Write a comment
The building of a tidal dock in 1767 initiated the development of the town of Warrenpoint. The dock was funded by the Irish Parliament after the merchants of Newry petitioned them for a grant to build the dock. They submitted a plan and an estimate of the work was appraised at almost £3,000 with two years for building. The merchants were given a grant of £1,500. Roger Hall, Robert Ross, Robert Scott and Edward Corry were appointed as commissioners and the dock became property of the Hall family who were the landlords in the area.
In 1777, the Newry merchants petitioned for another grant of £1,447 which was approved. Two years later Warrenpoint docks had ships sailing from Warrenpoint to America. Sometime around 1830, the piers were extended into the channel to enable vessels to come in at half-tide and a patent slip was constructed for the building and repair of ships. By 1846 it would take only 16 hours to reach London from Warrenpoint by boat and train.
Up until 1850, ships of 150 tons and over could go no higher than Warrenpoint. During the years of the Great Famine, emigrants to America and elsewhere bought their tickets in Newry and sailed from Warrenpoint. However, the opening of a new ship canal at Newry in 1850 changed this situation.
Roger Hall carried out improvements on the harbour at Warrenpoint which were noted in the minutes of a select Committee of the House of Lords in 1863. Some of the improvements made throughout the years included the building the Victoria Pier and a large shed costing around £5000-£6000. Hall also set up gas lights at the Harbour and the Pier. It was also noted that since 1819, Hall had spent an estimated £4000 on improving the accommodation of Warrenpoint. After the opening of the Newry – Warrenpoint Railway in 1849, £5000 was spent on extensions at Warrenpoint so that goods could be transported to and from Warrenpoint Harbour by rail, reducing transit expenses by half.
With the opening of the Albert Basin and a new ship canal at Newry, Warrenpoint declined as a port while Greenore and Newry increased business. However, Warrenpoint’s maritime location proved to be beneficial during the Second World War. In 1942, a Dublin and Belfast firm of Steel Construction Engineers named Smith and Pearson Ltd began building tank landing crafts in a workshop in Merchant Quay in Newry. The tanks in question, Mulberry Harbours, were prominent in the D-Day invasion. By 1944 the company was asked to set up a building operation in the Warrenpoint Shipyard Co. Ltd. They built 20 L.C.T. Mk. 4’s (Tank Landing Craft) before moving on to the Mk. 8’s in 1945 which were then converted into cargo vessels and small tankers after the war. At the height of operation, an estimated 1000 men were employed at the Warrenpoint yard.
It was believed that Warrenpoint became the preferred port over Newry and Greenore when container shipping began to use Warrenpoint Port in 1964. Container ships were too large to use the Victoria Lock at Newry and the Port of Newry closed in March 1974.
Operational from 1973, the modern port at Warrenpoint was developed and expanded between 1972 and 1974 on land formerly occupied by John Kelly Ltd (coal importers), Warrenpoint Railway Station and Dow Mac Cement, supplemented by land reclamation. This provided the new port with twenty-eight acres of land. The Port of Warrenpoint has continue to grow and now covers an area of fifty-three acres.
Newry and Mourne Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00 am – 4.30 pm. Please call 0330 137 4422 for further information.
by Joanne Glymond
Write a comment
William Johnson was a prominent local solicitor who lived in Warrenpoint with his legal practice, Johnson & Rutherford, at 6 Marcus Square in Newry. During the First World War, Johnston was particularly associated with recruitment and was Chairman of the Newry Recruiting Committee; Alex Fisher, another prominent local solicitor was its Hon. Secretary.
William Johnson also sat on several local recruitment committees and was a member of the Executive Council at the Organisation of Recruiting in Ireland (CCORI) during the war years. His brother, Captain A. E. Johnson, was an internee at Ruhleben Camp in Germany. His sister, Miss C. Johnson, worked at the Grange Street Military Hospital in Manchester. Another sibling, Miss Margaret Johnson, resigned her position as principal teacher of the Domestic Science School in Lewes, Sussex to volunteer as a Navy and Army Canteen Inspector under the War Office.
In a letter reprinted in The Newry Reporter after the end of hostilities, William Johnson was thanked by the secretary of the Irish Recruiting Council, who wrote:
“I am directed by the Irish Recruiting Council to convey to you their special thanks for the most valuable assistance which you gave in the recruiting campaign. …. In all parts of Ireland the Irish Recruiting Council received much assistance, but to very few are they more deeply indebted than to you”.
