Fisher and Fisher Solicitors, 9 John Mitchel Place, Newry, Co Down, BT34 2BP

Fisher and Fisher Solicitors, 9 John Mitchel Place, Newry

This is one of a pair of three-storey granite Georgian houses with basement and attic storeys, built between 1820 and 1839. The building occupies the corner of John Mitchel Place and St Colman's Park, with its façade fronting the east side of John Mitchel Place. Both buildings were designed and executed as a single block, forming an imposing feature of the street and square.

The walls are of squared granite rubble in regular courses, with cement-rendered brick dressings to all windows and door openings (except at basement level, where the render has disappeared). The roof is gabled with natural slates, containing two skylights to the front pitch and one at the rear. There are rendered chimney stacks, with a low rendered chimney on the right apex and a taller rendered chimney at left.

The basement walls project slightly and are separated from the ground floor by a chamfered string course. Raised and stepped V-jointed quoins mark both corners of the John Mitchel Place façade. Five granite steps lead up to the front door, which sits at right on this section of the façade, and includes a boot scraper on the top step. The door opening has a semi-elliptical rendered head and half-round beaded edge to its granite casing. It contains a painted timber door with six raised and fielded panels and a vertical bead down the middle to mimic double doors. Two letterboxes are affixed. The door is flanked by two partly-attached Tuscan columns supporting an entablature, with a semi-elliptical transom over. The transom is now covered with plywood on the outside, but its cast-iron tracery is evident inside. To the left of the door is a window opening.

Each of the upper floors has a pair of windows in line with the ground floor openings, with those on the second floor slightly diminished in height. All windows are identical to those on the adjoining house and together form four equally spaced openings across this façade. All have granite cills and three-piece keystoned granite lintels above their heads. The windows are sliding sash, with 1/1 lights on the ground floor and 6/6 lights above.

A wrought-iron railing runs along at ground level, returning up each side of the entrance steps, affixed to a finely dressed chamfered granite plinth with urn-topped cast-iron posts. A passage runs around the outside of the building at basement level. A door on the left cheek of a vaulted chamber underneath the entrance steps once accessed this passage but is now blocked. A window on the right cheek of this chamber is also now infilled. To the left of the entrance is a basement window, now infilled and boarded over. Ogee cast-iron rainwater goods are in place.

The left gable is abutted by a lower building, with its exposed section cement rendered. The right gable is abutted by the adjoining premises. The rear wall is cement rendered. At left is a shallow natural slate hipped roof return, rising two storeys below the chimney and shared with the adjoining premises, with plastic gutters. Its walls are unrendered and of similar construction to the front. There is a large semicircular-headed window to each half landing, and two small modern windows (probably in original openings) on its right cheek. At the bottom of this return on its right cheek is a segmental brick arch leading to a short passage along the outside of the basement. Above the return is a smaller similar window lighting the half landing between second and attic floors. The back wall to the right of this return has a single sliding sash window to each floor (8/2 on ground floor, 6/6 above), with a window to the basement now infilled.

At the back of the house is a yard, at the back of which stands a three-storey shared outbuilding with natural slate roof, gabled at this end but hipped to the street, and metal rainwater goods. Its walls are of rubble granite brought to courses. On the yard-facing elevation is a coach arch with semi-elliptical brick head at ground floor, now infilled. To its right is a pedestrian door, and to its right again a cast-iron lattice window. Each of the upper floors has two window openings, all with concrete cills and cement-rendered reveals. First floor windows have three-piece keystoned granite heads, whilst those at second floor have heads and stepped jambs of red brick. The actual windows are vertically divided two-paned modern replacements.

The left gable is abutted by another building. The back wall faces into the yard of 19 St Colman's Park. It has a semi-elliptical headed and brick-trimmed opening at ground floor with timber door. Above are two openings, both infilled. One-storey flat-roofed Portacabin-type structures now infill the yard between the rear of the house and outbuilding. A three-storey outbuilding belonging to the neighbouring property abuts the left elevation of this outbuilding.

The building appears on the 1835 Ordnance Survey map. According to the 1835 valuation, it belonged to James McAllister (who also owned adjoining properties), but was unfinished at that time, implying it was still under construction. The 1863 valuation describes it as having three and one-third storeys and a basement.

The elevations have survived virtually unaltered, and the original floor plan remains intact, with rooms retaining much of their original character. The building sits within a conservation area.