27-31 Irish Street, Downpatrick, Co. Down, BT30 6BW

27–31 Irish Street is a terrace of three mid-18th century townhouses, built around 1770, with shops at ground floor level, situated on a steep hill in the commercial core of Downpatrick. The group forms an important and sensitively restored part of the historic streetscape within the town's Conservation Area.

The terrace reads as two taller identical three-storey two-bay houses (Nos. 27 and 29) with an attached lower three-storey single-bay house (No. 31) to one end. All three are rectangular on plan with pitched natural slate roofs. The taller pair has a raised verge to the exposed gable end and two plain rendered chimneystacks with simple caps and multiple pots; No. 31 has no chimneystacks. One cast-iron skylight sits on the front pitch at the right side. Downpipes are cast iron and gutters appear to be cast metal replacements. The front elevations are painted rendered with ruled-and-lined decoration and quoins separating the two volumes. The exposed section of gable and all rear elevations are exposed rubble masonry. The principal elevation faces north-east.

Windows are largely original and without horns, set in plain reveals with painted masonry cills. At first floor, all windows are six-over-six sashes, though those to No. 31 are smaller in proportion. At second floor, those to No. 27 are three-over-six, and those to No. 31 are three-over-three with their heads at eaves level. Exposed sash boxes are visible to windows on the rear elevation.

The three shopfronts are traditionally styled timber-framed replicas and step progressively downhill with the gradient of the street. No. 29 has two arched panes, a four-panelled timber door and a fascia over; No. 27 is similarly detailed but with a triple arched window; both have panelled pilasters. No. 31 has a flat arched shopfront with a six-light window and a half-glazed four-panelled door. The gables of all three units are completely abutted.

To the rear, accessed from the street through an entry laid with original close-laid pebblestone cobbles, the rear elevation shows varied and staggered openings, all with flat rubble greywacke soldiered lintels, some also with segmental brick relieving arches. No. 27 is abutted by a contemporary link block connecting to an original two-storey rubble masonry outbuilding. No. 31 is abutted by a single-storey lean-to. A two-storey rubble stone outbuilding with a slated roof, timber sash windows and timber sheeted doors stands to the rear, along with the remains of an additional roofless outbuilding. The rear yard of No. 31 is bounded by original rubble stone walling.

The interiors have been sensitively refurbished. No. 27 retains its original staircase, and traditional joinery including architraves and shutters has been reinstated throughout. The upper floors are subdivided into flats.

The group's historical associations are of considerable significance. Patrick Dorrian, Bishop of Down and Connor and founder of Milltown Cemetery in Belfast — the first such cemetery for Catholic citizens of the city — was born at No. 27 in 1814.

The buildings are first shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832–33 with rectangular footprints and linear outbuildings to the rear plots. Nos. 27 and 29 originally formed a cohesive group with the adjoining No. 25 to the west. The Ordnance Survey Town Plan of 1859 shows that No. 27 previously contained a cobbled entry-way providing access from Irish Street to the shared rear plots, which were lined with outbuildings to the north.

The Townland Valuations of around 1834 record No. 27 as rectangular on plan with no rear abutments, occupied jointly with No. 25 by a John Lloyd, the pair carrying a joint rateable value of £34. No. 29, occupied by a Patrick McKeating with a rateable value of £7 8s, was abutted to the rear by a row of linear outbuildings. No. 31, occupied by a Henry McLester with a rateable value of £11 4s, had associated outbuildings to the west side of the rear, extending southwards. The narrow garden plot behind Nos. 25–29 was divided into three sections, with No. 25 to the south, No. 27 centrally, and No. 29 to the north. The garden plot of No. 31 was centrally located in the adjoining strip to the east, shared with Nos. 33 and 35.

Griffith's Valuation of around 1860 records No. 29 as valued at £17 and occupied by woollen draper Thomas Hanna, followed by doctor John McMullan around 1867. No. 31, valued at £8 10s, was occupied by butcher Thomas Lloyd and later by watchmaker John McBride around 1871. No. 27, though noted as unoccupied at this time, had by 1860 become a separate dwelling from No. 25, with the house and outbuildings valued at £15. Annual Revision records show frequent changes of occupant throughout the second half of the 19th century, though rateable valuations were not altered until around 1886; this decline was consistent with other properties in Irish Street and did not reflect changes to the physical fabric. By the late 19th century, all ground floor units fronting Irish Street had been converted to shops, with the remaining rooms occupied by residents. Census records of 1901 and 1911 show No. 27 occupied by builder and contractor Richard McDonald along with a pair of stores in the rear outbuildings; No. 29 occupied by merchant tailor Patrick Dorrian; and No. 31 by auctioneer John Smyth.

Later changes include the removal of the entry-way at No. 27 and the insertion of a separate door to the upper floors (the exact date of which is unclear), the installation of replacement late 20th century shopfronts to Nos. 27 and 29, the construction of additional buildings to the rear plots, and the truncation of the rear plots following the creation of a car park to the south. Nos. 27–31 were restored around 1999, creating a pair of flats and two ground floor shop units; the former separate shops at Nos. 27 and 29 were at that point combined into a single retail unit.

The group is set within a terrace on Irish Street. The surrounding buildings are largely 19th century in character; those opposite are 20th century replacements in a historic pastiche style. Abutting the north-west gable is a third building of similar proportions to the two larger volumes, which does not form part of this listing.