Feystown RC Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Small, plain, single storey gabled and stuccoed RC church of 1828, with vestry projection and chancel of 1878 and porch of c.1920. The church, which serves an overwhelmingly rural parish, is set in on a slight rise to the east of Feystown Road, roughly 4 miles S of Glenarm and is surrounded by a graveyard. It replaced an earlier smaller church of 1810, which originally stood roughly half a mile to the east.

To the N gable of the church there is a small gabled entrance porch. To both the E and W faces of the porch there is a panelled timber double door. To the gable of the porch there is a pointed arch window with relatively modern looking stained glass. The porch has a slated roof with parapet. The main N gable of the church has a high-level roundel window, also with stained glass.

The W elevation of the main body of the church has five pointed arch windows with glazing as before and label moulding with decorative stops. To the far right the façade is recessed (this is actually the W face of the chancel). To the immediate left of this recessed portion there is a buttress.

The E elevation has a more complex appearance than that to W. To the far left there is a gabled vestry projection. To the (E facing) gable of the projection there is a small flat roofed extension with a timber-sheeted door to the N and S faces. To the N face of the main projection there is another extension which leans-to the E elevation of the main building. To the E face of this projection there is another timber-sheeted door and, to the N face, a small window with modern frame. To the S face of the main projection there is another (slightly larger) window, with similar frame. The main projection has a rendered chimneystack and slated roof, the roof of the lean-to is slated also.

To the short exposed section of the main E façade to the left hand end there is a pointed arch window, as W elevation but without label moulding. To the right of the gabled projection ensemble there are three more pointed arch windows, all as previous.

High on the S gable there is a large three-quarter statue of St Patrick as a young man by Angela, Lady Antrim. The statue faces in the direction of Slemish mountain where Patrick is believed to have worked as a Shepard whilst in captivity.

The entire façade is rendered and painted (white, with black at plinth level). The main roof is slated and has parapets. To the N parapet there is a bellcote with slated hipped roof and metal cross finial. There is another cross finial to the apex of the S gable. Metal rw goods.

The surrounding graveyard contains headstones dating back to 1829. The graveyard is bounded by a low, partly harled, partly exposed rubble wall. To the W (to the roadside) is the main gateway with simple round, conical capped pillars and wrought iron gates. The gates, which have simple, slightly crude, spearhead decoration, are now in poor condition.

Historical information

This church was built in 1828 on land obtained from the then Lord Antrim by Rev John O’Neill. It replaced an earlier church of 1810, which was sited in Claudy townland, roughly half a mile east of the present building. In 1878 the chancel and vestry projection were both added and in 1910, following the purchase of more land to the east of the building, the graveyard wall was erected. The porch was constructed in 1918, but because of structural problems, had to be rebuilt a few years later.

In 1961-2 Rev Liam Kirkwood carried out a major renovation scheme with new windows, doors, floors and altar fittings installed and the bellcote added. This scheme, which ultimately cost around £5,000, was partly funded by a donation of £1,200 by parishioner Mrs Alice McAllister, the proceeds of the sale a family heirloom -the Ardclinis crosier- to the National Museum in Dublin.

The statue of St Patrick on the south gable was donated by the Countess of Antrim in c.1971. It was damaged in a terrorist bomb attack on the church in 1973, but later restored.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.2799 Antrim Papers
2 PRONI OS/6/1/29/1 OS map, Co Antrim sh 29, 1832-33
3 PRONI VAL/1B/149 First valuation, Tickmacrevan parish, 1833
4 ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs…’ vol.13 (QUB 1992), p.129
5 PRONI OS/6/1/29/2 OS map, Co Antrim sh 29, 1857
6 PRONI OS/6/1/29/3 OS map, Co Antrim sh 29, c.1901
7 Photograph of Feystown RC Church c.1920s, reprinted in ‘Glenarm- a local history’ by Felix McKillop (Glenarm 1987)

Secondary sources
1 Felix McKillop, ‘Glenarm- a local history’ (Glenarm 1987), pp.40-41

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H+. Alterations enhancing the building

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Small, largely plain single storey gabled RC church of 1828, with rendered façade, gabled porch and pointed arch windows. The building originally consisted of the main rectangular portion, with the chancel and vestry added in 1878 and the porch c.1920. The building was extensively renovated in 1961-2 when, among other things, a small bellcote was added. To the south gable is a c.1971 statue of St Patrick by Angela, Lady Antrim. The church is surrounded by a small graveyard with headstones dating back to 1829.