Former Boat House at, The Harbour, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4AH, BT34 4BH

This is a modestly sized, well-constructed boathouse, built around 1904 and functionally linked to the nearby listed coastguard station. Its construction reflects the evolving role of the coastguard, transitioning from preventing smuggling to providing sea rescue services, a vital function within this fishing community.

The building is a one-story, single-bay structure situated on the south-east corner of the inner harbour. It has a pitched roof covered in natural slate tiles with terracotta ridge tiles. Plastic gutters are fixed to painted timber eaves boards. The walls are constructed of roughly squared granite rubble laid in courses and strap pointed, with finely dressed granite used for stepped quoins and dressings around the openings. The principal gable faces east, overlooking the slipway on the opposite side of the road. A large, painted tongue-and-groove double-leaf door, with a wicket gate in the right-hand leaf, occupies the centre of this elevation within a segmental-headed opening. A flagpole is fixed to the right side of the gable. The left elevation is largely blank, except for a segmental-headed, painted fixed-pane window at centre, set on a stooled cill, with a small ventilator in the wall below. A plastic downpipe is located at the front (right) end. The rear gable is blank. The right elevation mirrors the left. Additionally, a small flight of concrete steps leads up to adjacent oil storage tanks at the extreme right. The slipway itself is made of mass concrete, and its north side is revetted by metal pile sheeting.

Originally built as a boathouse connected to the Coastguard station, the building was subsequently acquired by the RNLI in June 1986 to house a D-class lifeboat. Following the acquisition of a larger lifeboat in December 1992, a new lifeboat station was built on the opposite side of the harbour, and this building transitioned to use as a souvenir and fund-raising shop. Records from the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI – VAL 12B/19/14D, 1904 valuation, p.144) and the RNLI Secretary for Kilkeel, provide further details. The building is of industrial archaeological interest.