Dobbins Inn Hotel

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

An attached two-bay three-storey rendered hotel, built c.1800, located on north side of High Street. Rectangular on plan, facing south; single-bay three-storey slightly projecting addition to west gable, two-storey flat-roofed return to rear.

Pitched artificial slate roof, replacement red brick chimneystack to east of addition; half-round cast-iron gutters; return roof supports second floor balcony. Walling is painted ruled-and-lined rendered over plinth. Windows are square-headed replacement timber casements.

Principal (south) elevation is asymmetrical and has metal flagstaff holder affixed to the first floor and modern metal information plaque at ground floor. Ground floor has single door with a window to left and two windows to right; first floor has two sets of paired windows; and second floor has two wide windows. Addition detailed as hotel with first and second floors each having two windows; ground floor has two windows and one door with metal pull-down shutters to left end. Left cheek (west) is entirely abutted by Bell’s Newsagency (HB22/08/017). Rear (north) cheek is partially abutted by return; exposed section is rendered, ground and first floor have one window, second floor has two with square-headed vertically sheeted timber door to left end (accessing return balcony). Right (east) cheek is abutted by hotel; exposed section at left end is blank.

West gable is entirely abutted by addition.

Rear (north) elevation is abutted by return. Exposed section has variety of modern windows and one square-headed replacement timber door. Return has balcony to right end, and is gabled to left end.

East gable is entirely abutted by neighbouring property.

The hotel is situated on High Street, near the harbour and Carrickfergus Castle, and abuts Bell’s Newsagency (HB22/08/017) to the west. It is situated near the Old Market House (HB22/08/005) to west and the former courthouse (now town hall – HB22/08/008) to the east end of High Street.

Roof: Pitched artificial slate
Walling: Painted rule-and-lined render
Windows: uPVC casements
Rainwater Goods:Half-round cast-iron

Historical information

The hotel incorporates some foundations from a 16th-century tower-house occupied in 1567 by Stephen Dobbin, as recorded in Lythe’s 1567 map of Carrickfergus (Robinson). An excavation of the cellar in 1974 revealed the streetward (east) wall to consist of six different dates, the earliest being Medieval and representing part of a tower house (NIEA).

Boyle notes in the OS memoirs from 1840, that ‘one of the original houses, shown in the plan as Dobbins, is still in perfect preservation. It is on the east side of the street and in line with the other houses, from which it is distinguished merely by two small square turrets, one at each angle in front’.(Boyle, p 30)

The first edition OS map of 1832 shows a building on plan which is similar in orientation, L-plan, and similar to the current structure with the exception of the extension to the west elevation. The second edition OS map is not legible. The aforementioned extension is shown on the third edition map of 1902.

Griffiths Valuation of 1860 records a ‘Constabulary House, offices and yard’, rented from the representatives of Peter [Kirk]. The rent is £24 a year. A house, additions, and stable offices are also detailed, valued at £21.

The town map corresponding to the valuation revisions appears to have undergone renumbering, and so it is difficult to be certain about the property details; however the Valuation Revisions list a ‘constabulary barracks, office & yard’ on High Street, occupied by the Royal Ulster Constabulary in 1923, and leased from Isabella Wilson. The property is valued at £36. This would appear to be the correct reference as Griffiths Valuation first described the building as a barracks in 1860. Campbell and Crowthers also mention the building’s role as a barracks (p.25).

The building became a hotel c.1950, and has undergone significant internal remodelling since this time.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/1/52/1 - First Edition OS Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/52/2 - Second Edition OS Map (1857)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/52/3 - Third Edition OS Map (1901-2)
4. PRONI VAL/1/B/187 - Townland Valuation fieldbook (1836)
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/22C - Griffiths Valuation Fieldbook (1860)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/7/7B - Valuation Revision Book (1908-1915)
7. PRONI VAL/12/E/20/2/1 - Town maps
8. PRONI VAL/12/E/20/1/1 - Town maps
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/7/7 A-C (1894-1929)
10. OS Memoirs: Vol 37-Carrickfergus:James Boyle, 1840, pg 30.
11. Robinson, P. ‘Irish Historic Towns Atlas, Pt 2 Carrickfergus’ Royal Irish Academy, 1986.

Secondary Sources

1. Northern Ireland Environment Agency. ‘Sites and Monuments Record’ Ant 052:137 [Internet source] Available from: (Accessed 20/05/09)
2. Campbell, Gordon and Susan Crowther. “In the Town of Carrickfergus.” Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings, Areas of Architectural Importance Series. Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1980.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
H-. Alterations detracting from building

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

An attached rendered three-storey hotel prominently situated in the near-middle of High Street, Carrickfergus, with the former market house at the west end and the former courthouse at the east end. Dobbin's Inn Hotel incorporates the foundation and fireplace of the former Dobbins Castle, an important medieval remnant which traces the early development of the town. It has been much altered and extended during the twentieth century which has deminished its architectural interest.