On 23 April 1919 William Johnson organised a home-coming celebration in Newry Town Hall which was attended by over 600 discharged and demobilised soldiers and sailors from the district. In 1920 he was given a CBE in recognition of his recruitment work.
After the Partition of Ireland in 1921, Johnson provided evidence and submissions on the pro-partition side to the Irish Boundary Commission in 1925 for several interested parties including Warrenpoint Harbour Authority and The Principal Property Owners, Traders, Lodging House Keepers and Residents in Warrenpoint. In his evidence as the First Witness for the Property Owners which took place in Newry 12 March 1925 he said:
“ … If I thought it would be to the economic interest of Warrenpoint, as a seaside resort, to be transferred to the Irish Free State, believe me I would say so, as long as we have in Ireland two states, the North of Ireland and the Irish Free State, I am firmly convinced – much as I would like to see a United Ireland; – but that is an ideal that will take years to bring about, but until that comes about – Warrenpoint’s economic interests, in my opinion, are as a part of Northern Ireland.”
The various evidence, including that of Johnston, provided to the Boundary Commission gives a fascinating insight into the complexity of people’s allegiances and opinions at this period. Johnson was also a great personal friend of John Henry Collins, another local solicitor who co-ordinated representations and submissions from anti-partition witnesses to the Commission. In April 1925, Collins was elected as MP for Armagh on a ‘Smash Partition’ mandate.
Newry and Mourne Museum holds a scrapbook once owned by William Johnson which provides a further insight into his life. There are a few letters congratulating him on the appointment of his son, who became a prominent Barrister, as Secretary to the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland in 1928. There is also a letter from Newry Shopping Week Committee thanking him for his assistance in organising a successful ‘Broadcasting and Concert’ during the event which took place at the beginning of July 1928.
Johnson supported Warrenpoint’s development as a seaside resort for tourists and was involved with promotional work with the London, Midland and Scottish Railway to attract visitors to the town. He was also Secretary of the Congregational Committee of Warrenpoint Presbyterian Church. He retired to England where he died in 1938.
Newry and Mourne Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00 am – 4.30 pm. Please call 0330 137 4422 for further information.
by Noreen Cunningham
Write a comment
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of decimalisation in the United Kingdom. Decimal Day was on Monday 15 February 1971, when Britain finally moved to a system based on units of ten. Under the old system, which had been in place for hundreds of years, there were twelve pence in a shilling and twenty shillings, or 240 pence, in a pound.
It is hard to imagine for those of us under fifty that our parents and grandparents had to wrestle with complex arithmetic every day. In fact, the problems of dealing with this complicated system had been raised as far back as 1847. Sir John Bowring, a Member of Parliament at that time, called for it to be changed to a currency based on units of ten. His argument was simple: “Every man who looks at his ten fingers, saw an argument of its use, and evidence of its practicability.”
His fellow MPs could see he had a point. In 1848 the nation’s first decimal coin appeared. The florin was one tenth of a pound. But that is as far as decimalisation went at that time. In 1961, over a century after Sir John Bowring’s speech, the Government set up a special committee to think about whether Britain should introduce a decimal currency. The committee decided in favour of decimalisation. So, on 1 March 1966 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, James Callaghan, announced that pounds, shillings and pence would be replaced by a decimal currency, with a hundred units in a pound.
The committee then put plans in place to introduce the new currency. Decimal Day was set for 15 February 1971, when the new coins would be introduced. It was a momentous day for the national currency and the beginning of a period of planning and changes for The Royal Mint. Banks were closed for four days before changeover to prepare. During the 1960s, the Republic of Ireland had also been moving towards decimalisation and they changed to decimal currency on the same a date as Britain.
Currency converters were available for everyone and prices in the shops were shown in both currencies. This went some way to alleviate the feeling that shopkeepers might use the conversion from ‘old money’ to new to increase prices! We are lucky enough to have in the Museum Collection, a decimal converter from McCann’s Bakery where it was used to convert pounds, shillings and pence into decimal currency. Many shops and businesses designed and produced their own individual decimal conversion tables for their customers.
