Boundary Post near 28 and 30 Armagh Road Newry Co. Down BT35 6DJ

This granite boundary stone stands between the garden walls of numbers 28 and 30 Armagh Road, approximately one kilometre north of Newry town centre. It is one of fourteen surviving boundary markers that define Newry's former municipal limits, and together they constitute one of the most complete collections of such features in Northern Ireland.

The stone is approximately 0.6 metres in height, with a flat top, curved dressed front, and straight rock-faced sides. Incised on the front face are the letters 'T & C' with 'R B' underneath, possibly standing for Town & County (or Country) and Rural Boundary (or Borough). The back of the stone could not be examined due to thick plant growth.

The boundary stones date from the establishment of Newry's municipal authority under the Newry Improvement and Water Act of 1871. Prior to this, the town had operated under the Commissioners of Police, established under the Lighting of Towns (Ireland) Act of 1828. A municipal boundary was eventually agreed, with the area of the town fixed by special act of 1865, but it acquired official status only in 1871 when the Town Commissioners were formally incorporated as a municipal body. In October 1871, the Commissioners appointed Robert Beard to furnish eighteen cut granite stones for borough boundary marks according to specifications. References to boundary stones in the local press became frequent from mid-1872 onwards, suggesting the markers were installed around 1871–72.

This particular stone is marked on the Ordnance Survey map of 1906 and differs from most surviving boundary markers in Newry both in form and inscription. Whilst the majority carry the inscription 'M B', this stone bears 'T & C R B', which may indicate it was placed following the local government reforms of 1898, when Urban and Rural District Councils came into being. The precise meaning of the letters remains uncertain.

At least twenty stones were marked along the Urban District Council boundary on Ordnance Survey maps between 1903 and 1939, though some appear on certain editions but not others, suggesting possible inconsistencies in the mapping or that stones became obscured or encased in walls over time. The uniform basic design of nearly all surviving markers makes it difficult to establish definitively whether variations in date exist, though the stone near 28 and 30 Armagh Road appears to date from approximately 1898–99. These boundary stones serve as important local artefacts, marking both literally and metaphorically Newry's growth and regional importance during the mid to later Victorian period.