ABBEY Heritage Profile

By Daniel Kirkpatrick | Compiled 2026-05-05 | N08001001

7 historic sites 1 scheduled monuments 107 listed buildings 2 archaeological periods

ABBEY covers 9.6 km² in Northern Ireland. With 7 historic sites and 1 scheduled monument on record, the ward sits at the 75th percentile across all 462 NI wards for combined archaeological heritage. It also records 107 listed buildings (HED Historic Buildings Record), the 93rd percentile for listed-building density across NI wards. Per 1,000 residents, this works out at 28.7 recorded sites — the 73rd percentile across NI wards (a measure of heritage density relative to current population). Dated archaeological evidence runs from the Early Medieval through to the Medieval period, spanning 2 archaeological periods, the 22nd percentile across NI wards (a relatively narrow chronological band).

ABBEY boundary detail

ABBEY in regional context

Heritage at a glance

Percentile rankings throughout this profile compare each ward only against the other 461 Northern Ireland wards.

Historic sites

41st percentile

Scheduled monuments

41st percentile

107

Listed buildings

93rd percentile

11.99

Sites per km²

Population context

418

Persons per km²

62nd percentile

28.7

Sites per 1,000 residents

73rd percentile

4,007

Total residents (2021)

The recorded heritage of ABBEY

Of the 7 historic sites recorded, the most common are Church (Site Of) (Unlocated) (1, 14% of historic sites), Cross Slab (1), and Cistercian Abbey: Na Iur, Monasterium De Viridi Ligno (1). For Church (Site Of) (Unlocated)s, this is the 0th percentile across NI wards that record this type. For Cross Slabs, this is the 0th percentile across NI wards that record this type. Across the ward's 9.6 km², this gives a recorded density of 11.98 sites per km² (all heritage types combined).

Most common monument types

Type	Count	Description
Church (site Of) (unlocated)	1	—
Cross Slab	1	—
Cistercian Abbey: Na Iur, Monasterium De Viridi Ligno	1	—

Chronological distribution

Early Medieval

Medieval

Unknown

Note: 29% of historic site records carry an ‘Unknown’ period attribution. The chronological breakdown above reflects only the dated subset.

Terrain and environment

Mean elevation of 41m sits around the NI median (32th percentile), reaching 103m at the highest point. The terrain is consistently steep, with a mean slope of 5.8° (87th percentile across NI). The ward is well-drained, with a Topographic Wetness Index of 9.8 (15th NI percentile) — characteristic of upland or steeply-sloping ground that sheds water rapidly. The land-cover mosaic combines improved grassland (40%), urban land (34%), and woodland (24%), giving a mixed agricultural and semi-natural landscape. In overall character, this is steeply-sloping terrain at modest elevation, with land use dominated by improved grassland.

Terrain measurements

Mean elevation41.1 m 33rd pct

Max elevation103.4 m 46th pct

Mean slope5.8° 87th pct

Wetness index (TWI)9.78 15th pct

Grassland39.5% 39th pct

Woodland23.7% 68th pct

Urban land34.5% 71st pct

Where this ward sits in NI

Elevation

33rd

Slope

87th

Drainage

15th

Grassland

39th

Woodland

68th

Geology and preservation

The dominant bedrock formed during the Palaeozoic era (Silurian period). Ancient sedimentary or metamorphic rock dating to before the age of dinosaurs; the resulting landscape has been long-stable enough to host every period of human activity. Bedrock composition is uniform (complexity index 0.04), with a single dominant geological unit underlying most of the ward. A uniform geology narrows the natural lithic-resource base available to past inhabitants.

Bedrock eraPalaeozoic

Bedrock periodSilurian

Surface depositsTill

Peat coverage0.0%

Bedrock complexity0.04

Placename evidence

Just two placenames are recorded for this ward in the combined OSNI, Logainm NI, and GeoNames sources. That is too few to support any meaningful characterisation of the linguistic heritage layers — diagnostic categories such as ecclesiastical, defensive, or Plantation-era names need a larger sample to be reliably distinguished from the generic Gaelic landscape vocabulary that is common throughout Ireland.