‘Decimal Day’ ran without a hitch. Although the elderly generation found it more difficult to adapt to decimalisation, in general the population readily embraced the new currency. “How much is that in ‘old money’?” was a phrase heard in many shops during the 1970s.
For a short time, the old and new currencies operated in unison, whereby people could pay in pounds, shillings and pence and receive new money as change. Originally it was planned that ‘old money’ would be phased out of circulation over eighteen months, but as it turned out, the old penny, halfpenny and three penny coins were officially taken out of circulation as early as August 1971. It was originally intended that the new unit of currency would be referred to as ‘new pence’ to distinguish it from the old money, but this was quickly adapted to the abbreviation ‘p’, which we still use today.
Newry and Mourne Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00 am – 4.30 pm. Please call 0330 137 4422 for further information.
by Anna Savage
Write a comment
Born in Belfast in 1930, the son of a Presbyterian minister, Hugh Irvine came to Kilkeel in 1953 when he was appointed as a history teacher at the newly-opened Kilkeel High School. He became Vice-Principal of the school in 1962 and was Principal from 1987 until his retirement in 1993. After settling in Kilkeel, he developed a keen interest in the history, archaeology, architecture, genealogy and folklore of the area around Kilkeel, the Mourne Mountains and Rostrevor.
Irvine recorded the results of his historical and genealogical research on an extensive series of index cards and built up a large photographic collection reflecting his interest in farming and rural life in the Mournes. Throughout his life, he also collected original historic documents including receipts from local shops, postcards, maps and newspaper cuttings. These were donated to the Museum by widow after his death in 2009 and now form The Hugh Irvine Collection.
The Collection can be broadly divided into four categories: index cards relating to family and local history which are supplemented by various notebooks, transcripts and notes taken from source material in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) and other locations, slides and postcards and original sources.
There are over one thousand genealogical index cards in the Collection which contain notes on a large number of families in the Kilkeel and Mournes area. The information on the cards mostly dates from the 18th century up to mid-20th century and is derived from a range of sources in PRONI including estate records, Board of Guardians minute books and valuation records. Details of property owned by individuals in each family is recorded including rents paid and sometimes their occupation and other pieces of miscellaneous information.
The index cards relating to local history total about six hundred. These cover a broad range of topics relevant to agriculture, local business and commerce, buildings, churches, townlands, fishing and maritime history to name a few. A highly significant aspect of both the genealogical and local history cards is that Hugh Irvine carefully referenced the information on the cards with the original source from he drew the material. This makes these cards a very valuable research tool for family and local historians.
A highly significant attribute of the Collection are the photographs and slides taken by Irvine in the 1960s and 1970s. These images form a valuable record of the vernacular architecture and the agricultural and industrial heritage of the Kilkeel and Mourne area. These are complemented by a collection of postcards, mostly from the first half of 20th century, which give an insight into Kilkeel, Rostrevor and Warrenpoint in this period.
The Collection also contains transcripts of, and notes taken from, a range of source of material. One notable item in this material is a series of notes taken from the 19th century minute, account and report books of the Newry and Kilkeel Steamship Company which are in PRONI. Other important transcripts include extracts from the registers of Kilkeel Parish Church and Mourne Presbyterian Church.
A number of original documents are included in the Collection. One is a Poor Rate Collection Book which records poor rates paid by occupiers of property in the Mullartown division of the Kilkeel Poor Law Union in June 1854. Another is a sermon notebook, dating from the 1850s, which belonged to the Rev. Alexander Savage, who was minister of Ballenon Reformed Presbyterian Church, near Poyntzpass, in county Armagh and a relative of the Irvine family.
This article only provides a brief guide to the content of the Hugh Irvine Collection and a flavor of the riches it contains. If you have a research query relevant to the contents of the Collection, please contact the Museum at museum@nmandd.org
The Museum is currently offering free tours on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 11.00 am. These must be booked in advance by calling our Education Officer at 0330 137 4422.
Newry and Mourne Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00 am – 4.30 pm. Please call 0330 137 4422 or email museum@nmandd.org for further information.
by Ken Abraham
Write a comment
At Church Street, Newry a marble statue of Christ sculptured from rock quarried in the city of Carrara in the province of Massa and Carrara in the Luningiana, the northernmost tip of modern-day Tuscany, Italy can be found in an archway of Newry's finest granite.
