Centre History - Cobh Great Island Community Centre

In 1994 a committee was formed in Cobh to provide a community centre for the area which would fulfill an obvious need and be a focal point for all age groups. Cobh Parish donated a site for the project. This site had housed a Youth Club – known as “The Boys’ Club’ – since the ‘fifties,
but the building had deteriorated over the years and part of it was declared unsafe in the early 1990’s. After Outline Planning was granted work began in preparing plans and in 1997, Planning Permission was granted. In 1998 fundraising began and people of Cobh showed fantastic support for the project within the community.As a result of discussions with Public Representatives, the Government allocated a grant of €450,000 in the Budget of December 2001 and in the meantime, Cork County Council and Cobh Town Council, together with Cobh Parish, pledged €76,184.28 each.

The concept of present steel-framed modern structure came about in 2004 as it was considered a more economical option. Planning Permission for this structure was granted in August 2004.

While the new structure is steel-framed, it retains some of the existing old stonework on the quoins, front porch and on the front boundary wall, retaining some history from “The Boys’ Club’ and making it an attractive building overall.