21 Ann Street, Ballycastle, Co Antrim, BT54 6AA

21 Ann Street is a two-bay, two-and-a-half storey building with a shop front, dating from around 1850. The building does not appear on the Ordnance Survey map of 1832 but is shown on the 1856 revision, making it mid-19th century in date. It has lost much of its original character and detail through alterations, and now stands primarily for its historical association rather than architectural merit.

The front elevation features a ground floor shop front occupying practically the full width of the building. The entrance comprises a glazed panel door with painted pilasters on either side. A large single-pane plate glass window with a low cill sits adjacent, also flanked by a painted pilaster. Above the door and windows runs a painted name fascia with good lettering and a cornice. The first floor contains two double-hung sash windows with two panes each, set within smooth rendered and painted walls. A half-round metal gutter runs above the first floor window heads, with a single downpipe shared with the adjacent property, No. 23. The roof appears to be covered with asbestos slates. A chimney stack is incorporated into the neighbouring building, No. 19. Between the first floor windows sits a circular plaque, with a projecting metal sign to one side.

The rear elevation rises to three storeys. The roof is finished in Bangor blue slates laid in regular courses with one original roof light. The walls are rendered with wet dash finish. A cast iron gutter and downpipe serve the rear. The ground floor has been boarded over where the rear section has been removed. Two window openings at first floor level survive: one to the left is blocked with concrete blockwork, the other to the right is closed with timber boarding. A single window at second or attic floor level is similarly blocked with concrete blockwork. Building work is currently underway on the walls of a long rear return.

The building stands on the main street facing directly onto the pavement, sharing a common ridge line with No. 23. This shared ridge is notably lower than the adjoining buildings on either side. The rear boundary is formed by a pair of corrugated iron gates set between rendered piers. The yard is currently being built over with a long rear return.

The circular plaque on the wall commemorates John Henry McAuley, known as "John the Carver", a local wood carver and author of the song "Old Lammas Fair". McAuley was born in Glenshesk and lived with a disability following an accident, using a walking stick. He ran a carving business from this shop, creating carvings in bog oak and other woods. His most notable work was a three-tiered rotating shelf displayed in the shop window, built around an old gramophone turntable. The middle tier featured a carving of a funeral scene with a horse-drawn hearse and mourners. The shelf was wound up periodically to rotate the display. McAuley may have trained under the Bavarian carver Anton Lang, who worked with Stephen Clarke's Irish Home Industries across the street. The plaque was erected in the 1960s by the Ballycastle Entertainments Committee and unveiled by singer Eileen Donaghy. The plaque's inscription and the detailed carvings have since been removed.