41 Irish Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Three storey, four bay terrace building with symmetrical front facade (to first and second floor) facing onto SW side of Irish Street. Built mid 18th century (c 1760), probably given the window arrangement as two houses. Steeply pitched roof, with natural slates to both slopes. Chimney to each gable, evident on First Survey photograph, now absent. Rectangular on plan, with single storey extension to rear (likely early 19th addition). Front elevation rendered, lined out and painted, with quoins. Rear elevation exposed greywacke rubble.

Front elevation (to street) – four openings to second floor (four original 3/3 timber sashes, stone cills); four openings to first floor (four original 6/6 timber sashes, stone cills). All windows have exposed boxes and no horns.
Ground floor – Openings now all blocked/boarded up. Remains are visible of arrangement seen in First Survey photograph, ie, to the far left a window and door, off centre a large opening formerly the shop front, and to the right hand side, the blocked up opening formerly an entry down the side of the building to the rear.

Rear elevation – access restricted at the time of the survey (Jan and May 2016), with some windows seen only from limited interior inspection. The record is therefore incomplete.
To ground floor (rear extension) two timber sashes and one ‘porthole’ circular window; to first floor one original 6/6 timber sash. No record of windows to second floor. It is likely that the window openings to the first and second floors remain as illustrated in the Lawrence Collection photograph, c.1900.

The rear of the building is enclosed by the two storey L shaped outbuildings of the adjacent building abutting the SE gable.

Setting
The building is set a steep hill on the SW side of Irish Street, in a largely intact mid C18th, early C19th terrace. Opposite are C20th replacement buildings in a historic pastiche style.

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 a plot on the site of the present no.41. Apart from the parish church, however, no buildings are delineated on this survey, but it is likely that the site had been 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 on those on 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 (no. 41 and its immediate neighbour to the south east no. 43 HB18/20/069) 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.41 Irish Street - relatively steeply pitched roof (containing roughly fashioned purlins), small widely-spaced fenestration with exposed frame boxes, and elements of the internal detailing (in particular the staircase), suggests that 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.
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 now no.41 occupied by Adam Hughes and rated at £22. In the second valuation of c.1860, no.41 had been split into two concerns, one held by William McBride, also the owner of the adjacent no.43, (and ‘in bad repair’) and the other by Francis Dougherty.
A historic photograph, c.1910 shows the central bays of the ground floor had been shopped by this time, flanked to the left hand side by a domestic sash window and entrance door, and to the right by a doorway providing access to the rear; the off centre display window featured a simple signage fascia over, reading ‘John Campbell’, and incorporated an entrance door leading into the shop.
A First Survey photograph c.1970 shows generally the same arrangement, with to the ground floor right hand side, the shop front of ‘J Doris Chemist’, and to the left hand side a window and brass plate advertising ‘John A Doris Optician’. The right hand doorway giving access to the rear appears to be blocked.
During the 1970s no.43 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 two other buildings the other side of the original station), subsequently enclosed with a tall blast wall. It is presumed that the ground floor openings to the front elevation were all blocked at this time. 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
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Mid C18th (c.1760) four bay terraced building, likely to have been built as two houses. By the late C19th century, shopped at ground floor. During the 1970s the adjacent no.43 Irish Street was acquired as a security ‘buffer’ for the neighbouring police station, with this zone extended c.1980s to include no.41, 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. The external alterations caused by the addition and subsequent removal of the security measures, together with the conversion of the ground floor to office use has resulted in the loss of some special character. The retention, however, of original fenestration to the first and second floors, the retention of original internal joinery - in particular the stair, and detailing to the second and attic floors is of significant interest. To the rear, the L shaped outbuilding and partial survival of the original long narrow plot are also important. This is a very good example of an early urban vernacular building.