Scheduled monuments in ABBEY

Scheduled monuments are sites legally protected under the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, designated by the Historic Environment Division (HED).

Monument	Type	Period
Tower-house: Bagnal's Castle	Tower-House: Bagnal'S Castle	Unknown

Recorded historic sites

Name	Period	Type
CEMETERY	Medieval	Unknown
CHURCH (site of) (unlocated)	Unknown	Religious
CISTERCIAN ABBEY: NA IUR, MONASTERIUM DE VIRIDI LIGNO	Medieval	Ritual/Funerary
CROSS SLAB	Early Medieval	Religious
Fishtrap (Possible)	Unknown	Unknown
HISTORIC SETTLEMENT: NEWRY	Medieval	Domestic
TOWER-HOUSE: BAGENAL'S CASTLE	Medieval	Defence

Listed buildings in ABBEY

Address / Name	Grade	Period
35 Patrick St Newry Co Down	Record Only	1820 – 1839
Ballybot Bridge Newry Co Down BT34	B2	1840 – 1859
32 Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1AR	B2	1820 – 1839
34 Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1AR	B1	1820 – 1839
Catholic Working Mens Club 36 Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1AR	B2	1820 – 1839
38 Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1AR	B2	1820 – 1839
40 Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1AR	B2	1800 – 1819
42 Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1AR	B2	1900 – 1919
Cathedral of St. Patrick and St. Colman Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1AF	A	1820 – 1839
6 Marcus Square Newry Co Down BT34 1AY	B2	1800 – 1819
7 Marcus Square Newry Co Down BT34 1AY	B2	1800 – 1819
58 Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1AR	B2	1880 – 1899
39 Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1AF	Record Only	1880 – 1899
Credit Union 74 Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1BE	Record Only	1820 – 1839
Chapel at St Clare's Convent High Street Newry Co Down BT34 1HB	B2	1820 – 1839
7 Abbey Yard Newry Co Down BT34 2EG	B2	1800 – 1819
Patrick Murphy and Sons Abbey Yard Newry Co Down BT34 2EG	B2	1800 – 1819
8 Abbey Yard Newry Co Down BT34 2EG	B2	1800 – 1819
9 Abbey Yard Newry Co Down BT34 2EG	B2	1800 – 1819
The Master's House 10 Abbey Yard Newry Co Down BT34 2EG	B1	1800 – 1819
Former Coach house adj to 7 Abbey Yard Newry Co Down BT34 2EG	B2	1800 – 1819
Building between nos. 9-10 Abbey Yard Newry Co Down BT34 2EG	B2	1800 – 1819
Building to rear of No. 9 Abbey Yard Newry Co Down BT34 2EG	B2	1720 – 1739
18 Castle Street Newry Co Down BT34 2BY	B+	1760 – 1779
20 Castle Street Newry Co Down BT34 2BY	B1	1760 – 1779
22 Castle Street Newry Co Down BT34 2BY	B1	1760 – 1779
ST. COLMAN'S ABBEY PRIMARY SCHOOL COURTNEY HILL NEWRY CO.DOWN	B1	—
Parish Church of St. Mary (C of I) John Mitchel Place Newry Co Down BT34 2BP	A	1800 – 1819
21 St. Colman’s Park Newry Co Down BT34 2BX	B+	1820 – 1839
Fisher and Fisher Solicitors 9 John Mitchel Place Newry Co Down BT34 2BP	B+	1820 – 1839
7 St. Colman’s Park Newry Co Down BT34 2BX	B1	1820 – 1839
9 St. Colman’s Park Newry Co Down BT34 2BX	B1	1820 – 1839
11 St. Colman’s Park Newry Co Down BT34 2BX	B1	1820 – 1839
13 St. Colman’s Park Newry Co Down BT34 2BX	B1	1820 – 1839
15 St. Colman’s Park Newry Co Down BT34 2BX	B1	1820 – 1839
17 St. Colman’s Park Newry Co Down BT34 2BX	B1	1820 – 1839
19 St. Colman’s Park Newry Co Down BT34 2BX	B1	1820 – 1839
First Non- Subscribing Presbyterian Church John Mitchell Place Newry Co Down BT34 2BP	B+	1840 – 1859
22 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DE	B2	1840 – 1859
24 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DE	B2	1840 – 1859
Convent of Mercy Home Avenue Newry Co Down BT34 2DL	B+	1800 – 1819
Chapel at Convent of Mercy (RC) Home Avenue Newry Co Down BT34 2DL	B1	1920 – 1939
St. Mary’s Chapel (RC) Upper Chapel Street Newry Co Down BT34 2EL	B2	1780 – 1799
35 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DF	B2	1860 – 1879
37 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DF	B2	1860 – 1879
39 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DF	B2	1860 – 1879
41 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DF	B2	1860 – 1879
43 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DF	B2	1860 – 1879
31 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DF	B2	1820 – 1839
33 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DF	B1	1820 – 1839
17 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DF	B2	1880 – 1899
19 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DF	B2	1900 – 1919
21 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DF	B2	1900 – 1919