Known locally as the Church Street grotto we look back at events in Newry and Dublin which inspired local people to construct the holy shrine three years after a final public mass in Dublin which was attended by quarter of the population of Ireland.
EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS IN NEWRY
On Monday 23rd May 1932 the Newry Urban Council gave permission for the erection of arches at Monaghan Street and Bridge Street Bridges, for celebrations and a procession in connection with Eucharistic Congress. Also permission was granted by the Council to fly the Eucharistic flag on Newry Town Hall but was not acted upon amidst local controversies about flags.
The Procession itself was held in Newry, Sunday 5th June with a report in the 'Derry Journal read:
'One of the largest and most impressive religious processions witnessed in Newry for several years took place on Sunday in connection with the Eucharistic Congress.
The procession, which included priests from all parts of the Diocese of Dromore, members of the Holy Family, women's sodalities, and schoolchildren, marched eight deep, starting from the Cathedral and numbering several thousands.
At the Dominican Church 'Queen Street' the Benedictine was given by his Lordship Most Rev. Dr. Mulhern, and the processionists then moved off by way of Bridge Street to Abbey Yard, where the Benedictine was again imparted by the Bishop.
Hymns were sung by the processionists all along the route, which was lavishly decorated with bunting and flags, while two arches spanned the Monaghan Street and Dublin Bridges. The procession was watched by large and interested crowds from various vantage points and shipping at the Albert Basin was decorated in honour of the occasion.'
DUBLIN EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS
The closing ceremony of the 31st International Eucharistic Congress was held in Dublin in June 1932 when Ireland was then home to 3,171,697 Catholics, chosen on this year to coincide with the 1500th anniversary of St Patrick's arrival.
Dublin was decorated with banners, bunting, garlands, and replica round towers with seven ocean liners moored in the port basins and along 'Sir John Rogerson's Quay.' The vessels acted as floating hotels and could accommodate from 130 to 1,500 people on each.
The Blue Hussars, a ceremonial cavalry unit of the Irish Army formed to escort the President of Ireland on state occasions first appeared in public as an honor guard for the visiting Papal Legate representing Pope Pius XI.
The final public mass of the congress was held on 26 June in Phoenix Park with approximately 25% of the population of Ireland attending.
Afterwards four processions left the Park to O'Connell Street where approximately 500,000 people gathered on O'Connell Bridge the concluding Benediction given by the Papal Legate, Cardinal Lorenzo Laurie.
The 'Dundalk Democrat' described the event:
'Here men and women are proud to give evidence of their Faith: proud of being sons and daughters of the dead and gone Catholics who kept the flame alive in evil days of persecution and spoliation. The men and women of long ago, from the high place in heaven won by their heroic piety must have looked down upon this glorious scene with serene happiness and benediction.'
NEWRY'S LATER SHRINE
It would be three years after the Eucharistic Congress before a shrine was erected in Newry in Commemoration of the occasion and not in 1932 which many of us could be forgiven for thinking. Today's display and inscription at the grotto reads: 'Christ the King' - 'To Commemorate The Eucharistic Congress 1932.'
In the 'Catholic Standard' from 1st November 1935 it reported:
'Newry Shrine Erected In Commemoration of the 1932 Eucharistic Congress' - A statue of Christ the King, erected in commemoration of the 1932 Eucharistic Congress, at 'Pound Street' Newry, close to Monk's Hill. It was unveiled and blessed last Sunday (27th October,1935) by his Lordship the Bishop of Dromore, Most Rev. Dr. Mulhern. The shrine, which is on the site given by Mrs. Magennis, Priory House, is of Newry granite, and the statue itself is of Carrara marble.'
In October 2003 the Church Street grotto was in the news again when the 'Newry Reporter' reported upon the unveiling of a new plaque with former Council Mayor Jack Patterson officiating at the ceremony.
The plaque was in memory of Mary Ellen Lundy who attended to the grotto in her lifetime and those in attendance at the ceremony were Mary Ellen's sisters, Margaret Hollywood and Bridie Weir along with Father Terence Rafferty and Father Andrew McMahon.
Write a comment
The opening of the Newry Canal had a major effect on the development of the town. By 1777 Newry was positioned as the fourth largest trading town in Ireland, supplying the majority of Ulster. The town was also growing in production and names like Buttercrane Quay, Sugar Island, Corn Market and Merchants Quay were a direct result of its success.
