Daltons, 26-28 Bow Street, Lisburn, County Antrim, BT28 1AW

Daltons is a three-storey, three-bay mid-terrace building located at 26-28 Bow Street in Lisburn town centre, adjacent to the Irish Linen Museum. Originally a Georgian townhouse, it underwent significant Victorian façade alterations around 1890 and is currently in use as a café, having formerly served as a public house.

The building has pitched natural slate roofing with clay ridge tiles and red-brick chimneys fitted with replacement clay pots and replacement extruded metal rainwater goods. The principal elevation, which faces south, is rendered in stucco and symmetrically arranged. The ground floor is entirely occupied by a modern shop front with illuminated signage and awning. The first floor contains three uniformly arranged windows with diminished second-floor windows directly above. Both upper floors are flanked by Corinthian pilasters rising to a dentilled entablature, topped with a castellated parapet featuring diminutive castellated octagonal towers to either side. A centrally located plaque bears an unidentified coat-of-arms displaying a Red Hand. The windows feature replacement double glazing set within moulded stucco surrounds with roundels.

The left gable is abutted by the adjoining building at 30 Market Square North, whilst the right gable is abutted by 26 Market Square North. The rear elevation is largely obscured by a large modern two-storey extension shared with the adjoining building. A second-floor door on the right side is accessed via a galvanised fire escape stair, and various modified window openings are visible.

The building's origins likely date from the reconstruction period following the disastrous fire of 1707, when Lord Conway encouraged rebuilding by granting forty-one year leases on waste holdings, with brick replacing wood and slate and tiles replacing shingles as improved materials. A building on this site appears on Pattison's 1833 map. Photographs from the 1870s show a structure of simple early Georgian design, but by the turn of the twentieth century the façade had been remodelled with its present castellated parapet, Corinthian pilasters, and window mouldings. At that time the frieze bore the legend "Whiskey Bonder and Wine Importer", reflecting its use as a public house.

From 1905, the premises was the residence and business of Robert Magill, a spirit merchant, until his death in 1905. By 1920 it had been taken over by Thomas Browne. During the disturbances in Lisburn in 1920 following the murder of District Inspector Oswald Swanzy of the RIC, the premises was looted and the neighbouring building collapsed, causing damage to the pub. Thomas Browne subsequently married and raised a family in the accommodation above the public house.

The building forms part of a Georgian terrace that has been largely modified or substantially rebuilt for commercial and retail purposes. It addresses the former market square and Assembly Rooms, now the Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum. A car park accessed from Graham Gardens lies to the rear of the site. The building is located within a conservation area.