ST. MARY'S R C CHURCH, GATES, RAILINGS AND WALLING

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Free-standing double-height gable-fronted Romanesque style sandstone Roman Catholic church, built 1913-14, to the designs of William J. Moore, with three-stage bell tower to west, seven-bay nave elevations and two-bay side chapel to the southwest incorporating a two-storey vestry. Rectangular on plan facing northeast and set back slightly on the south side of the road (A2) enclosed by original walls and railings, backing onto River Dall.

Pitched natural slate roof with fish-scale courses, roll moulded terracotta ridge tiles and set behind raised gables having decorative ashlar coping, gableted kneeler stones and stone crosses to the apexes. Replacement moulded steel rainwater goods throughout with chamfered ashlar eaves course. Random coursed quarry-faced pink sandstone ashlar walling and plinth course with dressed pale sandstone trims to plinth course, two-stage buttresses and door and window surrounds. Lancet window openings to the nave with flush chamfered sandstone surrounds, hood mouldings and stained leaded glazing with storm glazing.

Three-bay two-storey gabled front elevation framed by two-stage buttresses with rose window above gabled entrance porch and square-plan bell tower set back on the west nave elevation. To the apex of the gable is a hooded niche housing a stone statue of Mary. The rose window is set within a large pointed arch surround having foliate mouldings and supported on engaged columns with stiff-leaf capitals. Carved stone tracery rose window comprising eight quatrefoils around a central quatrefoil having coloured leaded glazing and carved spandrel panels below and offset splayed sill. Between floors, a framed carved stone frieze spans the entire gable and adjoining bell tower. Paired trefoil-headed window openings flank the entrance porch with compound flush stone surrounds and coloured leaded glazing. The gabled entrance porch is surmounted by a further stone cross and decorative kneeler stones. Squat pointed-arched door opening with compound moulded voussoired dressed sandstone arch rising from stepped splayed jambs and hood moulding with decorative label stops. Original double-leaf vertically-sheeted hardwood sliding doors with iron door furniture. Door opens onto small cobblelock front area.

Seven-bay east nave elevation with each bay framed by two-stage buttresses. Outshot projection to one of the left bays housing the confessional with stone tiled roof and occuli.

Gabled rear elevation with lower gabled chancel having a large pointed-arched window opening with sandstone tracery frame set in stepped chamfered surround with hood moulding, coloured leaded glazing and storm glazing.

The west nave elevation has the tower to the left and a double-height side chapel to the right with incorporated two-storey vestry. Roof and gables as above with a rendered profiled chimneystack rising from the south gable of the vestry and a wall-head dormer window to the west pitch. The side chapel also has buttresses and smaller lancet windows while the vestry has square-headed window openings with single-pane timber sash windows. To the front gable of the chapel is a further gabled entrance projection with stone tiled roof and pointed-arched door opening having chamfered sandstone surround and hood moulding with original double-leaf vertically-sheeted hardwood doors with iron door furniture. Door opens onto two stone steps.

The square-plan bell tower has pointed arched openings to the lower stage and square-headed openings to the middle stage, all staggered to the stair. The third stage has a broached octagonal open arcaded bell-stage framed with colonettes and supporting a squat stone spire with lead cap and iron cross. Pointed-headed door opening to the north with deeply set sandstone surround, hood moulding and single-leaf door (as above).

Materials:
Roof Natural slate
RWG Replacement steel
Walling Random coursed quarry faced sandstone ashlar
Windows Stained leaded / stone tracery

Setting:

Located on a narrow site between River Dall to the south and the road (A2) to the north. Largely bitmac footpaths, cobblelock to the front, enclosed by the raised river bank to the rear and enclosed by original quarry faced sandstone plinth walls and dressed sandstone piers supporting original iron railings with matching gates and cast-iron lamps. Large cemetery to the west occupied by modern polished granite grave markers enclosed by a grassy bank to the road and parking area further west.