The need for proper improved facilities like sewage and drainage, pavements and cleanliness and street lighting became apparent as the town developed. Muggings at night were becoming more common and the development of new factories, warehouses and dwellings demanded better lighting.
In 1822, the Newry Gas Light Company was established following on from the development of a new method of street lighting in London. This was one of the first of its kind in Ireland. A lease was agreed with the Earl of Kilmorey who owned land flanking the quays on present-day Kilmorey Street, where coal could be shipped to manufacture gas. In the early years the number of people served by the new Gasworks was very small.
In 1828 “An Act for the lighting, watching, and cleansing of cities, towns corporate, and market towns in Ireland” was established. This Act originated in Newry, where it was first implemented, and Newry became a model for municipal administration throughout Ireland. Twenty-One Commissioners of Police were elected. The Commissioners employed eleven officers called the Town Watch and paid their salaries from local taxes. The duties of the Town Watch included patrolling the town, lighting street lamps and keeping streets clean and free from obstruction. They also dealt with minor crimes and disorderly behaviour.
In 1830, the recorded number of gas lights in Newry totalled seventy-eight. The first light obviously was at the gate outside the Gasworks. The rest were located on the main streets, bridges and businesses around the town and we not lit in the Summer months. The Commissioners also entered into contracts with numerous suppliers of oil lamps as an accompaniment to gaslight.
Under the 1828 Act, the Commissioners were responsible for any outside lights and their upkeep. The Gas Company was contracted by the Commissioners to light the gas lamps. To increase profit, the Gas Company focused on supplying homes of the wealthy and businesses, located in close proximity to the Gasworks. They also traded in the by-products of gas manufacture, such as tar and coke, which was very profitable and in high demand.
There was much discord between the Commissioners and the Gas Company over the years due to costs and the condition of the gas lights. In 1857, after various Acts had passed into law, the Newry Gas Light Company was dissolved and the Newry Gas Consumers Company Limited was formed. There were two hundred gas lamps at this stage in the town and the lighting of oil lamps had since been terminated due to the continued advancement of the gas burners.
Next week’s article will look at the Gasworks from when it passed into the ownership of the Newry Town Commissioners in the later 19th century up to eventual closure in the 1980s.
The Museum is currently offering free tours on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 11.00 am. These must be booked in advance by calling our Education Officer at 0330 137 4422.
Newry and Mourne Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00 am – 4.30 pm. Please call 0330 137 4422 or email museum@nmandd.org for further information.
by Dympna Tumilty
Write a comment
On 6th February 1865 the Towns’ Improvement (Ireland) Act was adopted. The Board of Police Commissioners was dissolved, and eighteen Town Commissioners were appointed in their place. Newry was divided into three Wards, North, South and West, and the first chairman of the Town Commissioners was John Moore.
The town of Newry saw significant development during the mid-19th century. The ship canal was extended and the Albert Basin opened, there were six markets in the town based at Butter Crane, King Street (Francis St), Mary Street, Needham Street and Market Street and the town became an important junction for several railway lines, linking Newry with Belfast, Dublin, Warrenpoint and Armagh
and other parts of Ireland. In 1885, an electric tramway was also opened to carry linen from Bessbrook Mill, on the outskirts of Newry, established by the Richardson family in the later 1840s.
However, tensions between the Newry Gas Consumers Company Limited and the Police Commissioners had worsened over time regarding various issues. In 1876 a vote was taken by the Town Commissioners to introduce a Bill that would lead to the transfer of the Gasworks to their ownership. The Commissioners took possession of the Gasworks on 1st January 1879 and, in the following years, they carried out substantial development of the site of the Gasworks in addition to reducing the price of gas and significantly improving the street lighting in the town.
This success, however, wavered in the years that followed, due to the First World War and the introduction of Electric Light. Late in 1923 permission was sought by W & S Magowan to erect two electric cables across the Mall from their printing works to the Town Hall. In July 1929, an electricity scheme was introduced to the main streets in the town but this did not have any adverse effect on the Gasworks.
