Built in 1745, the main commercial use of the Quay was for the landing of coal in schooners. However it was also a focal point for Rostrevor's once thriving tourism industry. The nearby garage was once the site of the Mourne Hotel built in 1870 and then extensively modernised by the Great Northern Railway Company after they acquired it in 1899. Beside the hotel was a skating rink, which attracted visitors from Newry and further afield. These Victorian tourists would travel by train to Warrenpoint and then continue their journey on Ireland's first horse drawn tramway built in 1877. Remains of the track can still be seen at the entrance to the Quay and the building alongside was the terminus where the trams were turned on a carousel.