Historical information

St. Mary’s Church, a sandstone Romanesque-style Roman Catholic Church located to the western extremity of the village of Cushendall, was constructed in 1913-14. The 20th century building replaced an earlier chapel which had been built on the same site and dedicated in 1836. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1830-38) record that in the early-19th century the majority of the population of Layd parish were of the Roman Catholic denomination but possessed only a plain and inadequate chapel that had been erected in 1800. The writer noted that this chapel was located in the townland of Ellanbough and could accommodate a congregation of 400 however, by the 1830s, this chapel lay in a ruinous state. The memoirs recorded the construction of the new church to the west side of Cushendall in the following terms: ‘A Roman Catholic chapel is just being built near the town [sic] … it is 84 feet long by 33 wide and is a substantial building. The windows on its eastern side and the doorway are neatly finished with cut stone mouldings’ (Ordnance Survey Memoirs, p. 47).

The Roman Catholic Chapel of 1836 was first recorded on the second edition Ordnance Survey map (1857) which depicted it along a rectangular-layout with a small projection at the west side of the building. The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation set the total rateable value of the chapel at £19 and 10 shillings in 1859. There were few changes made to the building during the following decades although in 1874 a memorial cross was erected in the graveyard in memory of the Rev. John Fitzsimmons (parish priest). The Dictionary of Irish Architects notes that this monument was designed by Timothy Hevey of Belfast but executed by Charles William Harrison, a Dublin-based sculptor. The memorial cross was built of Portland stone and Wicklow granite but was blown over and destroyed as a result of a storm. In 1910 Building News reported that a renovation was about to be made to the chapel (which was to include an extension to the building) to designs by William J. Moore and John G. Flanigan of Belfast, however the alteration of the building was abandoned when the decision was made to demolish the original chapel and erect the current church in its place (Building News; DIA).

St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church was constructed at the bequest of Parish Priest the Very Rev. J. McCartan and was designed by William J. Moore (c. 1873-1921), a Belfast-based architect who went on to design the Church of St. Patrick and St. Brigid (HB05/01/007) in Glenariff in 1916-17. Moore designed the church in a Romanesque style employing locally quarried Devonian Sandstone (Cross Slieve Group) and Ballycastle Sandstone in its masonry. Tenders for the construction of the church were invited in January 1913 with the Belfast-based contractors of Courtney & Co. selected as builders (Irish Builder; DIA; NSD). Despite the replacement of the original church, St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church continued to be valued at £19 and 10 shillings by the Annual Revisions. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of the church was set at £153, however this was increased to £336 under the Second General Revaluation (1956-72).

In 1972 the UAHS publication for the Glens of Antrim described St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in the following terms: ‘The exterior is of stone, with a rose window, and a rather curious square tower, surmounted by a shallow octagon, and a small spire carried on eight Romanesque-capitalled columns … the interior is large, tall, and wide, with a timber roof; there is a very good white Caen stone high altar in front of a warmly-coloured Victorian east window; the chancel is framed in fat Romanesque-capitalled columns bearing a pointed arch’ (UAHS Guide, p. 37). The church was included in the designation of the Cushendall Conservation Area in 1975 and was subsequently listed in 1976. At the time of the Second Survey St. Mary’s Church was the primary place of worship for Roman Catholics in the village of Cushendall.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/20/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1903)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/20/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1921)
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/40A-B – Griffith’s Valuation (c. 1859)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/7A-F – Annual Revisions (1864-1923)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/12A– Annual Revisions (1923-29)
8. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/14 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
9. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/10 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
10. Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Co. Antrim IV, Vol. 13 (1830-38)
11. Building News (29 Sept 1909)
12. Irish Builder (18 Jan; 15 Feb 1913)
13. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1918)
14. First Survey Record – HB05/02/010 (1971)
15. NIEA HB Record – HB05/02/010

Secondary Sources
1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings and areas of architectural importance in the Glens of Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.
2. ‘Cushendall Village Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1975.
3. ‘Cushendall Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1993.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/
2. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com/

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
Z. Rarity
R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
V. Authorship
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Free-standing gable-fronted Romanesque-style sandstone Roman Catholic church with a three-stage bell tower, built c.1913 to the designs of William J. Moore. Located within its own grounds on the western outskirts of Cushendall village, the site is bounded by the River Dall to the south and stone walls and iron railings to the north, with graveyards on both east and west sides. Occupying a largely unaltered riverside setting, this church retains much of its original internal and external historic fabric and detailing, with fine stone detailing and a plate tracery rose window to the front facade. This is a fine example of its type; an early twentieth century local village church with continuing social and local importance for the community, architecturally largely intact.