Dufferin Arms, Killyleagh

A former hotel in the centre of this historic town overlooking Strangford Lough. It still retains most of its old layout on the right-hand side with a small public bar (known as 'Gervis's Bar' after a long-serving barman, now retired), a pair of tiny snugs either side of a passage and beyond a larger room. There was a small snug accessed from the staircase in the entrance hall. Other rooms have been brought into service, including those downstairs for a restaurant.

The last major changes occurred in the public bar c.1960 when veneered panelling was applied to the tiled counter front thus hiding a row of colourful Victorian tiles: locals say that the lower part of the counter front is covered in mainly plain green tiles. The bar counter top has a noticeable slope. The bar-back shelving is old with one section on the left-hand wall sloping down to the right. This cosy bar has basic furnishings and some unusual arched panelling behind the wall seats. Look for the old bell box on the wall opposite the servery.

The tiny snug on the right has bench seating on three sides: there is a small hatch to the servery with a semi-circular shelf in front of it. The snug on the left has benches down both sides of a fixed table above which is a bell-push. Each snug has a three-quarter height screen to the corridor. There are differences in the woodwork between the two snugs: that on the right seems to belong to two phases as close inspection will show.

A door leads into the rear room which had a refit in c.1960 when some wall bench seating was replaced by the present fixed seating and a new fireplace was added. Note the old bell push with the word 'Service' above on an enamelled plate. At the rear the gents’ toilet has a terrazzo floor and three large Adamsez urinals. The raised area on the left was created after the banning of smoking in pubs in 2007 to give access to the outside smoking area.

The small entrance hall has a staircase down to a dining room and new bar. Halfway down was once a small snug, now reduced in size and used for storage. The small dining room on the left has been brought into use and has a marble surround fireplace Beyond this a small modern snug. Accommodation is now offered by the adjoining Dufferin Arms Coaching Inn, part of which was the Ulster Bank, as still shown on the windows (028 4482 8229).