24 Joy Street, Belfast, County Antrim, BT2 8LE

24 Joy Street is a mid-terrace, three-storey redbrick Georgian townhouse built around 1840, situated on the junction of Joy Street and Catherine Street North in Belfast city centre. It forms part of a terrace of nine similar houses lining the east side of Joy Street, and is widely regarded as one of the finest surviving examples of late Georgian terraced housing in Belfast. The building was described by architectural historian Marcus Patton as part of "the finest block of Georgian houses in Belfast" and as a good illustration of "the grandeur and dignity of the Markets area when it was first developed."

Architectural Description

The house is rectangular on plan, facing west, with a pitched natural slate roof finished with roll-moulded black clay ridge tiles. Two rendered brick chimneystacks with clay pots rise from the roofline. Cast-iron guttering runs along the brick eaves course, with a cast-iron downpipe to the exterior.

The external walls are of redbrick laid in Flemish bond with cement pointing and finished with a moulded plinth course. The window openings are square-headed with rendered reveals, painted masonry sills, and replacement 6/6 timber sash windows. The front elevation is two windows wide.

The front door occupies a round-headed opening with a moulded surround incorporating a keystone, scribed pilasters, and impost mouldings. The replacement timber panelled door features decorative panels and a lintel cornice, and opens onto a concrete step. The fanlight above the door is also a replacement. An iron bootscraper is set into the wall within a rendered surround.

The north side elevation abuts the adjoining house at number 22, and the south side elevation abuts number 26. The rendered rear elevation is abutted by a single-storey return and contains both square-headed and round-headed window openings fitted with replacement 6/6 timber sash windows.

Alterations and Restoration

The building retains much of its historic architectural fabric. It was sensitively restored around 1985 by Hearth Housing Association, with the wider terrace having been restored for the Housing Executive between 1982 and 1986 by W. D. R. & R. T. Taggart. The building was listed in 1985 along with the rest of the terrace.

Historical Background

Joy Street takes its name from a former paper mill in the area owned by Henry Joy, a relative of Henry Joy McCracken, the United Irishman. The mill formerly stood at the junction of Ormeau Avenue and Cromac Street, and the construction of its mill dam led to the reclamation of acres of land to the south-east of Belfast's town centre at the turn of the 19th century. Joy Street and the surrounding Markets area were laid out during the late Georgian period, gradually developing southward from May Street on this reclaimed land.

The terrace does not appear on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832–33, but neighbouring buildings such as numbers 36–46 Hamilton Street were already under construction by that date. Joy Street had certainly been built by 1843, when the Belfast Street Directories first recorded the terrace, though at that time the street was numbered differently. The terrace appears clearly on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858.

The grandiose redbrick terraces erected around 1830–40 were originally occupied by well-respected merchants. However, the mass influx of working-class labourers into Belfast in the wake of the Great Famine led the merchant class to abandon the area by the 1850s in favour of the new suburbs in Malone to the south. As a result, the buildings on Joy Street and Hamilton Street passed into the occupation of working-class labourers, while a number of the larger dwellings were converted into lodging and boarding houses. The establishment of Queen's College in 1849 brought a significant student population to the Markets area seeking cheap lodgings, though this continued only until around 1850–70, after which students moved closer to the university. The lodging houses subsequently became home chiefly to business lodgers and to performers who appeared at the nearby music halls and theatres.

Occupational History of Number 24

In 1852 the Belfast Street Directory recorded that number 24 was occupied by a Ms. Maria Wetherhead, who operated a boarding house from the address, as did many of the other properties in the area at the time.

In 1859 Griffith's Valuation recorded that number 24 was let by Ebenezer Crawford — who also owned the rest of the terrace — to a Mrs. Mary Porter at an annual rent of £18. The valuer described the house as a three-storey, class B+ dwelling ("not new but in sound repair"), measuring 6 by 8 yards and valued at £16. The Annual Revisions indicate that Mrs. Porter continued to occupy the house until around 1905, although the Belfast Street Directories record that a John Smith, a coach builder, and a Mrs. Andrews occupied it in 1877 and 1880 respectively. In 1884 the house was reduced in valuation to £14; the entire terrace was similarly devalued at the same time, though the reason is not recorded.

The 1901 Census records that Jane O'Neill, a widowed boarding-house landlady, had come into possession of the house by that date. Two of the boarders recorded in the census that year were described as "English Music Hall Artists," reflecting the connection between the street's lodging houses and the nearby theatres. The 1901 Census Building Returns described number 24 as a second-class dwelling with six rooms. By 1911 the number of rooms had increased to nine and the house was reclassified as a first-class dwelling.

Around 1900, when Jane O'Neill was first recorded as occupant, the house was again reduced in value to £12 10s., though by 1906 this had risen to £14. Around the same time, a Ms. Charlotte Harding purchased the entire terrace from Ebenezer Crawford. A Mrs. Julia O'Neill occupied number 24 until at least 1918 and was still recorded as occupant in the Annual Revisions when they ended in 1930.

In 1920 Charlotte Harding put numbers 14–26 Joy Street up for public auction; the yearly rent for the terrace and a number of other attached buildings totalled £416 3s. By the First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland in 1935, the terrace had passed into the ownership of a Mr. Joseph Tyney, who is described in the 1911 Census as a manufacturer of ship parts and who presumably purchased the terrace at auction. At that time the valuer described number 24 simply as a private dwelling, occupied by a Mr. George Mullen and valued at £21. A second revaluation carried out between 1956 and 1972 raised the value slightly to £22, by which time a Mary Mullen had taken possession of the house. The property continued to be occupied by a member of the Mullen family until the 1980s.

Of particular note, it is recorded that a young Charlie Chaplin rented a room at number 24 Joy Street in 1907 while touring Belfast with a circus in which he performed as a clown. Laurel and Hardy are also recorded as having rented rooms on Joy Street during this period, though which house they occupied is not known.

In the mid-1960s the Sub-Committee of the Ancient Monuments Advisory Council recommended that numbers 14–26 Joy Street should be maintained as "an excellent illustration of Georgian Housing in pre-industrial Belfast." Number 24 continues to be occupied as a private dwelling.

Setting

The house forms part of a cohesive terrace of nine similar properties lining the east side of Joy Street, and sits within a conservation area. Number 24 contributes significantly to the group as a whole, retaining the style and proportions of the terrace and helping to ensure the survival of this rare example of late Georgian terraced housing in the centre of Belfast.