Orientation
Coming from Cork City, the Yacht Club is passed on the left and the Grand Hotel on the right. Most of the shops, pubs and restaurants are on Lower Road and The Square, from which two roads lead to the beaches at Graball and Church Bay. Another road leads from behind The Grand Hotel to the beaches at Myrtleville, Fennel's Bay and Fountainstown.
History
Originally a Viking settlement, Crosshaven eeked out an existence as a fishing village until the 18th century when it became a British garrison town. Crosshaven House, formerly the residence of the local Squires, The Hayes Family was built in the same period.
In the late 19th century a convent and school were built, along with the Catholic and Anglican churches, and the Grand Hotel.
In the early 20th century, tourism became important to the town's economy with the arrival of the train and the new fashion for visiting beaches. Around this time the Majorca Ballroom was built.
In 1938 the British left Crosshaven and control of the forts passed to the Free State Army. After the war the train service was discontinued and though the spread of private cars brought other destinations to within reach of Cork residents, the town remained popular with tourists.
In 1966, The Royal Cork Yacht Club, which claims to be the oldest in the World, having been established in Cobh in 1720, moved across the harbour to Crosshaven. Around the same time, the "Slobland", an area of silt in front of Crosshaven house was filled in to become a car park.
In the 1970s and 2000s Crosshaven experienced two construction booms which caused a massive increase in population. The even more explosive growth in the population of Carrigaline, 8km closer to Cork City, inhibited its growth as a commercial centre.
Crosshaven has a reputation for being bourgeois, partly as a result of the presence of the Yacht Club, but in reality has a fairly broad population demographic.