Bank of Ireland, 13 Market Street, Lurgan, BT66 6AR

Bank of Ireland

This three-storey terrace building on Market Street in Lurgan town centre is a palimpsest of works spanning the 19th and 20th centuries. The site was developed by the 1830s and originally contained two separate properties, probably dating to the 18th century. Before around 1860, these were either replaced or substantially renovated and raised in height. Historical records suggest this rebuilding or renovation work occurred around 1840. The building retained its dual structure, as evidenced by three chimneystacks on the ridge—a legacy of the two original properties it contained.

In the early 19th century the premises functioned as commercial shops with outbuildings. By 1862 the western property operated as a drapery shop owned by John Gilchrist, while the larger eastern shop, then closed, was occupied by James Taylor, who held the lease of the entire building from John Douglas. The eastern shop retained a gateway at its end and was surrounded by a complex of outbuildings, including the long part single, part two-storey range that survives today. The hipped-roof single-storey section between this range and the main building was already present in 1862.

The building underwent its most significant transformation in 1922 when the Bank of Ireland, having purchased the lease in 1920, commissioned architect Nicholas Fitzsimons of the firm Tulloch & Fitzsimons to convert the existing structure into bank premises. Fitzsimons had previously undertaken similar work for the bank in Newtownards around 1917. The conversion work was carried out in 1922, with a valuer recording that year that the house was being "gutted and reconstructed for a new bank". The bank opened in 1923 and has remained in continuous operation since, with the ground floor housing the banking hall and the upper floors originally serving as the manager's residence, now rented as offices.

The building's most striking feature is its symmetrical Neoclassical ground-floor façade, which largely dates from the 1922 conversion. The front elevation is finished in cut stone and presents a sophisticated classical composition. The full-width shopfront extends to the level of the first-floor window sills and features a central large flat-headed window flanked by two smaller similar windows. Entrances occupy the far left and right, with the bank entrance to the left and the former manager's residence entrance to the right. Both doors are panelled timber with overlights; the bank doorway is distinguished by a dentilled timber "keystone" bearing "BANK" in raised lettering.

Each opening on the ground floor is framed with engaged Doric pilasters resting on a shallow plinth and supporting a full-width signage entablature. The frieze bears "BANK OF IRELAND" in raised serif capitals, whilst baroque carved stone cartouches depicting the bank's cypher form end-stops. The remainder of the front façade is finished in painted lined render and framed with bevelled in-out quoins. The first-floor windows are flat-headed with plain pilasters supporting a simple cornice and feature plain timber sash frames. The second-floor windows have the same frames and shouldered surrounds with plain keystones. A carved stone balustraded parapet, set on a projecting cornice, crowns the composition.

The rear elevation is informally composed with the eastern end recessed. To the left stands the single-storey hipped-roof return with an outsized square bay window. At second-floor level in the middle is a small semi-circular-headed window opening with a 3/3 top-opening timber frame. Other window openings are flat-headed and arranged regularly though not symmetrically, mostly featuring 6/6 timber sash frames. The main block's pitched slate roof retains three chimneystacks on the ridge and a further stack within the rear recess. Cast-iron rainwater goods with square-section downspouts run to the front; decorative hoppers bear the date 1922. A long part single, part two-storey gable-ended return abuts the southern face of the single-storey section, with window openings including segmental and flat-headed examples, some now bricked-up. A large garage door opening with sheeted timber and part-glazed sliding doors occupies the south-west end.

The upper floors remain largely original externally and internally, retaining much of the 19th-century fabric. Recent alterations include a projecting street lamp attached at second-floor level, a projecting bank sign, and a security camera at ground-floor level.

Prominently sited within Lurgan town centre Conservation Area, this building stands out as one of the more significant structures in the town. The combination of its well-proportioned and finely detailed classical stone bank front, balustraded parapet, and its role as a longstanding financial institution make it an important local landmark.