Dobbins Inn Hotel, 6-8 High Street, Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, BT38 7AF

Dobbins Inn Hotel, now a police station, is an attached rendered three-storey building prominently situated in the middle of High Street, Carrickfergus, between the former market house to the west and the former courthouse to the east. Built around 1800, it is a significant local landmark incorporating medieval foundations and remains from Dobbins Castle, an important remnant tracing the early development of the town.

The building is rectangular on plan, facing south, with a two-bay three-storey form. A single-bay three-storey slightly projecting addition rises from the west gable, and a two-storey flat-roofed return extends to the rear. The pitched roof is covered in artificial slate with a replacement red brick chimneystack positioned east of the addition. Half-round cast-iron gutters line the eaves, with a return roof supporting a second floor balcony. The walls are painted with ruled-and-lined rendering over a plinth.

The principal south elevation is asymmetrical. At ground floor level, there is a single door with a window to its left and two windows to the right. The first floor features two sets of paired windows, while the second floor has two wide windows. A metal flagstaff holder is affixed to the first floor, and a modern metal information plaque appears at ground floor level. The western addition is detailed as hotel accommodation, with first and second floors each containing two windows, ground floor comprising two windows and one door fitted with metal pull-down shutters to the left end.

The left cheek (west side) is entirely abutted by Bell's Newsagency. The rear (north) cheek is partially abutted by the return; its exposed section is rendered with one window on both ground and first floors, two windows on the second floor, and a square-headed vertically sheeted timber door to the left end providing access to the return balcony. The right cheek (east side) is abutted by the adjoining hotel, with a blank exposed section at the left end. The rear elevation is largely abutted by the return but contains a variety of modern windows and one replacement timber door. The return includes a balcony to the right end and is gabled to the left end. Windows throughout are uPVC casements.

The building's historical significance is substantial. Excavation of the cellar in 1974 revealed the streetward wall to consist of six different construction dates, with the earliest phase being medieval, representing part of a tower house. The hotel incorporates foundations from a 16th-century tower-house occupied in 1567 by Stephen Dobbin, as recorded in Lythe's 1567 map of Carrickfergus. Writing in 1840, Boyle noted in the Ordnance Survey memoirs that "one of the original houses, shown in the plan as Dobbins, is still in perfect preservation. It is on the east side of the street and in line with the other houses, from which it is distinguished merely by two small square turrets, one at each angle in front." The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832 shows a building with similar orientation and L-plan form to the current structure, though without the later western extension, which appears on the third edition map of 1902.

The building's use has changed considerably over time. Griffiths Valuation of 1860 records it as a "Constabulary House, offices and yard," and Valuation Revisions document it as a "constabulary barracks, office and yard" on High Street, occupied by the Royal Ulster Constabulary in 1923. Campbell and Crowther's historical account confirms its role as a barracks. The building was converted to a hotel around 1950 and has undergone significant internal remodelling since that date.

Extensive twentieth-century alterations and extensions have diminished the building's architectural interest. The structure is located within Carrickfergus conservation area, near the harbour and Carrickfergus Castle. It is noted as a listed monument and was recorded as derelict at the time of listing assessment.