St. Catherine’s Priory, Dominic Street, Newry, Co Down

St. Catherine's Priory is a three-storey building with basement, constructed entirely of granite and arranged in a T plan. Located on the west side of Dominic Street in Newry, immediately south of St. Catherine's church (to which it is connected by a link block), this is one of the few Dominican priories in Northern Ireland.

The building was designed by J. Lennon, with its foundation stone laid on 14 May 1881 and opening on 28 July 1882. A modern annex was added to the west end in the 1990s.

The main street façade features a gabled elevation of rock-faced granite blocks in regular courses with tooled margins to corner stones, rising from a projecting chamfered base. Eight granite steps lead to the main entrance at first floor level, located in the angle between the gable and return. The entrance comprises two four-panel doors with two transom lights above, all with chamfered ashlar granite jambs and head incised with a Maltese cross at the centre. The gable contains three windows on each floor, all 2/2 sliding sash with horns, finely dressed granite jambs and cills, and chamfered ashlar heads incised with a Maltese cross. A niche in the gable apex contains a statue, and a stone cross finial crowns the roof ridge. The pitched natural slate roof is topped by two instepped rock-faced granite chimneys with projecting moulded concrete copings. The gable is coped with ashlar and features moulded ashlar kneeler stones.

The south façade, of similar granite construction, has four windows to each of its three storeys (diminished on the top floor), all featuring granite stringcourses at cill level.

The T-plan return has a hipped natural slate roof with granite chimneys and projecting copings above the eaves on the west and north walls. Its east-facing wall matches the main gable with single windows at ground, first, and second floor levels. The north wall is of coursed random rubble with a pair of windows at first floor and a single window at second floor. The west-facing wall is of coursed rubble with two windows on first and second floors.

Abutting the rear gable of the main block is a modern annex of random granite rubble with a pitched natural slate roof, ashlar granite coping, moulded ashlar kneeler stone, and cast-iron rainwater goods. The party wall between this annex and the original building retains its original window openings, several enlarged to create doorways. The south wall has windows on first and second floors, while the gable contains a first-floor door (accessed over a footbridge) and second-floor window. A second-floor window appears on the north wall. Between the return and modern annex is a single-storey kitchen with basement, featuring a pyramidal natural slate roof with apex lantern light.

Throughout the building, cast-iron rainwater goods are supported on projecting masonry brackets. The structure is largely unaltered and well executed to a high standard, with the later addition in keeping and making a positive contribution to the whole. Its simple rugged exterior and somewhat austere interior complement the adjoining church.