Cork Past and Present

Cork Past and Present | Corcaigh Inné is Inniu

The Cork Past and Present website is an online Local Studies service provided by Cork City Libraries. The service first launched in 2004 and focuses on Cork City and its surrounding areas, providing free access to our digital collections including photographs, maps, drawings, and texts. 

In 2018 technical issues with the original website led us to explore solutions that would ensure the long-term preservation and accessibility of our digital collections. After a period offline, we were delighted to reintroduce Cork Past and Present in 2021 on a new platform. Local Studies collections available to browse on the site comprise Genealogy, Maps, Images, Street Directories, Goad Plans of Cork City and Texts. The texts include Crofton Croker Correspondence and Ye Mayoral Booke of Thomas Pembrock 1733.  

The collections are organised in such a way as to bring a better user experience, on a more updated platform. All items are available to browse and search.  

In 2025 we launched the second phase of the redevelopment our Cork Past and Present service, with the addition of the Cork Music and Performing Arts Archive. Initial collections in this section of the website comprise Aloys Fleischmann Senior, Aloys Fleischmann Junior, Tilly Fleischmann, Joan Denise Moriarty and Cork International Choral Festival.

Thank you for your patience during the downtime while we were redesigning the website. We will continue to build on the collections with a focus on refining and enriching both the collections and the user experience.