Mullan’s Pub, 43 Main Street, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 OEP

Mullan's Pub is a two-storey rendered bar building of Grade B2 importance, located at the north-east corner of Main Street and Market Street in Limavady. Dating from the early 19th century (1800-1819), it occupies a significant position in the town's architectural and social history, having functioned as a principal focal point for the community for approximately 300 years.

The building comprises two structural bays with a somewhat irregular fenestration pattern across its first floor. Three first-floor windows are present on the main elevation. The principal architectural feature is an unusual lugged stone doorway with a fanlight above displaying a simple radiating pattern and keystone; this entrance sits in a cutaway corner of the building, approached by two tiled steps from Main Street. Adjacent to the entrance is a wide window with frosted glass. The windows throughout are primarily double-pane sashes with painted stone cills. The roof is finished in man-made slates with painted PVC guttering and three roof lights, with a single chimney rising from the ridge line of the gable overlooking Market Street.

To the north-east, two adjacent shops (formerly part of the building) retain their upper fenestration and roof line, with a pair of sash windows at first floor. A third first-floor window aligns with a secondary entrance on the facade. On the Market Street gable, there is a wide ground-floor window serving the bar and a two-pane sash above. A flush return projects along Market Street, featuring one ground-level window and a plain segmental arch providing access to a courtyard behind. The courtyard return contains two additional windows. A second return projects one metre from the bar, with a four-metre-wide section rising three storeys and incorporating a chimney. The courtyard is enclosed to the north-west by a range of single-storey outhouses projecting in line with number 47. A tent-like roof now encloses the courtyard, installed since the building's second survey.

The interior retains significant features of historical interest. Lugged doorways, an arch, and a notably grand entrance staircase survive and warrant preservation. Rare remnants of early roof rafters constitute partial evidence of 18th-century construction techniques, enhancing the building's architectural importance. However, the windows serving the main bar have been enlarged during the tenure of the present occupants, detracting from the original character.

Historical records establish the building's long association with Limavady. In 1692, a tenement to the west of the market house (which stood adjacent, spanning Market Street) was leased to William Smith, an innkeeper who held the office of Provost. By 1699, this was described as "Provost Smith's new building". The adjacent market house, erected in 1664, was demolished in 1801 and rebuilt on the same site, before being removed entirely in 1855. A toll gate formerly operated beneath it onto Market Street. The corner bar is documented in Samuel Lewis's account of 1737 and again in Pigot's Directory of 1824. In 1894, the local landlord Thomas Connolly offered a nominal lease at five shillings per annum to William Ross of the market house to enable construction of a new room adjoining the inn for the accommodation of ladies and gentlemen of the neighbourhood. This may account for the present back lounge with its thick wall, though it more likely corresponds to a supper room described in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs as connected to the market house and facing Market House Lane, used for assembly suppers and Sunday School meetings. The 1830 map shows the market house occupying the space directly over the road, while the inn occupied the sites of present numbers 43, 45, and 47. The 1858 Griffiths Valuation records the current arrangement without the market house, with Samuel Mercer occupying the hotel and renting from Mary Ross, sister of Jane. The building passed through several proprietors in the 20th century: McGowans purchased it in 1913, Mr Carty held the license in 1939, and the Mullans family took ownership in 1959. The present owner also rents number 45 to a tenant. Windows to the main bar have been enlarged during the current tenure.