The Rock Public House, 491 Falls Road/ 2 - 4 Rockmore Road Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT12 6DE

The Rock Public House, dating from around 1900, is a mainly two-storey flat-roofed building with a notable single-storey three-bay Baroque-style sandstone projection to its main frontage, and a three-storey pitched-roof block to the west. It occupies a prominent corner position at the junction of Falls Road and Rockmore Road in west Belfast, an area that began to be developed from the end of the 19th century. The building is of considerable architectural and historical interest, retaining rare Edwardian window frames and a wealth of original ornamental detail inside and out, despite damage and partial reconstruction following the troubles of the early 1920s.

EXTERIOR

The east elevation faces Falls Road and is five bays wide. The two southernmost bays at ground-floor level are occupied by a modern shopfront. The three northern bays form a canted single-storey sandstone projection of elaborate character, built on a chamfered marble plinth. The openings are depressed arches with moulded architraves, pronounced keystones and carved spandrels, flanked by engaged pilasters with moulded capitals. Carved aprons sit below the openings. Scrolled and decorated consoles support a moulded sandstone fascia above, with a plain marble frieze carrying applied metal lettering reading "THE ROCK". Above this runs a dentilled cornice, topped by a raised carved stone parapet decorated with foliate and head motifs. The central opening is a door, with a window to each side, all retaining painted timber frames. The side openings facing north and south are three-centred arches. A recessed roller shutter with concealed guides and box serves the door opening. The architrave above the entrance is engraved with the inscription "F. O'Neill Licensed for the Sale of Beer, Spirits and Wine for Consumption on the Premises". The upper floor windows on this elevation are square-headed modern openings fitted with timber-effect uPVC casement windows. The upper floors of the east elevation are rendered.

The north elevation is eight bays wide and consists of a two-storey five-bay block to the east and a three-storey pitched-roof block occupying the three westernmost bays. The upper floors are in red brick, with a continuous concrete cill and flush banding at first-floor lintel level. The ground floor is finished in reconstituted stone, with square-headed openings flanked by two-stage engaged pilasters: the capitals are carved with heads, and the lower stage is fluted. Moulded aprons sit below the openings. The capitals support a frieze carrying raised upper-case lettering reading "2 & 4. Whiskey Stores. F. O'Neill Wine Cellars. 2 & 4", with a dentilled cornice above. Square-headed timber panelled doors are positioned in the fourth bay from the east and the westernmost bay. Ground-floor openings are fitted with three-centred arch timber-framed windows with modern decorated frosted glazing. All windows on this elevation have surface-mounted roller shutter boxes and guide rails. First- and second-floor windows are square-headed with modern timber casements. The reconstituted stone on this elevation — used where the original sandstone was lost following early 20th-century damage — reflects the proportions, ornamentation and detailing of the surviving sandstone work. It also bears the name "Frank O'Neill", the original proprietor, in raised lettering.

The west elevation is abutted by the adjoining two-storey red brick building. The south elevation is gabled and abutted by a neighbouring three-storey red brick building.

The two-storey flat-roofed section has raised parapets with concrete coping. The three-storey block has a pitched roof in artificial slate. Rainwater goods throughout are uPVC half-round guttering discharging to circular downpipes, with hoppers to the remainder of the north elevation.

INTERIOR

The interior retains details of architectural merit. Of particular note are the privacy booths, which are comparable to those found at the Crown Bar in Belfast, a building of acknowledged national importance for its Victorian interior fittings.

HISTORY

This part of Belfast, in the west of the city along the Falls Road, began to be developed from the end of the 19th century. Valuation records show that a shop and yard had been opened at 491 Falls Road by Francis O'Neill by 1900, with the rateable valuation rising rapidly from £22 in 1900 to £65 in 1903 as the premises expanded to include a licensed house, shop, store and yard, taking in 2 and 4 Rockmore Road. The pub is marked on the 1904 Ordnance Survey map as "Rock (P.H.)".

Francis O'Neill was a 41-year-old wine and spirit merchant at the time of the 1901 census, originally from County Tyrone. He had married Beatrice McDonnell — daughter of John McDonnell and Elizabeth Kane, baptised at Cushendall Catholic Church on 26 April 1870 — at St Malachy's Catholic Church in Belfast on 12 June 1888. A note on the marriage record identifies Francis's parents as John and Cecilia O'Neill of Donaghmore, County Tyrone. In 1901, the family was living at 93 Falls Road; by 1911 they had moved to 4 Rockmore Road, above the business premises. Francis O'Neill died on 11 February 1912, leaving an estate valued at £2,118 16s. 4d., indicating considerable prosperity.

The building was damaged during the troubles of the early 1920s. Valuation records for 1923 show the rateable value was reduced from £75 to £20, with the word "dilapidated" added to the description. A reference in the Irish Builder of 19 April 1924 to W.J. Convery and "The Rock" suggests he may have been responsible for the reconstruction that followed. By 1925 the valuation had recovered to £50, and a pencilled note in the Valuation Revision Books records: "Premises now rebuilt and not now dilapidated."

A photograph of this part of the Falls Road by W.A. Green, dating from around 1917, documents what was lost in the damage. It shows that before the early 1920s troubles, the ornate sandstone frontage extended not only across the ground floor but continued to the second floor, above which was an attic level terminating in a gabled roof with raised verge, ornate pinnacles and a cast-iron finial. The adjoining property was a red brick two-storey-plus-attic terraced house with a projecting bay matching those that still survive further along the terrace.

Despite these losses to the upper floors and subsequent modernisation, the building retains its distinctive character and remains one of the more architecturally notable buildings on the Falls Road.