76 Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1BE	Record Only	1820 – 1839
63a Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1AF	Record Only	1780 – 1799
63b & c Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1AF	Record Only	1780 – 1799
14 Margaret Street Newry Co Down BT34 1DF	Record Only	1820 – 1839
16 Margaret Street Newry Co Down BT34 1DF	Record Only	1820 – 1839
Vault at St. Clare’s Convent High Street Newry Co Down BT34 1HB	Record Only	1820 – 1839
Marian Chapel St. Clare’s Convent High Street Newry Co Down BT34 1HB	Record Only	1840 – 1859
St. Clare’s Convent Primary School High Street Newry Co Down BT34 1HB	Record Only	1860 – 1879
Laundry at St. Clare’s Convent High Street Newry Co Down BT34 1HB	Record Only	1900 – 1919
The Hibernian Club 42 The Mall Newry Co Down BT34 1AN	Record Only	1860 – 1879
36 The Mall Newry Co Down BT34 1AN	Record Only	1800 – 1819
50-52 Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1AR	Record Only	1960 – 1979
Milepost in wall of 30 Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1AR	Record Only	1860 – 1879
O'Hagan Bridge Newry Co Down	Record Only	1860 – 1879
McCann’s Bakery Castle Street Newry Co Down BT34 2BY	Record Only	Pre 1600
6 Margaret Street Newry Co Down BT34 1DF	Record Only	1800 – 1819
First Presbyterian Meeting House and Burial Ground High Street Newry Co Down BT34 1HB	Record Only	1720 – 1739
61 Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 1AF	Record Only	1820 – 1839
Old Meeting House Graveyard Meeting House Lane Church Street Newry	Record Only	1780 – 1799
Temple Hill House 7 Temple Hill Road Newry Co Down BT34 2LS	Record Only	1820 – 1839
Tavey Brothers Drapery 6 Hill Street Newry Co Down BT34 2BW	Record Only	1980 – 1999
Connor’s Chemist 13 John Mitchel Place Newry Co Down BT34 2BP	Record Only	1980 – 1999
12 John Mitchel Place Newry Co Down BT34 2BP	Record Only	1820 – 1839
Statue of John Mitchel St. Colman’s Park Newry Co Down	Record Only	1960 – 1979
Old St. Colman’s Hall St. Colman’s Place Newry Co Down	Record Only	1700 – 1719
6 & 8 John Mitchel Place Newry Co Down BT34 2BP	Record Only	1820 – 1839
1798 Memorial John Mitchel Place Newry Co Down	Record Only	1940 – 1959
1, 2 & 2a River Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DQ	Record Only	1860 – 1879
11-18 River Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DQ	Record Only	1860 – 1879
The Satellite Café 13 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DF	Record Only	1820 – 1839
McGrath Barbers 15 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DF	Record Only	1820 – 1839
25 – 26 – 27 Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DF	Record Only	1820 – 1839
St. Mary’s High School Chapel Road Newry Co Down BT34 2DT	Record Only	1940 – 1959
Newry Health Centre Monaghan Row Newry Co Down BT35 8DL	Record Only	1960 – 1979
11 St Mary’s Street Newry Co Down BT34 2AA	Record Only	1860 – 1879
10 River Street Newry Co Down BT34 2QD	Record Only	1860 – 1879
Albert Basin Newry Canal Newry Co Down	Record Only	1840 – 1859
75 & 77 Boat Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DB	Record Only	1840 – 1859
Office Building Former Gasworks Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DN	Record Only	1860 – 1879
Former Coal Shed Former Gasworks Kilmorey Street Newry Co Down BT34 2DN	Record Only	1880 – 1899
Frontier Cinema 2 John Mitchel Place Newry Co Down BT34 2BP	Record Only	1900 – 1919
1 John Mitchel Place Newry Co Down BT34 2BP	Record Only	1900 – 1919
Remains of Railway Bridge Off Warrenpoint Road Newry Co Down	Record Only	1860 – 1879
Halyday’s Castle Chapel Street Newry Co Down	Record Only	1820 – 1839
Chimney at Amenity site Chapel Road Newry Co Down	Record Only	1860 – 1879
Moor Quarry Chapel Road Newry Co Down	Record Only	1840 – 1859
Factory Ballinacraig Way Greenbank Industrial Estate Newry Co Down	Record Only	1940 – 1959
1-42 O’Neill Avenue Newry Co Down BT34 2DU	Record Only	1920 – 1939
Boundary Marker North of Greenbank Industrial Estate Roundabout Warrenpoint Rd Newry Co Down	Record Only	1860 – 1879
Boundary Post near 12 Carnagh Park Chapel Road Newry Co Down BT34 2QR	B2	1860 – 1879
Boundary Post near 1 Hawthorn Villas Barley Lane Newry Co Down BT34 2AD	B2	1860 – 1879
Boundary Post near 23 The Manse Windmill Road Newry Co Down BT34 2AT	B2	1860 – 1879
Boundary Post near 4D Temple Hill Road Newry Co Down BT34 2LS	B2	1860 – 1879
Boundary Post near 3 Temple Hill Road Newry Co Down BT34 2LR	B2	1860 – 1879

