41A Irish Street, Downpatrick, BT30 6AH

41A Irish Street, Downpatrick

This is a mid-18th century three-storey townhouse and shop, built around 1760–1779, forming part of a terrace on the south-west side of Irish Street in the medieval core of Downpatrick. The building was constructed in two phases: the taller two-bay portion dates from the mid-18th century, while an additional single bay above the coach arch was added later, probably between around 1838 and 1859, linking the end of the terrace to the former police station immediately to the south-east. That neighbouring police station building itself appears to date from around 1770–1790. During the 1970s, No. 41A was acquired as a security buffer for the adjacent police station; the buffer zone was later extended in the 1980s to take in No. 41 as well, and the whole group was enclosed behind a tall blast wall. The PSNI vacated the entire site in 2015 and the blast wall was removed in 2016. Conversion of the first and second floors to office use resulted in some loss of special character, though important original fabric survives throughout.

Architectural Overview

The building presents an asymmetrical front façade to Irish Street, three bays wide, with a large square-headed coach arch to one side. The roof is steeply pitched with artificial slates to all slopes. A chimney formerly sat in the middle of the ridge and on the gable — visible in First Survey photographs — but both are now absent. The plan is rectangular, with a substantial three-storey hipped-roof return running alongside the coach arch entry. The front elevation is rendered; the rear elevation exposes random greywacke rubble stonework.

Front Elevation

To the second floor, three original 3-over-3 timber sash windows with no cills. To the first floor, two original 6-over-6 timber sashes and one 1-over-1 timber sash, all with stone cills. To the ground floor, two original 6-over-6 timber sashes flank the large square-headed coach arch, which is fitted with modern double-leaf doors. All windows have exposed boxes and no horns. As of December 2016, all openings were blocked, with the windows remaining visible from the interior.

Coach Arch Entry Elevation

The elevation within the entry is largely rendered with some exposed stone. Features here include one original 8-over-8 sash window with no cill, fine glazing bars, and no horns, alongside an original shopfront. The shopfront comprises a door with a decorative cast-iron rectangular fanlight over it, and an adjoining window with a moulded timber frame that remains intact, though the window itself is blocked; there is no cill. As of December 2016, all openings in this elevation were also blocked.

Rear Elevation

Above the coach arch, the rear elevation is carried on an exposed brick arch, with two openings: a 3-over-6 original timber sash to the first floor and a 3-over-3 original timber sash to the second floor, both with exposed boxes and no horns. All openings were blocked as of December 2016.

Rear Return

The rear return has one opening to the first-floor end elevation, one opening to the first-floor south-east flanking elevation onto the entry, and one small window to the first-floor north-west flank facing the internal courtyard formed by the outbuildings. All of these windows are modern replacements, and all openings were blocked as of December 2016.

Interior

Despite the conversion to office use, a number of significant original internal features survive. These include the original staircase, joinery in the so-called parlour, and the original shopfront to the rear ground floor. These elements are of particular interest and contribute substantially to the building's special character.

Outbuildings

To the rear of the building, and abutting the ground floor of the return, is a substantial L-shaped outbuilding of around 1770, enclosing a small yard behind the adjacent No. 41. The outbuilding is storey-and-a-half in height on its south-east elevation, facing onto the back of the former police station, and rises to two or two-and-a-half storeys on the north-west elevation where the ground slopes steeply downhill. The roofs are covered in natural slates with traditional closed eaves. The south-east elevation has cement render and a modern short flight of steps; the remainder is rubble stone with remnants of lime plaster and limewash. Timber windows survive to the upper floors, while the ground floor openings have been infilled.

Setting and Plot

The building sits within a terrace on a steep hill in Irish Street. The surrounding context includes a variety of mid-18th and early 19th century buildings, with 20th century replacement buildings in a historic pastiche style on the opposite side of the street. The former police station abuts the south-east gable. To the rear, a substantial yard is now shared with the police station site, with original rubble stone boundary walls. The rear outbuildings form a courtyard enclosure behind the adjacent No. 41, and much of the original long, narrow plot survives — a characteristic strip plot form extending back from the street frontage that is typical of the medieval street pattern here.

Historical Background

Irish Street forms part of the medieval core of Downpatrick, and its antiquity is clearly attested by the long narrow strip plots that extend to the rear of properties on both sides of the street. The earliest detailed plan of the town, drawn up by James Maguire in 1708, shows plots on the sites of the present No. 41A and the adjacent No. 41. No buildings are delineated on this survey, though the site had in all likelihood been long developed by that point. A plan of 1720, also apparently Maguire's work, marks buildings and lists tenants, but the names of those on the south-west side of Irish Street are unfortunately missing. An almost identical third plan of 1729 does include tenants for this stretch, and although certainty is difficult, the properties now known as Nos. 41 and 43 Irish Street are likely to have occupied what was then known as McGrory's tenement, at that time leased to a Mrs Dunlop and a Mr James Tate.

The architectural character of the main part of No. 41A — the steeply pitched roof, small widely spaced fenestration with exposed sash boxes, and elements of internal detailing including the staircase — is consistent with a mid-18th century construction date, in keeping with much of the rest of Irish Street as it stood until relatively recently. It is clear, however, that the building was originally narrower, with the section over the archway added later. Map evidence places this addition between approximately 1838 and 1859, though an earlier date is possible; what is certain is that it post-dates the grander neighbouring building to the south, the former police station at No. 45. The rear return arrangement was in place by at least 1833.

The 1830s valuation book for Downpatrick lists No. 41A as being in the hands of Hugh Cleland, with a rateable value of £16. Hugh Cleland was the husband of Elizabeth, the niece and eventual heiress of William Thompson, who then owned the much more substantial grand house immediately to the south-east — the former police station. That property eventually passed to Hugh and Elizabeth's eldest son James in the 1850s. By the time of the second valuation, around 1860, No. 41A was in the hands of William McBride.