91 Newry Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A mid-terrace two-storey two-bay commercial premises; built c.1820 and located to the west side of Newry Street in Banbridge town centre. Square on plan with two-storey return to rear.

Pitched artificial slate roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles and rendered chimneystack. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on projecting eaves. Walling is painted smooth render. Windows are replacement timber casements in moulded architraves with painted projecting sills; modern plate-glass window to ground floor.

The principal elevation faces east and has two windows to first floor. Modern shop-front to ground floor with plate-glass window and door at left.

The south gable is abutted by adjoining building (HB17/06/014C).

The west (rear) elevation has a window to first floor left; abutted at right by the two-storey return.

The north gable is abutted by adjoining building (HB17/06/014A).

Setting:

Prominently sited along a major thoroughfare in the centre of the town, directly north of The Downshire Arms Hotel (HB17/06/15). Two-storey rubble-stone building to rear with red-brick dressings.

Roof: Artificial slate
Walling: Smooth render
Windows: Replacement timber casements
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The current shop and dwelling is part of a terrace that was originally constructed before 1833, but has been remodelled over the years, notably in 1905. The double-height outbuilding to the rear originally overlooked a linen market which was sited to the rear of the terrace.

Buildings are shown on the site on the first edition OS map of 1833. Although the terrace has clearly been remodelled in the ensuing years, it is likely that it is built around an earlier core, possibly contemporary with the neighbouring early nineteenth-century Downshire Arms Hotel. By the 1830s one of the houses was in use as the post office and the terrace may indeed have been built for that purpose, located as it is beside a posting inn. The first edition (1833) shows outbuildings and a courtyard to the rear of the terrace which were once used as a linen market and later became gardens for the current buildings.

The terrace was originally divided into two houses, rather than three, the present numbers 91 and 93 forming a single house and post-office belonging to Margaret Mitchell and her daughter, also called Margaret Mitchell. Mitchell was the post-mistress from at least 1831 and was accustomed to rise daily at 5 o’clock to sort the mail. In April 1831, the Belfast Newsletter carried a report that the post-office had been broken into. A disgruntled former employee had scaled a wall to the rear of the property and made away with some silver but was later captured and brought to trial. The Townland Valuation of 1828-40 lists the house/post-office belonging to Mitchell at a valuation of £16. The smaller adjoining dwelling is let to John Hibbit and is valued at £6.16s. Dimensions are given for the two buildings which suggest that the post-office breakfront projected six inches forward of the adjoining dwelling in the same manner as it does today.

With Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) the terrace begins to be listed as three separate buildings. Numbers 91 and 93 are both occupied by Margaret Mitchell, although part of number 91 is let to solicitor Hugh Glass as an office. Number 93 was the post office and all the buildings in the terrace are described as ‘plastered and stone finished’. The post office is valued at £15 and the attorney’s office at £11, while the adjoining, smaller house which was then vacant, is valued at £9. Dimensions are given for the buildings and double-height outbuildings to the rear. It is noted that new, single-storey outbuildings have been constructed for the post office.

The first post office, with mail being carried by stage coach, was established in Banbridge in the 1780s with Robert Harrison as the postmaster. In 1801 Mr Harrison was followed by the first postmistress Anne Tierce whose successor in 1811 was Mr William Merron. Merron was postmaster until c1830 and the present building is thought to have served as the post office during this period. Mr Merron is said to have been convicted and sentenced to death for a political offence. His life was saved by his wife who sent a petition to King George III, which resulted in a full pardon being granted her husband and his appointment to Banbridge Post Office. (Banbridge Chronicle)

Miss Margaret Mitchell, a subsequent holder of the post, was sister of the celebrated Young Irelander, John Mitchel who received a sentence of fourteen years transportation in 1848. Mitchel trained as a lawyer and had a successful practice in Banbridge, but his clashes with magistrates made him increasingly aware of the injustices suffered by local catholics and increased his nationalist sympathies. (Dictionary of Irish Biography; Banbridge Chronicle)

Miss Margaret Mitchell held office until December 1873 when she retired on a superannuation allowance. (Banbridge Chronicle ) Hugh Glass remained in the solicitor’s office until 1871 when number 91 was added into the valuation of the post office, the two buildings valued together at £26. The Post Office moved to Bridge Street in the 1870s and in 1897 numbers 91 and 93 were taken over by Robert Irwin, who improved the houses and they were separately valued from this point onwards. Robert Irwin occupied number 91, valued at £13 and Sarah J Gribben leased the other, valued at £16.10s from Robert Irwin. A valuer’s notebook of the period gives a plan and dimensions for the two tenements and their associated outbuildings. Rent for number 91 is £18 and for number 93 £22. There is a common yard immediately behind the terrace and beyond the yard a garden which belongs to number 91 and occupies a space formerly used as a linen market.