The Second World War led to increased gas prices and Newry Urban District Council decided that electric fluorescent light was to be used for all street lighting. In 1952 Newry became the first town in Ireland to be fully lit with this type of lighting. In 1967, it was agreed to convert the Gasworks to butane and propane and end production of gas using coal. Finances looked good, but the price of supplies and production had considerably increased forcing a continued increase to the price of gas for consumers.
Things looked very bleak indeed until the discovery of Natural Gas near Kinsale in 1971. It was announced in 1983 that ‘Kinsale Gas’ would be brought to Northern Ireland. Staff were jubilant that job security was imminent but in the following year it was announced that these plans would not go ahead. There would be no Government support grant to continue to operate the Gasworks and it was agreed to phase out the Gasworks.
It is alleged that the cost of bringing Natural Gas to Northern Ireland would have been almost equivalent to compensations to employees and consumers and the Gasworks ceased production on 31st March 1986 after 165 years in existence.
The Museum is currently offering free tours on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 11.00 am. These must be booked in advance by calling our Education Officer at 0330 137 4422.
Newry and Mourne Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00 am – 4.30 pm. Please call 0330 137 4422 or email museum@nmandd.org for further information.
by Dympna Tumilty
1 Comment
Newry and Mourne Museum today occupies the site of the former McCann’s Bakery in Castle Street, Newry. Over the next few months we will be looking at the history of the Bakery in the number of occasional articles.
McCann’s Bakery, also known as the Victoria Bakery, was established in Newry in 1837. The McCann family came from County Louth and had a family background in the milling industry. In the 1830s, Newry was a thriving commercial port town with an extensive hinterland in south Armagh, south Down and north Louth and international trading links with many parts of the world.
The McCann family, therefore, saw the potential for setting up their business in Newry. Thomas McCann developed the Bakery at Nos. 20 and 21 Castle Street up until his death in 1876. Meanwhile his nephews, Arthur and James, established a grocers’ business in the Milestone building in Hill Street in the 1870s. In 1892 their business partnership ended and Arthur took complete control of the Bakery. In 1894, Arthur McCann moved the Bakery to a new site (across the road from the old one) in Castle Street. These premises had been formerly occupied by Joseph Doyle’s seed merchant and flower business. This move was to be an important milestone in the modernisation of the bakery and its continued success.
As the population increased, the requirement for fresh bread on a daily basis was becoming more important. The addition of a mechanised dough divider, mixing plant and drawplate ovens together with the improvements in raw materials, especially flour, meant that the Bakery was well equipped to facilitate the demand for bread. With this in mind, McCann’s enjoyed a relatively prosperous period in the early twentieth century. During the 1920s it has been noted that the Bakery gave the unsold bread to impoverished families for ½d per loaf.
In 1924, following the death of his father, Arthur, Matthew Henry McCann who took responsibility for the business. During this time Newry faced a period of economic decline. Combined with the fact that Newry found itself positioned as a border town due to Partition, this meant that their catchment area had been significantly reduced. The 1930s proved equally difficult as the economic fallout from the Wall Street Crash affected trade and the import of raw materials. Added to this, was new competition emerging from Belfast bakeries. Through staff and customer loyalty, and Matthew McCann looking after the welfare of his staff, as well as the credit facility provided by local flour supplier, McCann’s Bakery survived this decade and was able to celebrate it’s Centenary in Newry Town Hall in 1937.
The next article in this series will look at McCann’s Bakery in the 1940s and 1950s.
by Noreen Cunningham
Write a comment
As part of Newry and Mourne Museum’s contribution to European Heritage Open Days 2021, the Museum Assistants have compiled a virtual walking tour of Newry for the Museum’s Facebook page, highlighting some significant buildings in the City. Here is an edited version of the virtual tour.
Newry Town Hall
We begin our historical tour at the Town Hall. Newry Town Hall, designed by William Batt, was constructed in 1893. The style of the building is broadly Classical. Reputed rivalry between counties Armagh and Down over its location led to the Town Hall being built on a three-arched bridge astride the Clanrye River, the county boundary.
The Town Hall was one of the last works authorised by the Newry Town Commissioners whose crest, dated 1891, can still be seen on the bridge. It contained a spacious auditorium, a Board Room for the Town Commissioners (later used by Newry Urban District Council) and other offices. Further additions were made over the years. An architectural drawing of the Town Hall, dated 1895, is on display in the Museum which illustrates a proposal for the addition of a clock tower to the building. Obviously, this was not carried out.
