First Trust Bank

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two and a half storey terraced bank premises with rendered façade, modern bank ‘shop’ front and gabled dormers, formerly a dwelling house of pre 1834 construction which assumed much of its present appearance in 1908 when the dormers were added and the rear return extended. The property is set on the NW side of Ann Street in the centre of Ballycastle.

The asymmetrical front elevation faces roughly SE. To the ground floor is a large modern shop front to left of this is a single plain sash window- the latter appears to have replaced a shop front which originally belonged to no.32, however the upper floors (and the gateway to left of the window) still belong to no.32. To the first floor are two plain sash windows with moulded surrounds. Above this are two gabled half-dormers with segmental headed plain sash windows with surrounds as before. Directly under the cills of these windows is a gutter course. The front elevation is finished in painted lined render. Moulded eaves course.

The ground floor of the rear elevation is almost totally covered by a very large modern single storey flat roofed extension. Only a small portion of the ground floor of the façade of the main building is still exposed (to far right) and here there is a window with modern frame. To the first floor there is a window to left with modern frame, to right of this extends the gabled return. To the upper most floor left is a plain sash window set within a gabled half-dormer. To the uppermost floor of the gable of the return there is another plain sash window. To the ground floor of the SW face of the return there is a metal sheeted door and a window at first floor level. The door leads to a metal fire escape stair. The rear elevation is finished in painted render.

The gabled roof is slated with a rendered chimney stack. Metal rw goods to front, metal and PVC to rear

Historical information

The external appearance of this property, with its gabled half-dormers suggests it was built in the very late 1800s or early 1900s and an entry in the valuers notebook for 1908 states that the dwelling house on this site was ‘rebuilt’ in this year. However, the valuers frequently use the word ‘rebuilt’ to denote a remodelling or major renovation and, given the survival of what appears to be early 19th century internal detailing and rubble stone walls, it seems that this property was not constructed in 1908 but remodelled, assuming much of its present external appearance at that date.

The building (in its original form) is recorded in the valuation of 1834* as the relatively old (grade ‘1B-’- perhaps c.1800) dwelling house with single storey return, in the hands of a William Weir. By 1859 it was occupied by a Catherine McKeever, who was followed by a Rev Patrick McAllister (c.1870-80), Jane Miller (1880-83), Alexander McHenry (1883-91), George Simms (1891-93), Robert Halligan (1893-97), John McBride (1897-1904), Jane McMichael (1904-08) and John Williamson (1908-26). Williamson appears to have been responsible for the remodelling of the façade and the rebuilding of the return on a larger scale. The next resident was a Clara Boyd (1926-41), then Marion Boyd (1941-45), [?Mr] Smith (1945-48) and Agnes Downey (1948-57+).

The property appears to have been converted to a bank c.1980s (taking in much of the ground floor of the property to SW [no.32] in the process).

[*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

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Two and a half storey terraced bank premises with rendered façade, modern bank ‘shop’ front and gabled dormers, formerly a dwelling house of pre 1834 construction which assumed much of its present appearance in 1908 when the dormers were added and the rear return extended. The modern bank front devalues what is otherwise a relatively well preserved front elevation.