The Morning Star, 17-19 Pottinger's Entry, BELFAST, Co. Antrim, BT1 4DT

The Morning Star Public House, 17-19 Pottinger's Entry, Belfast

The Morning Star is an attached, corner-sited, rendered public house of two storeys, interconnected with a three-storey former house to the south. The main building dates from around 1820 and was extensively refaced around 1885 for use as a public house. The current owners claim it to be one of the longest-operating licensed premises in Belfast, with a tradition reportedly stretching back to around 1810, when the Belfast Newsletter supposedly referred to the building as one of the terminals for the Belfast to Dublin mail coach. However, it was not recorded as a licensed premises until 1863. The building is rectangular in plan, facing east onto Pottinger's Entry, and is the earliest building currently standing on the entry — one of Belfast's original historic lanes, first depicted on a map of 1715 where it was called "Pottinger's Lean," and named after the Pottinger family, prominent in early Belfast history. Thomas Pottinger was Sovereign of Belfast in 1661, and his later descendant Henry Pottinger was appointed Governor of Hong Kong in the mid-19th century.

Exterior

The roofs are pitched slate, with a profiled red brick chimneystack to the north party wall. Moulded cast-iron guttering runs along rendered eaves with cast-iron downpipes. The north gable has a replacement decorative timber bargeboard with sheeted eaves. The walling to the two-storey section is painted ruled-and-lined render with rusticated rendered quoins; the three-storey section has painted brick walling.

The two-storey section has square-headed window openings with kneed architrave surrounds, a continuous concrete sill course, and replacement single-pane hardwood sash windows. The three-storey section has gauged brick segmental-headed window openings with painted stone sills and timber sash windows — replacement single-pane to the first floor and horizontally-glazed 2/2 sashes to the second floor.

The east front elevation of the two-storey section is four windows wide, with apron panels below the first-floor windows flanked by scrolled console brackets. A decorative painted stucco pub shopfront runs across the ground floor, spanning both front elevations and returning along the north gabled side elevation, which is itself four windows wide and detailed to match the front. The shopfront features square-headed fixed-pane hardwood display windows with etched glazing (the north window replaced in uPVC), decorative leaded overlights, and Doric pilasters. A continuous moulded sill course spans all pilasters, with bolection-moulded stall risers incorporating ceramic roundels and a full-span moulded plinth course. The door opening is surmounted by an overpanel with a dentilled cornice and overlight, and is flanked by fluted Ionic pilasters with swags; the corner pilaster is articulated as a free-standing pier with tiled panels below the sill moulding. All pilasters support a full-span timber fascia with gilt lettering reading "Morning Star" and a gilt acanthus-embellished cornice above. The corner pier supports a gilt winged lion, with replacement double-leaf hardwood glazed doors and a terrazzo floor beneath. Above the entrance is a replacement glazed brass sign with a brass urn finial, supported on a decorative bowed wrought-iron frame inserted around 2009. The three-storey section is three windows wide with a slightly lower painted stucco pub shopfront to the ground floor, detailed as above, but with the fascia framed by shields embellished with star motifs. A square-headed door opening to the left has a replacement timber panelled door providing access to the upper floors.

The south side elevation is abutted by an adjoining red brick infill building. The west rear elevation is abutted by a two-storey flat-roofed extension built around 1960, fronting onto a short alley. A further two-storey extension abutting the rear was built around 2000.

Historical Development

A structure is depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832–33, and the building was certainly in place by at least 1850, when the Hodges and Smith Belfast Street maps showed it in its current layout. Griffith's Valuation of 1860 recorded the two-storey building as occupied by John and William Riddel, iron and metal merchants who used it as a store and workshop, valued at £25. By 1863 the site had been converted into a licensed spirit shop and stores operated by a Mr J. Steenman, who was recorded as occupant through to 1881. Belfast Street Directories record the wine stores as administered by Malcolmson Bros. in 1868, George McChesney in 1877, and William Nixon in 1880, presumably as publicans.

In 1892 the property was acquired by publicans James McEntee and Henry McKenna, who also owned pubs around Castle Street. At that point it was recorded as a Licensed House with a rateable value of £65. By 1900 McKenna was the sole occupant, with a rateable value of £95 and an annual rent of £60 paid to William Riddel. McKenna's premises also included a bottling store in Pottinger's Court. The building is first referred to as "The Morning Star Bar" in the street directories in 1913. McKenna operated the public house until 1926, though in 1924 the bar was burnt out in a sectarian arson attack — part of the widespread sectarian violence of the post-partition years of 1921–23. Renovation work was carried out by F. & J. McCardle, a short-lived family partnership operating between 1922 and 1925, as recorded in the Irish Builder. The horseshoe bar and the exterior sign are among the features installed as part of this reconstruction. The premises passed to the Madden Bros. in 1924; the Maddens also owned the Ivy Bar in Church Lane, Dufferin House in Whitla Street, the Sportsman's Arms in York Street, and spirit stores in Duncairn Gardens.

Under the First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland in 1935, the value of the Morning Star had risen to £150. The building narrowly survived the Belfast Blitz of 1941, while many neighbouring buildings on High Street and Bridge Street were levelled. After the war its rateable value was increased to £383, where it remained until the second revaluation was cancelled in 1972. The pub underwent a further extensive renovation in the 1960s and was listed in 1986.

The public house was refaced around 1892 when McEntee and McKenna took possession, adding its Victorian character, with much of the current fabric dating from the 1924 post-arson reconstruction.

Setting and Significance

The Morning Star sits at the southern end of Pottinger's Entry, a narrow passage running between High Street to the north and Ann Street to the south, with a short alley to the north side elevation. Pottinger's Entry has been substantially rebuilt and widened over time, losing much of its original character as a tightly packed lane of small houses and businesses. The Morning Star is without question the earliest surviving building on the entry, and as one of the few remaining traditional public houses in Belfast city centre, it represents an important part of the social history of the Victorian city and forms the main focus of Pottinger's Entry.

Although historic fabric and detailing have been compromised by alterations ongoing from the late 20th century, considerable character survives. The building lies within a conservation area.