8 & 9 Donegall Quay, Belfast, Co Antrim, BT1 3EA

8 & 9 Donegall Quay, Belfast

This is a terraced three-storey gabled rendered warehouse built around 1855, rectangular in plan, facing east and positioned on the west side of the River Lagan. It is one of only three original structures surviving on Donegall Quay and represents one of the last remaining physical connections to the original Belfast harbour and its maritime trading past. Although the building has been compromised by later alterations and the loss of historic fabric and detailing, its early industrial appearance still recalls the former maritime character of the area.

The building has a pitched natural slate roof with cast-iron hopper and downpipe shared with the adjoining building to the south. The walls are painted render throughout. Square-headed loophole openings are fitted with double-leaf, vertically-sheeted timber doors and large timber beams. There are also square-headed window openings containing single-pane timber casement windows. The gabled front elevation features a three-tier loophole to the left, surmounted by a slated and sheeted hood. Square-headed window openings appear to the left of this elevation, boarded up except at the top floor, and a further glazed window opening sits at the apex of the gable. The south side elevation is abutted by the adjoining building No. 7. The rear elevation is blank. The north side elevation abuts an adjoining car park and has a single window opening at second-floor level.

The building fronts onto a slip road called Oxford Street, which runs parallel to but at a lower level than Donegall Quay. It sits on the west bank of the Lagan overlooking the river, as part of a group of three remaining original structures on the quay. Its neighbours include the Custom House and Sinclair Seamen's Church, and together these buildings form a rare surviving group of Belfast port's nautical heritage.

Historical background

The first buildings on what is now Donegall Quay were constructed in 1715 as part of Isaac Macartney's reclamation and development of a block of land where High Street and the Farset River met the Lagan. A map of that development recorded the quay under its original name, Hanover Quay, lined with a number of merchant properties.

The facades of Nos. 5 to 9 Donegall Quay were refronted in 1855 to designs by Belfast-based architect Alexander McAlister (circa 1821–1897), a Carlow-born architect who trained and worked in Belfast. According to the Dictionary of Irish Architects, these Donegall Quay buildings were among his first known independent commissions. McAlister, along with Timothy Hevey (1846–1878), is noted as one of the leading Catholic architects of the Victorian period in Belfast; his other works included St. Malachy's Boys School and the Convent of Mercy in Sussex Place. The exact date of original construction of Nos. 6 to 9 is not known with certainty owing to this refronting, but researcher Patton suggests they date from the mid-to-late 18th century, likely between 1760 and 1790. The Belfast Revaluation of 1900 noted that the building held a very "old lease" and described the fabric itself as "old," a rating which in that context generally denotes a Georgian build date.

Nos. 8 and 9 Donegall Quay can first be identified with certainty in Griffith's Valuation of 1860, at which time the adjoining Nos. 6 and 7 were occupied by Samuel Boyd and James Tedford, leased from a Mr. William Lewers. Samuel Boyd and his wife Sarah occupied the first two storeys, operating a licensed spirits shop from the ground floor and residing on the first floor. James Tedford occupied a half-height attic floor above, which he used as a sail loft for sewing and laying out sails before trading them. The total rateable value of Nos. 6 and 7 at that time was £19: £10 for the ground-floor shop, £5 for the first-floor residence, and £4 for Tedford's sail loft.

James Tedford Senior was a sea captain who, on retiring to Ireland, set up his chandler's business at Donegall Quay and expanded into ship owning. At the time of his death in 1867 he owned a number of merchant ships that traded with South America and the Caribbean, their exotic cargoes frequently being unloaded along the Donegall Quay wharves. His first sail loft was on the top floor of Nos. 6 and 7 from at least 1860. By around 1910, Tedford's had acquired the adjoining and larger Nos. 8 and 9 Donegall Quay, using that warehouse for the sewing of sails.

In 1866 the ground and first floors of Nos. 6 and 7 passed to a Mr. Thomas Reid, who established a public house called the London Tavern, catering for seamen being offloaded or disembarking nearby. By 1877 a Mr. Patrick McKee had taken over the running of the pub, and by 1882 a Mr. Joseph Russell was recorded as tenant. The rateable value of Nos. 6 and 7, excluding the sail loft, was increased to £30 in 1887, possibly in connection with the reopening of Donegall Quay in 1885, which had been closed to trade during the widening of the Queen's Bridge.

By 1882 the building, along with the adjoining No. 9, had come into the ownership of the Victorian architect Sir Charles Lanyon (1813–1889), whose estate included many properties along the Lagan. After Lanyon's death in 1889, ownership of Nos. 5 to 9 Donegall Quay passed to Mr. Frederick Kinahan, a local magistrate and partner in Lyle & Kinahan, wine and spirit merchants, as recorded in the 1901 Belfast Street Directory.

In 1900 the Belfast Revaluation recorded the public house as being administered by a Mr. Patrick Mullaghan, with the value increased to £100 and his rent set at £47 12s. 6d. per annum. At that time the upper rooms of Nos. 6 and 7 were not used as a private dwelling but were occupied by the offices of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners. By 1911 the top floor was no longer used as a sail loft but simply as attic space occupied by Mullaghan; the first floor had reverted to use as a dwelling. By 1913, a Mr. John McGaherty had taken over both the public house and the upper dwelling. On McGaherty's arrival the value of the property was increased to £70, with no further change to either value or occupant recorded before the Annual Revisions were cancelled in 1930.

In the First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland in 1935, John McGaherty was still recorded as occupant of the public house. The licensed ground floor was revalued at £80, while the upper floor, by then occupied by a hairdressing salon and offices, was valued at £29 10s. Nos. 6 and 7 survived the heavy bombing of the Belfast docklands during the Blitz of 1941. By the time of the second general revaluation, which commenced in 1956, the public house had passed to Jamison & Green Ltd., a tool and factory equipment supplier with their main offices on Anne Street, just off Donegall Quay. Jamison & Green removed the original shopfront to form a large ground-floor vehicle entryway giving vehicular access to the courtyard at the rear of their Anne Street office. As a result, the rateable value of Nos. 6 and 7 was reduced to £64, at which it remained by the end of the second revaluation in 1972.

Nos. 6 and 7's Victorian facade, designed by Alexander McAlister, was removed around 1980. The First Survey image of 1976 shows that the building formerly possessed a more ornamented roofline adorned with rounded finials. The buildings at Nos. 5 to 9 Donegall Quay were listed in 1992 following the closure of Tedford's Chandlers shop the previous year. Jamison & Green continue to occupy the Anne Street offices but have vacated the upper floors of Nos. 6 and 7, which are currently used as office space.