11-13 Market Square East, Lisburn, County Antrim, BT28 1AE

Two three-storey, two-bay mid-terrace Georgian townhouses, now converted into a single commercial premises, probably dating from the late 18th or early 19th century. The building is located in Lisburn city centre, east of the Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum, on the north side of the junction between Bridge Street and Market Square.

The building has a rectangular plan form extended to the rear with a two-storey cat-slide extension. The pitched natural slate roof features clay ridge tiles and rendered chimneys with terracotta pots. uPVC replacement rainwater goods are fitted. The external walls are finished in ruled-and-lined cement render with a dentilled corbel course at eaves level.

The principal elevation faces east. The ground floor has been substantially altered and now comprises two matching timber-framed and glazed Victorian-style shop fronts with pilasters and dentilled entablature. The main entrance to number 11 is centrally located, flanked by two large single-paned windows fitted with two rows of square-paned rolled glass in alternating colours. Non-illuminated lettering is fixed at frieze level. Number 13 has a matching shop front with a double-leaf timber-panelled door to the right of the glazed section. A full-width awning extends between ground and first floor. The first and second floors are symmetrically arranged with four windows across each floor; the second floor windows are diminished in size. These are 6/6 timber sliding-sash windows with no horns, a continuous cill to the first floor, and individual cills to the second floor.

The left gable is abutted by 9 Market Square and the right gable by 15 Market Square. The rear elevation is completely obscured by a two-storey cat-slide extension comprising a variety of modern window sizes. The building is prominently sited in the city centre, forming part of a terrace of similar three-storey buildings facing directly onto the market house. To the rear lies a large graveyard belonging to Lisburn Cathedral.

Lisburn was founded in the early 17th century when James I granted Sir Fulke Conway the south Antrim manor of Killultagh. Sir Fulke established his estate headquarters at what was then known as Lisnagarvey and began laying out the town in the early 1620s. By 1640, the town had been established much along its present lines, with a central market place and radiating streets. Following a disastrous fire in 1707, the town was rapidly rebuilt to its original street plan using improved materials—brick replacing wood, and slates and tiles replacing shingles. Lord Conway encouraged rebuilding by granting forty-one year leases on vacant holdings.

A building on this site is shown on Pattison's 1833 map, though an exact date for the current premises could not be established. Nothing is known of its early history and the building could not be identified in Griffith's Valuation or census records. The building is currently in use as a menswear shop and is situated within a conservation area.