Discover more in Newry, Mourne and Down

Want a deeper view?

Grounding History: 10 Maps of Northern Ireland’s Past

A spatial history report bringing together analysis of all 462 wards into one place through 10 high-quality maps — covering monument density, archaeological periods, placename heritage, terrain, wetland, and the historic landscape at first survey.

View the report — £12.99

About this profile

What is a ward?

A ward is the smallest electoral and statistical geography used by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). The boundaries used here are the 2014 NISRA / OSNI Wards (462 across Northern Ireland), each typically covering 1-700 km² and a population of a few thousand. Wards do not align with parishes, townlands, or any historic administrative unit — they are a modern statistical convenience, used here only as a fixed spatial frame within which to summarise heritage records.

What counts as a site?

Three distinct heritage record types are reported separately, not combined: (1) Historic Sites — entries in the Northern Ireland Sites and Monuments Record (NISMR), the inventory of recorded archaeological sites and findspots, dated from prehistoric to early-modern; (2) Scheduled Monuments — sites legally protected under the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects (NI) Order 1995 and maintained by the Historic Environment Division (HED); (3) Listed Buildings — buildings of architectural or historic interest protected under the Planning Act (NI) 2011 and graded A, B+, B1, B2, or Record-Only by HED. A site appearing in more than one register is counted in each register independently.

