Parte 34 - Crawford School of Art, Cork

For biographical information on Somhairle McCann (1901-1975) see https://www.dib.ie/biography/mac-cana-somhairle-soirle-a5116

The Crawford building is historic, originally built in 1724 as Cork’s Custom House. In 1830 the Custom House building was given to the Royal Cork Institution which opened a school of design on the site in 1850. A substantial extension was added in 1884, providing purpose-built galleries for exhibiting paintings and sculptures. The extension was funded at the expense of William Horatio Crawford (1815-1888), a local businessman, brewer, philanthropist, and art collector. The school was renamed the Crawford School of Art in his honour in 1885. In 1979 the college of art was transferred to a different location in the city and since then the Crawford building has been used primarily as a public gallery and museum.