2 Ann Street ('Selma's')

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Relatively plain, two storey terrace shop with apartment and carriage archway, possibly dating from c.1840. The property is set on the NW side of Ann Street in the centre of Ballycastle.

The asymmetrical front elevation faces SE. To the centre and right is a recently renovated shop front with ‘period’ style timber pilasters, signboard etc. encasing a centrally positioned recessed modern glazed shop door and large flanking modern windows as well as a panelled door (to right- leading to the apartment) with rectangular fanlight. To the left of the shop front ensemble is a segmental-headed carriage archway with timber doorway. To the first floor are three unevenly spaced plain sash windows. The front elevation is finished in painted render.

The writers did not have full access to the rear. To the far left of the rear elevation there is a large two storey gabled return which to SW merges with a large single storey flat-roofed extension. This whole ensemble, as well as the rear façade of the main building is finished in painted roughcast. To the exposed SW face of the return (i.e. the first floor level) there are what appear to be two windows with modern frames, whilst to the SW face of the extension there is a doorway. To the ground floor of the (NW facing) gable of the return there is a window with modern frame. To the rear (NW facing) façade of the main building there are two widely-spaced first floor windows, both with modern frames. The window to left appears to have been enlarged.

The gabled roofs of the main building and the return are both covered in asbestos ‘slates’ with a rendered chimney stack to the SW of centre of ridge of main roof. The rw goods appear to be metal.

Historical information

The OS map of 1832 appears to show this portion of Ann Street developed at that stage. However the property recorded on this general site in the valuation of 1834 does not appear to match the dimensions of the present exactly and later annotations suggest that the building that did occupy this site was demolished some time after this date.

The 1859 valuation does record a building as that we see today, then in the hands of a Nehemiah McCaughan (or McCahan) and containing a ‘shop [and] back kitchen, a room over in the rear, 4 rooms above and garret’. McCaughan (who is listed in Slater’s 1856 directory under ‘ironmongers and hardwaremen’ was followed as resident by Anthony McAuley in 1870 and James McDonnell in 1874. In 1876 a Nehemiah McCaughan is recorded as the occupant once again, with a Mary Magill following in 1879, Mary Russell in 1887, Daniel Cairns 1898, Mary Black 1899, Hugh Doran 1918, Daniel [?]Bracey 1919, James Bakewell 1921, Samuel McCausland c.1932, John McCasusland 1944 and J. Hamilton 1948-57+.

[*Note on primary sources- Though Ballycastle has its full compliment of valuation books dating back to 1834, the earliest extant valuation plan of the town (indeed the earliest large scale plan) is that dating from 1898. This means that though the first and second valuations (of 1834 and 1859 respectively) present the usual detailed accounts of properties throughout the town, bereft of their contemporary plans it is almost impossible to discover exactly to which buildings the valuers are referring. The writer has circumvented this problem however by adopting the somewhat involved method of reading the records backwards- i.e. taking the more recent (mid 20th century) valuations and tracing each building back from these, using the 1898 map as a marker along the way.]

References- Primary sources
1 ‘Pigot & Co’s City of Dublin and Hibernian Commercial Directory (Manchester 1824)
2 OS Memoirs, Parish of Ramoan, 1831-39, reprinted in ‘Ordnance Survey memoirs of Ireland…’ ed Angelique Day, Patrick McWilliams and Noirin Dobson (Belfast, QUB, 1994), p.92 etc
3 PRONI OS/6/1/8/1 OS map, Co Antrim, sh 8, 1832
4 PRONI VAL/1B/135 First valuation, Ramoan parish, 1834
5 Samuel Lewis, ‘Topographical history of Ireland’ (London, 1837)
6 ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1846)
7 ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1856)
8 PRONI OS/6/1/8/2 OS map, Co Antrim, sh 8, 1856
9 PRONI VAL/2B/1/28c Second valuation, Ramoan parish, 1859
10 PRONI VAL/12B/2/3a-g Annual valuation revision books, Ballycastle ED, 1864-1921
11 ‘Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1870)
12 PRONI VAL/12E/8/1/1-3 Valuation plan of Ballycastle, 1898-c.1935
13 PRONI VAL/12E/8/2/1 Valuation plan of Ballycastle, c.1905
14 PRONI VAL/12B/2/5a-c Annual valuation revision books, Ballycastle UD, 1921-31
15 PRONI VAL/3G/6/1/1-3 Valuation plan of Ballycastle, 1934-50
16 PRONI VAL/3B/1/5 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Ballycastle UD, 1935
17 PRONI VAL/3C/1/6 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, 1936-57
18 Information supplied by the owner (May 2003)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Relatively plain, two storey terrace shop with apartment and carriage archway, possibly dating from c.1840 but with shop front altered in recent years. Of value to the streetscape but not of special architectural or historic interest