Historic Cork Reading Room

Step into a quiet corner of Cork’s past at Civic Trust House. Our Historic Cork Reading Room is a drop-in event featuring a small but thoughtful selection of books, maps and writings about the city—treasures like the Irish Historic Towns Atlas for Cork, As Others Saw Us: Cork Through European Eyes, and books by design historian Tom Spalding.

Enjoy a free cup of tea or coffee in a nearby space, then take your time browsing the reading tables and chatting with others about the city’s changing landscape, forgotten stories, and favourite places. To protect the materials, we kindly ask visitors to keep refreshments away from the books.

You’re also warmly invited to bring along a book, map, or memory of Cork to share at our "Visitors' Table"—a space for communal curiosity and conversation.

Whether you’re a lifelong Corkonian or visiting the city for the first time, we welcome you to sit, read, reflect, and connect.