Page 75 - Greystones Archaeological Historical Society

GREYSTONES ARCHAEOLOGICAL & HISTORICAL SOCIETY JOURNAL VOLUME 8

Turn left outside Ireton’s
and then left again, and you
find yourself on Church Road.
Immediately to your left are
two shops, built in 1897 by
Kinlen for Omagh man,
Andrew McFarland. The first
of these, on the corner,
originally operated as a
pharmacy, and subsequently
as the Royal Bank (later the
AIB). The second became the
Burnaby Stores, operated by
Andrew McFarland himself as
a grocery shop. The Burnaby
Stores, one of the town’s most
prestigious businesses,
remained in the McFarland
family’s ownership until 1970,
when Claud, Andrew’s son,
retired. At that point the bank
moved from next door to take
over the former Burnaby
Stores space, leaving its
former premises to be operated as a newsagent (until recently
called Eugene’s, currently disused).

Moving along, you pass the Burnaby pub, once known as the
Railway Hotel, and the block, now including the Bank of Ireland,
built in around 1900 as the Commercial Building. Note the
cobblestones at the junction of Hillside Road and Church Road
– the final vestige of those which once paved the street.

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