[1] The current building was commissioned to replace an earlier market hall which was demolished to facilitate the construction of "The Cut", an underpass on the main road between Newry and Belfast.

[4] The new building was designed by Michael McGavigan in the neoclassical style, built in rough stone at a cost of £2,000 and was completed in 1834.

The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing onto Bridge Street; the arched openings on the ground floor containing wrought-iron grills and there were round-headed sash windows on the first floor; the central bay, which slightly projected forward, featured a sandstone parapet bearing the Downshire coat of arms and the year of completion.

[4] The building was badly damaged on 15 March 1982, when a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb was detonated on Bridge Street killing a schoolboy and injuring 36 people,[9] and was harmed a second time on 1 August 1998, when a Real Irish Republican Army bomb was detonated on Newry Street, injuring 33 civilians and two Royal Ulster Constabulary officers.

[10] A programme of refurbishment works costing £126,000, which included the installation of a modern heating and power system and the replacement of the roof, was completed in 2012.