Byre at Dwelling, Bloody Bridge, Ballagh Road, Newcastle, Co Down

This is a two-storey, one-bay byre and hayloft, built sometime between 1880 and 1899. It is a typical example of a Mourne byre, distinguished by having its upper floor accessed from the hillside rather than by an external stone staircase. A replica of the building stands at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, Cultra. The building has group value when considered alongside the nearby farmhouse (HB 16/01/035A).

The building is set into an east-facing slope, allowing access to both the ground and first floors directly from the surrounding land. The roof is pitched and covered with natural slates, with cement coping on the left gable; there are no rainwater goods. The walls are constructed of coursed granite rubble and feature coarsely squared granite corners, as well as horizontal lintels over the openings, displaying plug and feather marks. The ground floor was originally divided into two rooms. The left-hand room served as the byre, accessible through a now doorless opening, while the right-hand room housed carts, accessed by a wide opening that has never contained a door. A small opening in the left gable provides light to the byre, and the ground floor walls are otherwise plain. The first floor contains the hayloft, with a tongue-and-groove sheeted loading door located off-centre on the main façade and a smaller, similar door in the centre of the rear elevation. A fixed window illuminates the hayloft on the left gable. A small animal pen, built of rubble stone with a monopitched slated roof, abuts the left gable at first floor level, featuring a small entrance on its east gable and no window openings. The building is situated just north of a related farmhouse (HB 16/01/035A).

A building is depicted on this site on Ordnance Survey maps dating from 1901-02 (sheet 49), confirming its later 19th-century date, which is consistent with the use of dressed stone in the walls.

The building retains its original use as farm buildings and is in private ownership. The structure is notable for its vernacular style.