Riverside Presbyterian Church
Not far from the Town Hall is the Riverside Presbyterian Church which was designed by local architect William Barre in 1865. It was built in the Lombardo – Venetian style which suited its location as it was originally surrounded by the river and the Turning Basin for the barges using Newry Canal. It is built with red brick and has a large circular window in the east and west gables, which exhibit elaborate tracery. The tower is ninety feet high with a pyramid roof of diamond shaped slates. At the time the church cost £1,700 to build. Designed by Samuel Wilson Reside, the Lyons Memorial Hall was added to the rear of the church in 1915.
Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church
Designed by Thomas Duff, a pupil of William Barre, the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church in John Mitchell Place was completed in 1853. It is built using local granite in a style known as “Geometric Decorated Gothic.” It has a tower with a spire and pointed-arched windows as well as a gable window at the west end with five lights, with richly traceried heads and moulded mullions.
The building provided a change from the conventional barn-like structure of most Presbyterian Meeting Houses. It has been recognized ever since as one of the finest Presbyterian churches in Ulster because of its compact structure and aesthetic proportions, inspiring a new style for dissenting communities all over Ireland.
St. Patrick’s Parish Church
St. Patrick’s Parish Church is said to be the first purpose-built Protestant church in Ireland. The earliest part of the building was built by Sir Nicholas Bagenal in 1578. The church was almost destroyed in 1641 and was not fully restored until 1866. The church was built using granite and is noted for its unusual tower, consisting of a small steeple on each corner of the clock tower. Dean Jonathan Swift is said to have preached in this church during visits to Newry and may have led to his comment on Newry, ‘High Church, Low Steeple; Dirty Streets, Proud People’.
The Danske Bank building on Hill Street
Originally constructed in 1890 as a branch of the Belfast Banking Company, the Danske Bank building was built in Gothic Revival with heavy Gothic embellishments. It comprises three stories with attics. One of the more distinctive features are the projecting balconies. The Belfast Banking Company name can still be seen over the main entrance.
It was designed by William Watson who had opened an office in Newry by the beginning of 1872 and developed what appears to have been a thriving and varied practice. Other notable works by Watson in the area include the Wesleyan (Methodist) Church, built in Warrenpoint in 1885 and Bessbrook Town Hall built in 1886. The last recorded work in the area by Watson, was a shelter in Warrenpoint Park in 1909. Around this date he moved to London.
The Cathedral of St. Patrick and St. Colman
The Cathedral is one of Newry’s most impressive building and was designed by the well-known Newry architect, Thomas Duff, who designed Narrow Water Castle and the Catholic Cathedrals in Dundalk and Armagh.
The building was completed by 1829, using local granite at a cost of £8,000 and was the first Catholic Cathedral in Ireland to open after the granting of Catholic Emancipation in the same year. The tower and transept were added in 1888 while, in 1904, the nave was extended. The Cathedral is renowned for its beautiful interior marble work and mosaics which took five years to complete with craftsmen coming from Italy to undertake the work.
Bagenal’s Castle/Newry and Mourne Museum
Bagenal’s Castle was built by Sir Nicholas Bagenal, an English settler from Staffordshire by the 1570s. The building is an early example of a fortified house. A warehouse was built onto the Castle around 1830 and was occupied by Joseph Doyle, a seed merchant and florist.
Arthur McCann Limited bought the site described in the deeds as ‘Castle, Orchard and Garden’in 1894 as new premises for the Victoria Bakery. Over the years many alterations have been made to the building to accommodate McCann's expanding business.
The alterations disguised the origins of the building and for many years the only clue to the site's significance was the medieval stone carvings preserved in the Bakery's walls. The Castle was rediscovered in the mid-1990s after the Bakery closed and, after substantial restoration, became the home of Newry and Mourne Museum in 2007.
The virtual walking tour of Newry can be accessed at WWW.FACEBOOK.COM
The Museum is currently offering free tours of the exhibition galleries on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 11.00 am. These must be booked in advance by calling our Education Officer at 0330 137 4422.
Newry and Mourne Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00 am – 4.30 pm. Please call 0330 137 4422 or email museum@nmandd.org for further information.
by Joanne Glymond, Noelle Murtagh, Dympna Tumilty and Anna Savage
 |
 |
 |