30 Bridge St., Rostrevor, Co.Down

30 Bridge Street, Rostrevor

This Grade B2 listed building is located within Rostrevor Conservation Area. The site appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1834. The valuation book of 1835-36 is difficult to interpret but suggests the plot was then occupied by a "not new" house measuring 13 feet by 21 by 15 feet, occupied by Hugh Mooney. By 1861 the plot had been subdivided, with the dwelling on this site recorded as measuring 4½ yards by 7 by 2 storeys, occupied by Anne Downey who was leasing from Rose Feran.

In 1874 the rateable value of this house and three similar dwellings immediately to the southeast (numbers 32-36) rose from £3 10s to £3 to £5 15s, indicating that all four properties were either substantially refurbished or rebuilt at that time. The overall uniformity of the properties and details such as bevelled window reveals suggest rebuilding rather than refurbishment, although there is no annotation on the contemporary valuation town plan to confirm wholesale rebuilding. The new or largely rebuilt house was first leased to Michael Morgan, followed by Samuel McAlister in 1892 and John Brennan in 1894. In the 1901 census, Mr Brennan, a 60-year-old bachelor working as a general labourer, is noted as living here with his two unmarried sisters Mary Anne and Kate, and a boarder John Young. The building was recorded as a second-class dwelling with four rooms in use.

Subsequent tenants included Joseph Curran (1911), Sarah Morgan (1913), Bessie Fearon and Thomas Morgan (1916), Thomas Morgan and Rose Kelly (by 1921), John Tinelly (1937, leasing from Thomas Morgan), George Kane (1942), Thomas Sloane (1951), and John Hanna (1951 to 1971).

Bridge Street originated as part of the road from Kilkeel connecting to the original roads to Rathfriland and Newry. Oliver Sloane's County Down map of 1739 shows Rostrevor comprising solely buildings along the northeastern side of the road, suggesting this side of Bridge Street may mark the earliest part of the village. An estate map of 1767 and Williamson's 1810 county map show development on both sides of the street, reaching its present extent by the 1834 Ordnance Survey map. Known in the 1830s as Post Office Street due to the presence of that establishment, the name was modified to Old Post Office Street by 1861 and changed to Bridge Street around 1900. The building is currently in office use.