharman Crawford Street in 1979. Now titled the Crawford College of Art and Design, it remains after the National College of Art & Design in Dublin the most famous art college in the Republic of Ireland.