R&H Hall

Last Stand of R&H Hall

It’s not every day you get to capture a piece of Cork’s history before it disappears forever. The R&H Hall building is now gone, and even Google Maps have updated their streetview so this same view of Victoria Road is now quite different.

The R&H Hall grain silo towers, built in 1934 and 1954, stood at 33 metres tall and were visible from many parts of Cork, making them one of the city’s most recognisable industrial landmarks for over 80 years. Hopefully, the new developments going up there will be as impactful.

Aperture	ƒ/1.8
Camera	SM-G998B
Focal length	6.7mm
ISO	50
Shutter speed	1/1000s

Wisdom Visits Cork

In 2018, a ship called WISDOM visited Cork. Which is odd because this site says the ship was renamed, “Jasmine Scan”, in 2012. Apparently, it’s now called “WARTHOG” and bears a striking orange colour that’ll be hard to miss.

If you were ever nostalgic for the old R&H Hall building, it’s here too. Must be loads of photos of that place taken by loads of people over the years. I’d love to see some from when it was actually being used.

Aperture	ƒ/9
Camera	Canon EOS 6D
Focal length	28mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/80s

Kennedy Quay Panorama

A wide view of Kennedy Quay, going on to Albert Quay in Cork. Buildings are reflected in the River Lee and a green ship is seen docked on the quay. (1/3)

A wide view of Kennedy Quay, going on to Albert Quay in Cork. Buildings are reflected in the River Lee and a green ship is seen docked on the quay. (2/3)

A wide view of Kennedy Quay, going on to Albert Quay in Cork. Buildings are reflected in the River Lee and a green ship is seen docked on the quay. (3/3)

Kennedy Quay in Cork in February 2024 before the R&H Hall building was demolished. Look to the right, and you’ll see Albert Quay and the new buildings there. This whole area will look quite different in only a few years.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	32mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/25s

R&H Hall as it was

R&H Hall stands on Kennedy Quay before any demolition work took place. The flat area of the quay is visible in front.

At the start of February, this imposing building still stood on Kennedy Quay but now most of it is a pile of rubble.

Aperture	ƒ/3.5
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	24mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/250s

Rowing past the ships

A man in a solitary boat rows up a river past ships docked at the Quay. Buildings in the background are somewhat obscured by fog, and the "Port of Cork" sign is visible to the far right of the image.

On a quiet October morning in 2016, I travelled into town as I saw there was fog forecast, and I wasn’t disappointed. While I was photographing the boats lined up along Kennedy Quay, a single rower came up the river.

He quickly glided past my position along the river, but I grabbed a few photos, including R&H Hall, and a view of the Elysian that is somewhat blocked by further development over in that direction.

When I go back there again some morning in eight years time to photograph the fog, I’m sure the quay will be unrecognisable.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	Canon EOS 6D
Focal length	17mm
ISO	200
Shutter speed	1/80s

A man and the R&H Hall

A man looks out from a boat with the massive R&H Hall building in the background.

As we were photographing the R&H Hall building the other morning, Henry spotted a boat, the Simon Princess, sailing towards us. I thought the boat might pull in on the other side of the river, but no, it stopped just a few metres away.

As it passed slowly, I caught a nice photo of one of the crew looking out, with the R&H Hall building providing a nice background. A photo that will be impossible to replicate in 6 months time.

Aperture	ƒ/5.6
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	85mm
ISO	5000
Shutter speed	1/400s

The Kennedy Quay Skyline

The R&H Hall building in the centre of an image showing Kennedy Quay in Cork. A ship is docked on the quay. Southern Milling Ltd have a smaller building nearby and the old Odlums, red-bricked, building is visible to the far left.

Kennedy Quay this morning as the sun rose, with R&H Hall in the centre of the image, as this skyline will disappear in the next few months.

Note: the sky has been replaced. It was a very dull, overcast day. Hopefully, this is more pleasing to the eye. The old R&H Hall building has not been replaced, yet.

Aperture	ƒ/13
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	24mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/8s

R&H Hall in Cork City

The large R&H Hall building on Kennedy Quay in Cork. The back of the Welcome to Cork" sign is visible in the foreground. Other buildings and vehicles can be seen too, tiny in comparison.

The R&H Hall building looms over Kennedy Quay as seen from Michael Collins Bridge today. It’s going to be demolished this year, so if you want to record “what once was” on the site, get down there soonest!

This Irish Examiner article talks about the demolition, and includes this picture of what will replace it.

A view of the proposed development on Kennedy Quay showing the Rehabilitation Hospital at the junction with Victoria Road, the residential block, the three office buildings, including the new Silo building and the re-purposed Odlums building.

Aperture	ƒ/4.9
Camera	Galaxy S23 Ultra
Focal length	27.2mm
ISO	50
Shutter speed	1/160s

Ruins of the R&H Hall Office

A burnt out building surrounded by fencing.

The shell of the R&H Hall office in Cork Docklands today. It went up in flames on November 23rd, following a fire in the main R&H Hall building on November 10th.

An empty street with the burned out R&H Hall office and other buildings visible

It’s not the first time this block has been damaged by fire. In 2006, grain silos that stood next to this office were damaged by fire and subsequently demolished. Here are a few photos of this office in 2006 and the grain silos behind it.

R&H Hall office in 2006 surrounded by fire brigade staff

A cordoned off street because of a fire in a nearby building.
A sign says "GARDA ROAD CLOSED". The fire brigade are attending and smoke damage is visible in tall silos.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	ILCE-7M3
Focal length	24mm
ISO	3200
Shutter speed	1/125s

An Impossible View

Many of the buildings in this photo are now gone, replaced with imposing glass frontage, or in the case of The Sextant there’s nothing there but a car park.

Aperture	ƒ/8
Camera	Canon EOS 40D
Focal length	125mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/250s

Construction and before the Elysian

Site of the Elysian

I posted a version of the panorama before but this one was made in Lightroom and I think is better. The following images are from 2007 during the construction of the Elysian.

Aperture	ƒ/6.3
Camera	Canon EOS 20D
Focal length	18mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/100s

The huge bulk of R&H Hall can be seen for miles around, as telecoms companies noticed too when they planted their dishes and aerials on top of the building. It’s a prominent building in Cork Docklands, and surprisingly, I’ve only posted photos of it once before, when it was on fire 3 years ago.

I have to head down to the Docklands at some stage and photograph it again, apparently there are plans to redevelop it although I’m sure they’re up in the air given “the current financial climate” as they say.

Shot from in front of the Clarian with a nice long zoom.

Aperture	ƒ/5.6
Camera	Canon EOS 40D
Focal length	125mm
ISO	100
Shutter speed	1/200s