St Dympna RC Church,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached double-height Roman Catholic church, dated 1883, built on the site of an earlier church and located to the south side of St Dympna’s Road, Dromore. Rectangular-on-plan nave aligned north-south with single-storey entrance porch dated c. 1917 at east and single-storey sacristy at west.

Roofs are natural slate with blue/black ridge tiles, raised masonry verges and cross finials; corbelled eaves supporting original u-profile cast-iron rainwater goods. Walls are roughcast rendered with stepped quoins and projecting plinth. Gothic arched geometric Y-tracery windows with latticed stained glass contained within chamfered surrounds and splayed cills unless otherwise stated. (Most windows are broken and have been blocked internally.)

Principal elevation is five windows wide and faces east; right bay is abutted by single-storey entrance porch dated c. 1917 with hipped roof, (interrupting nave window). Date stone to nave wall which reads, ‘Erected to the/ Glory of the Most/ High and DOM. 1883/ under the inspection/ of the/ REV. P. GORDON/ E McGuigan/ Builder.’

Entrance porch east gable contains central Gothic arched double-leaf timber sheeted door surmounted by plaque which reads, ‘DEDICATED TO THE/ OMNIPOTENT GOD/ UNDER THE INVOCATION OF/ ST. DYMPHNA. VIRGIN & MARTYR 1917.’ Statue to apex. South elevation contains single pointed-arched-headed stained glass window; north elevation as south.

South gable contains three Gothic arched openings (all now boarded with no glass remaining) with hoodmould over.

West elevation is two windows wide and abutted at right by single-storey sacristy with pitched roof.

Sacristy is detailed as nave; west gable contains central projecting smooth rendered chimneystack; flanked by window at each side; north elevation contains two windows; south elevation contains square-headed entrance door at right, window at left.

North gable contains square-headed replacement timber sheeted doors at centre.

Setting

The church is set on an elevated site with former primary school at east and graveyard at west and south. The site is bound at west and south by mature hedging; bound at east by two sets of cast-iron gates supported on smooth rendered piers with stepped coping; piers connected by smooth rendered walling with saddleback coping and cast-iron railings. The site is bound at north by random rubble walling which also encloses the north boundary of the adjacent former primary school building. Site is accessed at east via adjacent car park.

Roof Natural slate
Walling Roughcast render
Windows stained glass
RWG cast-iron

Historical information

The church is dated 1883 and is located on the site of a previous church dating from c.1830, which was itself a rebuilding of an earlier chapel.

An ‘RC Chapel’ is present on the first edition OS map of 1833. By the third edition of 1905-6 it has been replaced by a much larger building, of the same width but extended to the south and ‘Dromore School’ (HB11/03/001B) also appears. By the fourth edition of 1938 the church has acquired a porch to the east (dated 1917) and a sacristy to the west together with a ‘Bell-tower’ to the south east (HB11/03/001C).

OS Memoirs record the rebuilding of the former chapel on the site. (p.101) The earlier chapel is recorded in both the Townland and Griffith’s Valuation. Annual Revisions (1860-1929) value the old church at £18, but do not give any evidence of the rebuilding of 1883. This is not reflected in the records until 1933 when the valuation of the church and yard is increased from £19 to £100. At this time the records note that there is accommodation for approximately 800 people and give a plan with dimensions. The cost is estimated at £3,406.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/6/50/1 – First Edition OS Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/6/50/2 – Second Edition OS Map 1853
3. PRONI OS/6/6/50/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1905-6
4. PRONI OS/6/6/50/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1938
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/6/50 – Townland Valuation Map
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/629 – Townland Valuation (1828-40)
7. PRONI VAL/2/A/6/50 – Griffith’s Valuation Map
8. PRONI VAL/2/B/6/31A – Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/41/16A – Annual Revision Records (1860-1929)
10. PRONI VAL/3/D/7/8X/1 – Valuers RV Binders (1933-57)
11. Day, A. and P. McWilliams, eds. “OS Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of County Tyrone I, 1821, 1823, 1833-36, Vol. 5.” Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1990.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Detached double-height Roman Catholic church, dated 1883, located to the south side of St Dympna’s Road, Dromore, Donemana. Few original external details remain except for some of the original latticed glazed windows and date stone. The church is an example of rural ecclesiastical architecture and is grouped, although not contemporary, with the adjacent former primary school (HB11/03/001B) and bell tower (HB11/03/001C). While of local interest, it is not among the best examples of the type and has been compromised by various alterations and losses that have reduced its architectural and historic interest.

General comments

This record has been renumbered as part of a group - see HB11/03/001A