Publications | Down Survey | 1999 Issue Contents

Friends in Newry
Richard Oram

The Friends decided that for the 1999 annual outing we would go to Newry. The Old Newry Society agreed to join us in the organisation and planning of the itinerary. We filled a bus and the weather was kind.

The first stop was Narrow Water Castle. Narrow Water has always been the home of the Hall family and it was the present Roger Hall, namesake of the original builder, who had agreed to be our guide and of course he gave us the sort of insight that only the owner could do. The building of the house took six years (1831-37). The designs were by Thomas Duff of Newry, one of the best architects of his day in Ireland and a member of a new generation that no longer looked to Dublin for patronage. Although Duff worked in many styles through his short but productive career, he seems to have preferred the late Gothic as a model and it is the Tudor Gothic that he employed here at Narrow Water. Other houses by him in this style are Parkenaur outside Dungannon and Ravensdale Castle, demolished in the 1920's. The stone from Ravensdale was sold and used to build St. Brigid's chapel at Glassdrumman, just south of Crossmaglen in County Armagh. Narrow Water was first known as Mount Hall. Duff incorporated the earlier house into his skilful design and much of it can still be seen from the inner yard. As one approaches the main entrance the composition has an informal appearance but once inside you are immediately aware of a far from informal plan. The arrangement of rooms is based on a long gallery running the full depth of the house and serving, to the south-west, a series of state rooms with, on the opposite side a series of service rooms and the grand staircase. Many of the fittings and furnishings were especially designed for the house and on display is the architect's design model. Such models were made to aid in the construction of most substantial buildings of the period, but very few survive. In their day the gardens have been famous throughout the country for their beauty and incorporated work by such designers as Smith of Newry, Armitage Moore and Joseph Paxton.

We travelled on to Newry town and made our next stop at The Abbey Yard. Numbers 6 to 10 had been occupied by the Abbey Grammar School and The Masters' House became so named because it was used by the teaching staff. But originally this row had been built as 'A' grade town houses one of which, No 9, was the property of the well-known Corry family. Until the relief road, Abbey Way, was constructed this part of the town had been full of quality and historic buildings but the construction of the new road in the mid-twentieth century led to large scale clearance and demolition. This is particularly sad when it is realised that the exercise was totally ineffectual in solving the traffic problems of the town with the result that an outer by-pass has recently been opened. (Despite encouragement, the planners and local politicians did not learn from this mistake when the town centre link road, destroying the town's last medieval burgage plots, was built in Downpatrick in the 1990s).

After the Abbey Grammar School moved to new premises, the terrace was acquired by Clanrye Abbey Developments Ltd., an enterprising local consortium of concerned citizens. The company employed the local architect Gerry Fay to restore the buildings and to provide a range of new uses. The owners retained a suite on the piano nobile of the Masters' House and this they provided for the use of the Friends, first for a buffet lunch laid on by the School of Catering next door and afterwards for a comprehensive presentation by the Old Newry Society on the history of the town from the founding of the thirteenth century monastery, the first in the new continental style to be built in the north, to the present day.

Armed with this new found knowledge our party headed off on foot down the street to view what is now revealed of Bagnal's Castle since the McCann Bakery buildings have been cleared away. The castle was first occupied in 1587 and there are contemporary drawings of it in the Public Record Office in London. Despite the fact that it has only recently been recognised as what it is, most of the original castle remains intact to the base of the roof parapet. The battlements, chimneys and roof have gone. So also has the staircase outshot, removed when the castle was converted to use as two apartments early in the eighteenth century. We were told that the future of the castle is being negotiated, but that it may be acquired by the District Council.

Now our party moved down the hill into the quarter of Newry that had been drained and developed in the nineteenth century when quays were extended downriver. Because of the population shift at that time the Church of Ireland set about building a new parish church at the southern edge of the expanding town. At first it was intended that the earlier church of St Patrick on the hill, built in the 1570s, be demolished. This building is
another first for Newry in that it was the first new church building constructed for the Reformed faith anywhere in Ireland. Fortunately it survived long enough to be reprieved as the Edwardian suburbs again spread up the hill where the new villas could take advantage of the magnificent views.

Building work on the new church, St Mary's, began in 1810 under the direction of Patrick O'Farrell from Blackwatertown, and he was succeeded in 1813 by Thomas Duff on probably his first major commission. Because of a shortage of funds, work continued until 1819 before the building could be consecrated by His Grace the Archbishop William Stewart. St Mary's is an important feature of the Newry townscape and its interior is particularly beautiful. Entrance is through a fairly restricted passage under the tower, which bursts out into a brilliantly lighted, lofty, galleried space. In 1886 Thomas Drew designed the new chancel. The interior was restored in 1967 and the spire was rebuilt in 1991 after a lightening strike. The rector, Rev T W H Dunwoody, also drew attention to a number of very elegant stone memorials brought from St Patrick's during the period that demolition of that church was intended.

From St. Mary's our party moved on to the Cathedral Church of St Patrick and St Colman, probably the master work of the Newry architect Thomas Duff. If his designs for the cathedral in Armagh had been realised then that building might have surpassed Newry but the great famine of 1845-1850 determined otherwise. Here our visit was conducted by Father Sheehan and the archivist to the diocese Canon Anthony Davies. The foundation stone was laid in 1825, making this yet another first for Newry. It was, in fact, the first Roman Catholic Cathedral to be built in Ireland since the Reformation. The building as first opened for worship was a more modest structure than the one we see today. The design from the start was in the perpendicular Gothic style but the original plan was a simple seven bay basilica. The present cruciform arrangement was not realised until 1888 and the sanctuary and interior decorations were not completed until 1909, yet so skilfully was the whole assembled from the parts that I would defy anyone who did not already know the history to determine these facts from observing the building alone. The lace like masonry of the parapet to the tower is almost dreamlike and is a major contribution to the skyline. Inside the decorations are second to none, designed by Ashlin of Dublin who also decorated McCarthy's cathedral at Armagh. Of
particular note is the shrine to the Sacred Heart in the north transept. Above it is the window originally in the east end of the first basilica church, and the pieta in Carrara marble by Fernando Pallo that now stands where the baptistry font had originally been placed below the tower.

The last port of call was the Town Hall and here we were guided by the curator of the Newry Museum, Noreen Cunningham. The interiors, including the fine auditorium, have recently been refurbished under the direction of Gerry Fay, the same architect who restored the Abbey buildings. The unique design by William Batt was the result of a competition and was opened in 1891. The building is on a bridge over the Clanrye River, symbolising the conjunction of counties Down and Armagh at Newry. Here the friends were given a reception by Newry and Mourne District Council which also kept its museum open especially for us until it was time again to board the bus, firstly for a welcome tea at the Downshire Arms in Hilltown and then on to our various homes.

The Friends of Down County Museum were exceptionally well treated by all our hosts who spared no pains to make our day a success. We particularly thank the committee of the Old Newry Society for making this a very enjoyable and memorable day.

Dick Oram was formerly an Inspector of historic buildings with the Department of the Environment (NI). He is a committee member of the Friends of Down County Museum and of the Upper Ards Historical Society.

Newry Town Hall, astride the Clanrye River. From a postcard in the museum collection.

Cathedral of St Patrick and St Colman. From a postcard in the museum collection.