Patrick Murphy and Sons

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Complex of three buildings (shop, store and out building), enclosing two yards on east side of Abbey Yard.

(1) SHOP EXTERIOR

Shop has a hipped fibre cement slate roof with terracotta ridges.

Walls to façade are lined render with raised render eaves course. A pair of large timber t+g doors is situated to centre of façade. The jambs and head are plain, but left jamb has the remains of stepped granite quoins (alternate ones raised). Walls above and around door are have traditional sign writing painted directly onto render. To either side of doorway, high in wall are single, tall exposed box 6/6 sliding sash windows (with horns). Each has plain render jambs, painted granite cills and five stepped, flat headed over sized, projecting ashlar granite voussoirs, with the centre keyblock projecting the most. Each window has an external t+g sheeted and braced shutter with original iron latches and hinges.

Right elevation walls are as façade with no openings. Left elevation is mostly obscured by the abutting store building. The remaining walls (at eaves level) are painted random rubble, with a corbelled eaves course of three bricks. Central course is of headers with pointed ends.

Rear elevation is painted random rubble, with an eaves course as left elevation. To left of centre is a single sheet metal door with metal grill over. To right is a narrow (landscape) fixed timber window with security bars over. The wall below this window is abutted to left by a low, rendered and painted modern shed. To extreme right, abutting this building and the store building is a modern rendered structure with a mono-pitched roof.

There is a large yard to rear enclosed by a random rubble wall. The inside walls are lined with modern semi-derelict sheds. Access is from a pair of t+g sheeted gates, with wicket gate and original iron furniture, set within two brick piers, on Courtney Hill.

(2) EXTERIOR OF STORE

Single storey structure, abutting left elevation of shop.

Roof is pitched with fibre cement slates and terracotta ridges. Cast metal sky light to left pitch. Rain water goods are leaded valleys with metal downpipe to right of front elevation.

Façade gable wall is lined cement render, its gable is uneven, with a longer pitch to right side. Offset to left are a pair of t+g doors within a t+g headed Gothic headed coach arch. The arch (with left jamb to left corner, has jambs and head of chamfered granite. Its left jamb is shared by a similar arch in the outbuilding return. (see later). Left and right elevations are party walls with outbuilding (left) and shop (right).

Rear wall is party wall with a small return. Return is flat roofed, cement rendered and has a single modern window to rear wall. Its right wall (as viewed from rear) abuts the adjacent outbuilding, its left cheek is plain.

(3) EXTERIOR OF OUTBUILDING

Outbuilding is two storey with right gable abutting the left elevation of the store building.

Its roof is pitched and sheeted in corrugated fibre cement with semicircular metal rainwater goods. Gabled return has an artificial slate roof which is hipped to front (Abbey yard) elevation.

Facade walls are painted random rubble. Most ground floor openings have been infilled with concrete blocks, except for following; ground floor left is a pedestrian way to the rear yard (access now blocked). To centre at ground floor is a pair of new t+g sheeted doors set within a semi-elliptical headed coach arch. To the left, between alley and doors is a low t+g sheeted door. At first floor there are six openings. From left to right; (1) narrow opening over alley (now sheeted in). (2) Sheeted loading door over ground floor door. (3) Square louvred opening, over wall between ground floor door and coach arch. (4) Narrow louvred opening over coach arch. (5) Sheeted loading door in wall to right of previous opening. (6) Small (now infilled) opening to extreme right.

Right gable is party wall with store. Left gable abuts the outbuilding to rear of nos. 7, 8 and 9 Abbey Yard (HB 16/28/55H).

Rear elevation is painted random rubble with alleyway opening to extreme right, and loading door to its left at first floor. To extreme left is a first floor loading door and the remainder of wall is blank and abutted by a long, derelict rendered concrete block shed.

Rear elevation fronts the rear yard.

The return (projecting from right of facade). Roof as outbuilding with hipped gable fronting Abbey Yard. Façade gable is painted, lined cement render. There is a pair of t+g timber sheeted doors set within a Gothic headed arch with chamfered granite jambs and head (to left of the store arch in facade).

Left elevation of return is rendered random rubble with raised render eaves course. Wall has a low segmental headed opening leading to a half height ground floor. At first floor is a t+g sheeted timber loading door with small t +g sheeted opening to left. The right section of the wall cants forward as a tall arch spanning to the opposite yard wall. Spandrel over the arch is random granite rubble. The internal wall (to right on entry from the doors in gable) has an infilled arch at ground floor (as before) and a single circular window at first floor.

Historical information

The Abbey Yard area was owned by the Corry family since the mid 18th century. No buildings are shown on this site (then at the bottom end of Boat St) on John Rocque’s map of this date. This building is probably of late 18th or early 19th century date and is described as a weigh house in the 1838 valuation. Noted in the 1863 valuation as a market house (“weight potatoes for about three months at 1d per day”). Continues in use as a market house until around 1913, when valuation entry changes to a store.

Primary Sources:
1. J. Rocque (1760), ‘Plan of the town of Newry’.
2. PRONI – VAL 1B/389, p.95 (1838 valuation).
3. PRONI- VAL 2B/3/69K, p.292 (1863 valuation).
4. PRONI- VAL 12E/125/1/19 (valuation map).
5. PRONI-VAL 12B/22/17B, p.171 (valuation revision).

Secondary sources:
1. T. Canavan (1989), ‘Frontier town: an illustrated history of Newry’, p.90 (Belfast: Blackstaff Press).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
V. Authorship

Evaluation

Complex of three buildings (shop, store and out building). The shop and adjacent store form an interesting commercial building which retains most original features to outside and some internal fittings. They alsoform part of the important grouping around Abbey Yard.