26 Canal Street, Newry, Co Down, BT35 6JB

This is a two-story-plus-attic, single-bay urban vernacular house, likely dating from the 18th century, and situated on the west side of Canal Street in Newry. It is one of a group of similar dwellings, and historical records indicate the original roofs were thatched.

The house has a steeply pitched natural slate roof, with a cement coping on the right side and a rendered chimney on the shared party wall with number 24. A cast iron skylight is set into the rear roof slope, and the slates are cemented together. Semicircular rainwater goods drain into the adjacent property. The facade is painted lined render with a corbelled eaves course. The ground floor features a door on the right and a window on the left, both currently boarded up. A single window is located on the first floor to the left, with a painted rendered cill, also boarded. The left gable forms a party wall, while the right gable is painted wet-dashed. The rear of the building is not accessible.

A previous survey indicates that the ground floor door was originally a three-panelled design with a glazed pane at the top, and the ground floor window was a 12/4 sliding sash without horns. The first floor window was a 6/6 sliding sash with an exposed box. It is believed that access to the interior was originally gained through another property.

The building appears on an Ordnance Survey map from 1835 and was described in 1838 as a thatched building measuring 12 feet 6 inches by 24 feet 6 inches by 14 feet 6 inches. A valuation from 1863 confirms dimensions that are broadly similar. The present building is undoubtedly the one described in these past valuations. Although the exact date when the thatch was replaced with slates is unknown, the roof framing was replaced with sawn timber while maintaining the original roof pitch.