12 Ann Street ('The Central Bar'), Ballycastle, Co Antrim, BT54 6AD

12 Ann Street, Ballycastle

A two to two and a half storey terrace public house of pre-1834 construction, now much altered. The building is located on the north-west side of Ann Street within Ballycastle town centre, with its asymmetrical front elevation facing roughly south-east.

The ground floor features two panelled doors. The main entrance, positioned roughly to the centre, is encased with simple pilasters and has a boarded-over fanlight above. A second panelled door with a simple pilaster on the right-hand side stands to the left of this. Further left is a plain sash window with moulded surround and unsuitable louvred shutters. To the far right is a large single-light pub window with etched glazing. A painted signboard with dilapidated projecting cornice stretches above the pub window and doorways. The first floor contains three unevenly spaced plain sash windows with surrounds and shutters matching those of the ground floor. Internally illuminated projecting pub signs are positioned at first floor level. The front façade is finished in painted render.

The building was substantially altered in recent years. A dominating full-width dormer with a flat or shallow pitched roof has been added across the front, finished with modern windows and artificial slate cladding. The rear has been greatly extended with large modern single to two-storey flat-roofed extensions, finished largely in painted roughcast with modern windows and doors. The original rear elevation is entirely obscured by these extensions.

The roof to the rear remains partly visible and is covered in slate. Rendered chimney stacks stand at both ends. Rainwater goods are mainly PVC, with a mixture of PVC and metal to the front.

Historical records indicate the property was valued in December 1834 as a relatively old house of similar dimensions to the present building, then occupied by James McAlin and John McKinley. The 1859 valuation noted internal finishes were untidy and recorded four rooms below, four over, and four above, with the property occupied by Robert McHenry. The building was likely constructed around 1800 and may have been among the 127 two-storey houses mentioned in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1835. Subsequent occupants included James McBride (circa 1870s), Charles Kelly, and James O'Kane (circa 1950s to 1960s). The descendants of Robert McHenry appear to have held the lease or freehold.

The building was listed in 1981 with a large dormer extension already in place but retaining an intact traditional shopfront and original colour scheme. Major alterations occurred in the 1990s with large rear extensions, interior modifications, loss of the original etched plate glass window, and the addition of timber shutters and a bright colour scheme that obscured remaining historic detail. The building was subsequently delisted on 27 February 2004. It remains situated within a conservation area and continues in use as a public house.