34 WATER ST.

The Department's description

Historical information

A building which appears to cover much the combined sites of the present nos.30-34 is shown on the OS map of 1834. In the first valuation of the following year this is recorded as a ‘not new’ single-storey thatched house in the hands of William Sarsfield, measuring 44ft x 14½ x 7, with ‘offices’ (i.e. outbuildings) of 14 x 14½ x 7 and 11 x 13 x 5½, with the entire property valued for rateable purposes at £3-18-0.

A terrace of three houses, minus the single-storey section to the north end, appears on the revised OS map of 1860. In the valuation of 1861, that one the site of the current no.34 is recorded as the home of Margaret McVeagh, held under lease from Lady Florence Balfour, (of nearby Fairy Hill), which she in turn held from the Ross estate. Measuring 7yds x 5½ x 1, the house is described as a ’neat cottage but roof in bad order’; the roof itself was thatched, and the building is graded as ‘not new’ so it is possible that this house and the rest of the terrace had been created out of the pre-1834 structure.

William Mullen is named as tenant from 1872, and Patrick Owens from 1874. In the same year the valuation of the whole terrace was increased, with this particular dwelling raised from £1-15-0 to £3-10-0, suggesting that the one and a half-storey picturesque row we see it today came into being at this point; these dwellings may incorporate some of the fabric of their predecessors, but this is not certain.

Patrick Owens was succeeded by Charles Grant in 1883, who was followed by John Dowd in 1893. In the 1901 census Mr. Dowd is recorded as a 54yr-old gardener, who was occupying the house with his wife, Annie, and their four daughters, with the house itself noted as ‘2nd class’ dwelling with four rooms in use by the family. William Dowd is noted as the tenant in 1927, Annie Dowd by 1936, with Emma Maguire resident from 1966 until at least 1972.

Map evidence shows that a small extension (possibly a shed) was added to the rear of the house some time between 1902 and 1919, with a larger addition put in place in the period between 1950 and 1979. This was replaced by a larger extension post-1979.

WATER STREET The L-shaped Water Street is depicted with an approximately similar extent of development as today on the OS map of 1834. The Rostrevor Conservation booklet of 1979 identifies the street as the town’s earliest place of settlement; however, it is not indicated on any map prior to that of 1834. It appears more likely that the that the Bridge Street - Mary Street crossroads was the original nucleus of the town, with Water Street developing off the former at the end of the 18th / beginning of the 19th century when Rostrevor began to develop as a popular resort for the gentry. Referred to as ‘The Back Lane’, the OS Memoirs of 1836 provides perhaps the earliest description of the street, describing it as running ‘at right angles to the main street, a little above the church in a south easterly direction to the Rostrevor or Kilbroney River’ and linking to ‘the lower end of Post Office Street by a short street on the northern side of the river. It is 155 yards long and 300 feet broad. The houses and cottages in this lane are in good order. On the communication between the Back Lane and Post Office Street are 3 good private houses’. These three properties are still in place - nos.31, 33 and 37 (see HB16.06.29, 30 and 31)

References - Primary sources
1 OS map, Co. Down sheet 54, 1834
2 PRONI VAL1B/361 (1835-36)
3 Day, Angelique and McWilliams, Patrick ed. ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland…vol.3’ (QUB, 1990), p.33 (1835-36)
4 OS map, Co. Down sheet 54, 1860
5 VAL2B/3/61C (1861)
6 PRONI VAL12B/19/21A-F (1865-1929)
7 Census of Ireland, 1901, 1911 [http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie, accessed 2020.05.19]
8 OS map, Co. Down sheet 54, 1902
9 OS map, Co. Down sheet 54, 1919
10 PRONI VAL3C/4/23, 1936-57
11 OS map, Co. Down sheet 54, 1950
12 PRONI VAL4B/3/81, 1956-72
13 OS map, sheet 277, 1979