placenamesCrosshaven
Bun an Tábhairne
Crosshaven’s waterfront history connects small fishing craft, a major coastal fort, yacht clubs and a lifeboat station established in 2000.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Bun an Tábhairne · Irish · main form · validated name
- Crosshaven · English · main form
Place & story
Fishing and summer visitors
Samuel Lewis counted 513 inhabitants and about a hundred houses at Crosshaven in 1837. A coastguard station stood in the village, while nearby villas accommodated visitors coming for sea bathing. Fishing had already declined from an earlier peak: Lewis recorded only five small vessels remaining, sometimes carrying grain and coal. His account places leisure visitors beside a changing working waterfront, long before the village's later association with yacht marinas. [2]
Camden Fort Meagher
Camden Fort Meagher occupies a strategic site covering the entrance to Cork Harbour. Major construction began in 1861, and the fort later received a Brennan torpedo installation. It remained under British control as part of the Treaty Port defences until the handover on 11 July 1938. Cork County Council acquired the site in 1989. A community restoration campaign began in 2010, clearing overgrowth and reopening parts of the complex to visitors. The surviving fort thus combines several military phases with a more recent conservation effort. [3]
The yacht club’s move in 1966
The Royal Cork Yacht Club's origins in 1720 predate its residence at Crosshaven. Its own history records that the club moved here in 1966 when it merged with the Royal Munster Yacht Club, taking the title Royal Cork Yacht Club incorporating the Royal Munster Yacht Club. The date distinguishes an old institution from its later local home. Crosshaven became the setting for a sailing organisation whose earlier history had centred elsewhere in Cork Harbour. [4]
A lifeboat’s first service
Crosshaven's RNLI station developed after a local committee approached the institution in 1998. A lifeboat arrived for evaluation in April 2000. On 29 June, less than five minutes after the final call confirming operational service, the crew launched to assist a dinghy carrying three people. The RNLI's contemporary account records that unusually immediate beginning. It adds organised rescue to the village's many relationships with the harbour, alongside fishing, defence and recreational sailing. [5]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Town
- County
- Cork
- Barony
- Kerrycurrihy
- Civil parish
- Templebreedy
- Coordinates
- 51.80107, -8.29197
- Logainm ID
- 1416580 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Crosshaven. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Crosshaven: Samuel Lewis1837description · Samuel Lewis, reproduced by Crosshaven community website
- Camden Fort Meagher: History · Camden Fort Meagher
- Club History · Royal Cork Yacht Club
- New Kids on the Block, Lifeboat Magazine Summer2001 · RNLI
- Holy Trinity Church, Crosshaven, County Cork illustration: based on a Church of Ireland, Crosshaven by Hywel Williams. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-05-23. How this page was prepared.