The 1901 census lists the buildings as private houses. Resident at number 93 is Patrick Gribbin, a 61-year-old retired baker who lives with his wife and four adult daughters, two of whom work as dressmakers, and two as teachers. Robert Irwin, from county Armagh, lives at 91 and describes himself as a gentleman and his daughter from Wexford who lives with him, as his housekeeper. The houses have six rooms and are of the 2nd class according to their size and building materials, a very wide category encompassing the majority of buildings in Banbridge town.

Number 93 was taken over by Alexander Rowney in 1906 and 91 was let to a succession of tenants and then rebuilt it in 1905. Contemporary valuer’s notes show that the plan form of number 91 had changed and an extension had been added to the rear. The valuer describes the additions to the house and states that it has been ‘practically rebuilt’ although the dimensions of the main house had not changed. The rent was £18.

The 1911 census lists as resident in number 93, 40-year-old William Boyd, physician and surgeon from Ballymena who lived with his wife and a domestic servant from Mayo Bridge. Boyd occupies 8 rooms and his neighbour at number 91, Ellen Fern, 3 rooms. Fern is a widow living with her daughter and seven grand-children ranging in age from 4 to 15. In 1917 number 91 was taken over by Alexander McQuaid. Number 93 remained in the Boyd family passing to Jane Boyd in 1954.

At the time of the First General Revaluation of 1933/4, number 91 was occupied by Alexander McQuaid and revalued at £14.10s. The accommodation comprised on the ground floor, a lobby, sitting room and kitchen, and on the first floor, a front reception, one middle bedroom, one back bedroom and a bathroom containing bath and lavatory. There was an attic bedroom , skylighted at the back, and an enclosed yard with outside WC. An outbuilding was used as a store. The ground floor office occupied by Refuge Assurance Co Ltd was valued at £6. By 1936 the office had been vacated and the room was added back into the valuation of the main house and used as a dining room by McQuaid, raising the valuation of his house to £16.10s. The main house on inspection in 1935 had electric light but no scullery and a bathroom with hot and cold water. The rent was £36 per annum.

Number 93 was occupied by William Boyd and revalued at £21 after appeal. The rent was £42 per annum free. On the ground floor were a hall, front reception, back reception, and a kitchen with scullery partitioned off. On the first floor were three bedrooms and a surgery, a bathroom (with bath and lavatory). On the top floor was one attic bedroom. The enclosed yard with two storey outbuilding was used as a store and there was a garage in the yard.

The terrace was listed in 1977 and has remained in commercial use.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/27/1 First Edition OS Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/27/2 Second Edition OS map 1860
3. PRONI OS/6/3/27/3 Third Edition OS Map (c1900)
4. PRONI OS/6/3/27/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1903-18
5. PRONI VAL/1/B/348A Townland Valuation (1828-40)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/64C Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
7. PRONI VAL/2/A/3/2 Valuer’s Notebook 1898
8. PRONI VAL/12/A/3/12 Valuer’s Notebook 1905
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6A-H Annual Revisions (1864-1929)
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/7A-C Annual Revisions (1899-1930)
11. PRONI VAL/12/F/4/1/1 Annual Revisions (1930-35)
12. PRONI VAL/3/C/4/4 First General Revaluation (1936-57)
13. PRONI VAL/3/D/4/2/B/11 First General Revaluation (1933-57)
14. 1901 census online
15. 1911 census online
16. Belfast Newsletter 1st April 1833
17. Banbridge Chronicle 14th May 1965
18. Banbridge Chronicle 8th February 1963
19. Banbridge Chronicle 10th June 1971

Secondary Sources

1. McGuire, J and Quinn, J, eds “Dictionary of Irish Biography” Cambridge: Cambridge University Press and Royal Irish Academy, 2009

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A mid-terrace two-storey two-bay commercial premises; built c.1820 and located to the west side of Newry Street in Banbridge town centre. Forming part of a terrace of three, all of which have been subject to refurbishments over the years, the loss of architectural detailing and a modern interior has compromised much of the original character.