Traymount, 30 Corcreechy Road, Newry, Co Down, BT34 1LR

Traymount is a two-storey, three-bay house standing on the west side of Corcreechy Road in a mature garden setting. Originally constructed in the early 19th century as a conversion of an outbuilding, it replaced an earlier house that was destroyed by fire in the 1920s. The present structure was substantially rebuilt following a fire in the early 1990s and underwent complete refurbishment in 1995.

The house has a pitched natural slate roof aligned north-west to south-east, with a rendered chimney on the ridge between the central and right bays. The walls are rubble stone with red brick dressings to the windows. Wavy bargeboards with overhanging modern timber eaves carry modern moulded rainwater goods. The south-west facing façade is accessed through a porch abutting the central bay.

The fenestration comprises 6/6 sash windows throughout the main façade. The left bay is completely abutted by a two-storey return with matching rubble stone walls and pitched natural slate roof. The return's left cheek has a window at ground floor and a dormer above. Its south-west gable contains a pair of windows on each floor. The right cheek has a pair of French windows at ground floor and a single window in a wall-head dormer above. The central bay of the main façade has two windows at ground floor and two dormer windows above. The right bay contains a window on the left and a canted bay window on the right. The bay window features a pitched natural slate roof with a pair of windows on its front and single windows on each cheek, with a dormer window above. The south-east gable displays a semi-elliptical headed archway at ground floor, now infilled with glazed doors, sidelights and fanlight, with a large multi-glazed casement window above.

The rear elevation is abutted at its left end by two returns. The left return has a high hipped roof and the right return has a lower pitched roof, both detailed as the main house. The central bay of the rear elevation has two ground floor windows and a dormer window. The right bay at rear has a window and modern tongue-and-groove sheeted door at ground floor and a dormer window at first floor. The left gable of the main house has a 3/3 sash at ground floor left and a window in the gable above.

The setting comprises a large mature garden accessed by wrought iron gates at the south and a further set at the north-east. The south gates are the principal entrance, serving the front driveway, and feature hoop-topped design on slender cast iron posts with matching convex screen. On the front lawn, aligned north-east to south-west, stands a late 18th-century doorcase almost entirely obscured by ivy. It comprises a pair of large fluted columns with a segmental headed opening, and once served the earlier house destroyed by fire in the 1920s. A large yard lies to the rear, accessed by a modern masonry arch with bell on the south-east side. It is enclosed on three sides by attractive stone-built outhouses. The south-east and north-west blocks are two-storey structures, whilst the north-east block is single-storey and linear. All outhouses have natural slate roofs and original openings with timber doors and windows. The centre of the yard contains a large lawn with mature trees.

The site has significant historical associations. John Johnston purchased the townland of Lisserboy in 1702 and erected the original house, known as 'Tremont'. In 1705 he donated ground for the nearby Donaghmore Presbyterian Church and became its first minister, serving until his death in 1765. The earlier house is believed to have been similar in character to Derrymore House, constructed as a thatched 'cottage orne'. It is shown on the 1834 Ordnance Survey 6-inch map as 'Traymount' and is described in the 1836 Valuation book as measuring 70 feet by 26 feet by 10 feet, with various returns. Similar dimensions appear in the 1862 Valuation with no subsequent change to its £20 valuation. The original house was destroyed by fire in the 1920s, after which the occupant, Mrs Robinson, converted an outbuilding—probably of early 19th-century date—into the present residence. This converted house was itself gutted by fire in the early 1990s and remained derelict until refurbishment in 1995.