Fort Bar, 25-27 Springfield Road, Edenderry, Belfast

Fort Bar is a Grade B1 listed late Victorian public house, a two-storey end terrace with attic, located at the junction of Springfield Road and Colligan Street in Edenderry, Belfast. Dating from between 1860 and 1879 (though a painted sign above the entrance claims 1865, and the Campaign for Real Ale records 1885), it represents one of very few surviving traditional public houses in Belfast and is primarily of interest for its original bar interior.

The building has a tapering plan form with a two-storey pitched rear return and a two-storey flat-roofed extension to the rear. The pitched natural slate roof features angled ridge tiles, clipped and corbelled eaves, and a moulded gable chimneystack with clay pots. Cast iron rainwater goods are fitted throughout. The walls are painted smooth render with a continuous plinth, ground floor sill course, and string courses to the first floor.

The principal elevation faces south and is almost symmetrical. The ground floor comprises six openings, each separated by paired pilasters supporting a continuous flat fascia (slightly breakfront over the entrance) with a dentilled overhanging cornice and paired bracketed gablet ends. The entrance, positioned left of centre, consists of paired timber panelled doors with a square-headed overlight of etched glass. It is flanked by two identical bays containing large replacement timber windows with two diminutive panes above a large bottom pane, over aprons embellished with geometrically designed moulding. To the far right is a doorway with a paired louvred overlight. The first floor features a large tripartite window slightly left of the entrance door, comprising a bowed 12-pane timber window flanked by six-pane windows and separated by fluted mullions. This entire opening is flanked by fluted pilasters rising to the string course and surmounted by a moulded and fluted surround. To the left is a blocked-up opening; to the right is a 1/1 window. Windows throughout are replacement timber casements on projecting masonry sills.

The interior is of considerable historic significance. According to the Campaign for Real Ale, Fort Bar possesses "the second finest historic pub interior in Belfast to the Crown for the quality and exuberance of its late Victorian interior". A local informant has stated that the cubicles in the bar were constructed by the same Italian craftsmen employed in the interior of the nearby Clonard Monastery in Belfast. The entrance floor features a "C & P McGuigan" mosaic, referencing the McGuigan family who ran the establishment for 77 years.

Much original fabric survives, although various modernisations have compromised its historic appearance and character. A Building Preservation Notice was served on the property on 23 January 2013.

The building is set at the end of a commercial terrace directly off Springfield Road at the junction with Colligan Street in a residential area, with a two-and-a-half-storey terrace to the south and two-storey dwellings to the north.