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Another piece of Newry history has been extensively damaged in a fire this evening. Four pumping appliances from Newry and Warrenpoint, along with an aerial appliance from Portadown, attended the incident. NIFRS fire crew are still in attendance at the blaze which saw large plumes of black smoke and flames come from the building early in the blaze which broke out around 5.30/ 6pm at the listed warehouse building at 47 Merchants Quay in the city. The fire is now extinguished. While the frontage of the building remains intact the roof of the warehouse seems to be completely destroyed.
The warehouse was built between 1840 - 1859 and has lain derelict for quite a few years. Planning permission was granted for the 'Pearces Gate' development of apartments, retail and office space in November 2022 and the listed building was to be retained and repurposed but to date no development has taken place. It's one of a series of fires in recent weeks at the derelict development site.
An evaluation of the building in the listing states "A three-storey warehouse, this is a robust commercial building characteristic of its time and the heyday of maritime trade from Newry. It is now the least altered of all the canalside warehouses which once dominated Merchant’s Quay, with its characteristic in-line loading doors , and use of local building materials."
The listed building entry continues "Above the window and door opening at left on first floor is a recessed rectangular plaque which reads: "James McMahon 1843". To the right of this plaque are the remains of a fascia board reading "F.V. Harty & Co Ltd Solid Fuel Importers". Both gables are abutted by other buildings; exposed sections cement rendered. The walls of the rear elevation are of random granite rubble. On ground floor at left is coach arch, across which there is a modern metal gate.
"To its right are two 3/3 sliding sash windows, with exposed boxes, metal bars (also brick relieving arch to right window). There are three shuttered window openings on each of the upper floors, in line with one another and with granite cills and keystoned lintels. A brick chimney rises up the wall from ground floor immediately right of the middle window and breaks the eaves to terminate in concrete blockwork. Along the random granite rubble wall at rear is a shallow semi-elliptical arch, some 2m high and now infilled with coursed rubble. Its quoins and voussoirs are of roughly dressed granite blocks; the latter are splayed and rise from projecting spring stones."
The listing adds that the "First Valuation book notes James McMahon as occupying a house, stores and yard at this location in 1838. The dimensions given for the premises differ from those of the building which now exists, indicating that the 1843 datestone relates to a rebuild, not a refurbishment. This is confirmed by the statistics given in the Second Valuation of 1863, in which it is also cited as a ‘store’. McMahon was a ship owner and shipping agent who owned and chartered emigrant ships which plied between Warrenpoint and North America during the 1840s’ famine."