Editorial principles

These ward profiles describe evidence, not history. They report what is recorded, not what occurred. Where the data is ambiguous, we say so. We do not infer historical processes — population movements, settlement expansion, periods of decline — from patterns in the record. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence: in Northern Ireland, where antiquarian survey was uneven and modern excavation is geographically biased, a gap in the record almost always reflects the limits of recording rather than a genuine historical absence. We mark such gaps explicitly where they appear in the data.

Limits of coverage and known caveats

Several caveats apply to every ward profile: (1) NISMR coverage is uneven across NI — some areas (notably parts of the south-east and the Belfast urban fringe) have been more intensively surveyed than others, so a low recorded site count does not reliably indicate a low past density of activity; (2) period attributions in NISMR are often 'Unknown', and chronological breakdowns reported here reflect only the dated subset; (3) placename classification depends on the Irish-language form (name_ga), which is recorded for approximately 50% of NI placenames in the combined sources, so ecclesiastical and pre-Christian counts may be understated where anglicised forms remain unparsed; (4) terrain percentile ranks compare each ward only to the other 461 NI wards; they are not absolute thresholds. For absence-dominant land cover categories (wetland, water, cropland), percentile ranks are suppressed below 1% raw value, since the ranking of zero-value wards is not meaningful.

Data sources (11)

Northern Ireland Sites and Monuments Record (NISMR)
Historic sites — counts, types, periods, coordinates

Historic Environment Division (HED), Department for Communities · Licence: Crown copyright; data published for public viewing
https://www.communities-ni.gov.uk/articles/nismr-public-mapviewer
HED Scheduled Monuments Dataset
Scheduled Monument records — names, types, scheduled areas, periods

Historic Environment Division (HED), Department for Communities · Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0
https://www.opendatani.gov.uk/@historic-environment-division/scheduled-monuments-northern-ireland
HED Historic Buildings Record
Listed buildings — addresses, grades, dates of construction

Historic Environment Division (HED), Department for Communities · Licence: Crown copyright; record published for public viewing
https://www.communities-ni.gov.uk/topics/historic-environment/listed-buildings
OSNI OS Open Names (Northern Ireland)
Placenames — settlement and topographic feature names

Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland · Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0
https://www.opendatani.gov.uk/@ordnance-survey-of-northern-ireland/osni-open-data—50k-gazetteer
Logainm — Placenames Database of Ireland
Placenames — Irish-language (name_ga) forms, including NI townlands

Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, Dublin City University · Licence: Creative Commons CC BY 4.0
https://www.logainm.ie/
GeoNames
Placenames — supplementary settlement and feature names

GeoNames · Licence: Creative Commons CC BY 4.0
https://www.geonames.org/
Census 2021 (Northern Ireland)
Population — total residents, households, average household size

Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) · Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0
https://www.nisra.gov.uk/statistics/2021-census
OSNI Open Data — Largescale Boundaries
Ward and Local Government District boundaries

Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland · Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0
https://www.opendatani.gov.uk/@ordnance-survey-of-northern-ireland/osni-open-data-largescale-boundaries-wards-2012
Copernicus GLO-30 DEM
Terrain — elevation, slope, derived TWI

European Space Agency / Copernicus · Licence: Free and open access (Copernicus DEM data licence)
https://spacedata.copernicus.eu/collections/copernicus-digital-elevation-model
ESA WorldCover
Land cover — grassland, woodland, cropland, wetland, urban categories

European Space Agency · Licence: Creative Commons CC BY 4.0
https://esa-worldcover.org/
GSNI 1:250,000 Geology
Bedrock geology, superficial deposits

Geological Survey of Northern Ireland · Licence: Crown copyright; open access for public viewing
https://www.bgs.ac.uk/geological-data/maps/

Spotted an error? This dataset is updated continuously. Email contact@danielkirkpatrick.co.uk with corrections, missing records, or suggestions for improvement.