Carraghers Bar, 12 Main Street, Camlough, Co Down

Carragher's Bar is a largely original two-storey public house and dwelling built in 1862, located on Main Street at the eastern edge of Camlough village. The building commands a prominent position on a busy road and forms part of a mixed terrace.

The main structure comprises a two-storey gabled block with attic to the north, a lower two-storey gabled house return to the south-east, and a taller gabled and hipped-roof pub return to the south-west. A long line of outbuildings abuts the south end of the pub return. The walls are rendered and painted. The first floor of the front elevation and the entire east gable, together with the east face of the house return, have lined render. The ground floor of the front is finished in rusticated render and topped with a projecting sill course, extending to the right-hand edge of the east gable. The first floor of the front features in-out moulded quoins. The remaining faces of the returns are finished in plain render.

The main block roof is covered in fibre cement slates with natural Bangor Blue slate to the rear. Four replacement chimneystacks in brown brick, dating from circa 1980s, are evenly spaced across the roof. Three small gabled dormers, appearing to be circa 1990s additions or replacements, are clad to match the front roof covering and each contains a single-light window with single pane frame. The house return roof is finished in natural slate, while the pub return roof has fibre cement tiles. A tall chimneystack in the same materials as described above stands on the house return gable. Rainwater goods comprise a combination of original cast-iron and replacement extruded aluminium.

The symmetrical front elevation features a pub shopfront to the ground floor centre, consisting of a central timber sheeted double door with plain overlight and relatively plain reeded pilaster jambs, flanked by large plate glass window-openings with slimmer pilaster jambs. Above the ensemble is a painted timber signboard with projecting cornice. To either side of the shopfront are single-light Georgian ratio window-openings with moulded surrounds, containing one-over-one timber sash frames with horns and wrought-iron security bars. Four similar window-openings to the first floor have modern top-hung frames.

The house entrance is to the left of centre on the eastern gable of the main block. It comprises a relatively large elliptical-headed opening with prominent rusticated surround, containing a panelled door with elliptical fanlight and panelled pilaster jambs. The first floor has two window-openings with one-over-one timber sliding sash frames. Two smaller windows with modern frames occupy the attic level.

The house return has a ground floor window with tripartite timber sliding sash frame (one-over-one, two-over-two, one-over-one) with security bars. The first floor features a shorter window with similar framing. Internal evidence indicates a doorway to the left of the ground floor gable of the house return with a timber sheeted door, and another doorway to the ground floor of the western face with a panelled door.

The taller eastern return appears to be linked to the main block by a long single-storey section set on an east-west axis. This return has a single window-opening to its eastern ground floor face. The first floor of the eastern face contains a doorway to the left, accessed via a metal spiral staircase, with a single-light nine-pane timber window-opening to its right.

To the rear lies a large enclosed yard accessed via a shared lane. An L-shaped collection of single and two-storey outbuildings, constructed in concrete block and rubble stone (some portions rendered) with curved metal truss roofs covered in corrugated metal, stretches from the pub return gable. South of the outbuildings are concrete block animal pens. A tall rendered wall encloses the yard to the eastern side, with a vehicle gateway at the north end featuring square piers and corrugated metal sheeted gates. A small forecourt in front of the main block contains a cast-iron pump.