Following a series of catastrophic fires in protected structures in Cork, the Irish Georgian Society calls for a greater understanding of the importance of and threats to the city's architectural heritage:

Cork, Ireland's most significant trading city for many hundreds of years, has suffered greatly from the destruction of some of her most significant buildings- yesterday St. Kevin's and last year Vernon Mount and Fortwilliam House. Despite the extraordinary wealth of Cork's Georgian and Victorian architectural heritage much research remains to be carried out. When compared with our knowledge of the Fitzwilliam, Gardiner and Aungier estates, who built and commissioned many of Dublin city's squares, streets, terraces and great houses, we know little of Cork. The comparison might also hold true for Limerick, where knowledge of the Pery family's developments has helped to save them from some insensitive development. Cork County Council's recent publication A Guide to the Archaeological and Architectural Heritage Sources (available online) reveals that the number of architectural history sources for Cork city remains meagre, with some notable exceptions provided by Dagmar O'Riain, Frank Keohane, Jeremy Williams, Mary Leland and Colin Rynne among others.

It is the intention of the Irish Georgian Society to actively support research into the architectural history of Cork city so that its architectural heritage may be more valued and thereby more likely to be conserved for future generations. Volume XXI of Irish Architectural and Decorative Studies, The Journal of the Irish Georgian Society will be devoted to the architectural and landscape heritage of Cork city with this aim in mind.