The Pier, Greencastle Pier Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4LR

The Pier is a wooden pier built in the late 19th century, specifically opened in 1880. It is believed to be the sole surviving operational example of its type in the province. The pier is strategically positioned to provide an all-tide berth and is associated with nearby boundary markers. Historically, it was significant as a ferry terminal connecting Mourne and Greenore, and it has associations with the Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway Company.

The pier itself measures 3.5 metres wide and extends for over 100 metres. It is constructed with diagonally-braced uprights that support longitudinal members upon which a gently sloping deck is laid; some of the deck timberwork has been replaced with Iroko. A steeply sloping underwater shelf at the pier’s end allows boats to tie up at all tidal states. Taller timber uprights flank the deck at this end, providing lateral strength to the structure and indicating the pier’s extent at high water. No evidence exists to suggest an upper deck was ever supported by across-top transoms. A chain-link fence is secured by cast-iron posts, some of which have been replaced with galvanised steel. At the pier’s landward end stands a former ferry agent’s house and ticket office, which has been modernised into a private dwelling.

The pier was initially opened to ferry foot passengers across Carlingford Lough to the Greenore terminus of the Holyhead ferry, a service operated by the Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway Company, which also ran a railway line from Newry (opened 1876). The company’s land boundaries around the pier are denoted by small cast-iron posts. Passenger services to Holyhead ceased in 1926, and the pier is now in private ownership and used by fishing boats.