Masonic Hall, 11 John Street, Rathfriland, Newry, Co Down, BT34

This is a single-story, two-bay 20th-century Masonic hall with a basement, situated on a hillside on the north side of John Street in Rathfriland. The building exhibits a distinctive street frontage that contributes to the local townscape. The Lodge Hall retains a significant number of its original features. The building is of local interest only.

The left-hand bay is narrower and contains the entrance, while the right bay is wider and forms the hall itself. The roof is pitched and covered with natural slate, with two chimneys: one on the shared party wall between buildings and one rising from the rear wall head, although this is not visible from the street. Both chimneys are rendered and feature moulded, projecting copings. Metal rainwater goods with a downpipe are situated at the right end of the street-facing façade. The front elevation is line cement rendered and painted. A modern door with roll-moulded, stop-chamfered reveals is located at the extreme left. Five circular window openings are arranged in line and evenly spaced, except for the window aligned over the entrance door. All windows have semicircular reveals matching the door detailing, painted sloping concrete cills, and stained and leaded glass. The left and right windows depict an eye set within a tower; the second from the left depicts a crossed hammer and chisel; the third (central) window displays a draughtsman’s compass; the fourth window features a star; and the window to the extreme right has an infilled and rendered section over a doorway.

The rear elevation is two stories high, reflecting the sloping ground. It is smooth rendered and unpainted, with a lean-to porch abutting the centre of the ground floor. The remaining wall on the left at ground floor level is blank, while a steel casement window is located to the right. The upper floor has two 1/1 sliding sash windows with stained glass and granite cills. To their right are two metal casement windows with concrete cills. The lean-to porch has a natural slate roof and walls matching the rear elevation. Its rear wall is blank, with a t&g sheeted timber door on the left cheek and a small 1/1 sliding sash window on the right cheek. A partially collapsed rubble stone wall encloses the rear yard.

A row of houses first appeared on this site in 1860 on an Ordnance Survey valuation map. This hall occupies the plot previously occupied by two of those houses. The buildings were used as stores from around 1878 but were vacant by 1891. The Masonic order acquired the property in 1902.