41A Irish Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Three storey, three bay terrace building with asymmetrical front facade and coach arch facing onto SW side of Irish Street. Built mid 18th century (c1860) as shop and dwelling house, latterly incorporated into the police station site and used as office and storage. Built in two phases, (the tall two bay portion being reminiscent of other buildings in the terrace) the bay over the coach arch being constructed later, thereby linking the end of the terrace to the c1790 former police station immediately to SE. Steeply pitched roof, with artificial slates to all slopes. Chimney on middle of ridge and on gable, evident in First Survey photograph, now absent. Rectangular on plan, with substantial three storey hipped roof return running alongside coach arch entry. Front elevation rendered. Rear elevation exposed random greywacke rubble.

Front elevation (to street) - three openings to second floor (three original 3/3 timber sashes, no cills); three openings to first floor (two original 6/6 timber sashes and one 1/1 timber sash, stone cills); two openings to ground floor (two original 6/6 timber sashes) with large square headed coach arch with modern double leaf door. All windows have exposed boxes and no horns. All openings are now (Dec 2016) blocked, with windows visible from interior.

Elevation within entry, largely rendered, some exposed stone - one 8/8 original sash window (no cill, fine glazing bars, no horns) alongside original shopfront, comprising door, decorative c.i. Rectangular fanlight over and adjoining window (window blocked, moulded timber frame visible and intact, no cill). All openings now blocked (Dec 2016).

Rear elevation – two openings above coach arch carried on exposed brick arch. To first floor, one original 3/6 timber sash. To second floor, one original 3/3 timber sash. Both with exposed boxes and no horns. Openings now blocked.

Rear return – one opening to first floor end elevation, one opening to first floor SE flanking elevation (onto entry), and one small window to first floor NW flank (facing internal courtyard formed by outbuilding). All modern. Openings now blocked.

Outbuilding - To rear, abutting ground floor of return, a substantial L shaped outbuilding enclosing a small yard to the rear of the adjacent building in the terrace, no 41. Storey and a half to SE (facing onto the back of the former police station), rising to two/two and half storeys on NW elevation as ground slopes steeply downhill. Natural slate roofs, traditional closed eaves. Cement render and modern short flight of steps to SE elevation, otherwise rubble stone with remnants of lime plaster/lime wash. Timber windows remaining to upper floors (ground floor openings infilled).

Setting
The building is set in a terrace in Irish Street, on a steep hill surrounded by a variety of mid C18th, early C19th nineteenth buildings - opposite are twentieth-century replacement buildings in a historic pastiche style. Abutting the SE gable is the former police station. Substantial rear yard now shared in common with the police station, original rubble stone boundaries. Substantial outbuildings to rear form courtyard enclosure to rear of adjacent no. 41.

Historical information

Irish Street forms part of the mediaeval core of Downpatrick, its antiquity attested to by the -still clearly discernible - long narrow strip plots that extend from the rear of the properties on either side of the thoroughfare. The earliest detailed plan of the town, drawn up by James Maguire in 1708, shows plots on the sites of the present no. 41A, and the adjacent no. 41 (HB18/20/070). Apart from the parish church, however, no buildings are delineated on this survey, but it is likely that the site had been long developed by this point. A list of tenants accompanies this survey, but given the nature of the map itself it is difficult to ascertain who actually held the property / properties at this point.

A plan of 1720, which also looks to be the work of Maguire, clearly marks buildings and lists the tenants, but unfortunately the names of those on this, the south-west side of Irish Street appear to be missing. An almost identical third plan of 1729 does include the tenants for this stretch, and although it is difficult to be certain, it is likely the properties we see today at nos 41 and 43 Irish Street occupy what was then known as ‘McGrory’s tenement’, which at that juncture was leased to a Mrs Dunlop and a Mr James Tate.

The appearance of (most of) the present no. 41A - the relatively steeply pitched roof, small widely-spaced fenestration with exposed frame boxes, and elements of the internal detailing (in particular the staircase), suggests the building is probably of mid-18th century construction, a date which would appear to tie-in with what we know of much of the rest of Irish Street as it stood until relatively recently. It is clear, however, that no.41A was originally narrower, the section over the archway clearly added at some point. Map evidence indicates that this portion was built between c.1838 and 1859, although it is possible that it is earlier; however, it clearly post-dates its grander neighbour to the south (no.45 – latterly the local police station), which itself seems to be of c.1770-80. The maps also show that the rear return arrangement was in place by at least 1833.

Unfortunately (and unusually) the 1830s valuation book covering Downpatrick does not contain dimensions of any of the buildings within the town, merely a list of occupants, with what is no.41A in the hands of Hugh Cleland and possessing a rateable value of £16. Hugh Cleland was the wife of Elizabeth, the niece (and eventual heiress) of William Thompson, then owner of the much more substantial grand house to the immediate south -east (HB18/20/028 the former police station), with the latter eventually passing to Hugh and Elizabeth’s eldest son, James in the 1850s. In the second valuation of c.1860, No.41A was in the hands of William McBride.

During the 1970s no.41A was acquired as a security ‘buffer’ for the neighbouring police station, with this zone extended to encompass no.41 c.1980s and the whole, (along with several other buildings to the south of the original station), subsequently enclosed with a tall blast wall. The entire grouping was vacated by the PSNI in 2015 and the blast wall removed the following year.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Mid C18th two bay townhouse and shop with later (mid C19th or earlier) one bay extension to SE connecting this building, no. 41A Irish Street, to the former police station. Substantial range of c. 1770 outbuildings to rear. During the 1970s no.41A was acquired as a security ‘buffer’ for the neighbouring police station, with this zone extended c.1980s and the whole, (along with several other buildings to the south of the original station), subsequently enclosed with a tall blast wall. The entire grouping was vacated by the PSNI in 2015 and the blast wall removed 2016. Conversion of the first and second floors to office use resulted in the loss of some special character. The retention, however, of original internal joinery - in particular the stair and so-called parlour and original shopfront to the rear ground floor - and all windows to the front elevation is of significant interest. Also of note is the survival, to the rear, of the L shaped outbuilding and much of the original long narrow plot.