St Colman’s RC Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

The geographical orientation is N-S with the altar on the north wall. The following description is, however, ecclesiastical.

A modest Gothic style church consisting of a six-bay gabled nave with a hipped canted sanctuary. On the north side is attached an aisle of four gabled bays and on the south side a central gabled entrance porch and a gabled baptistery to the west end. To the rear (NE corner) is a flat roofed sacristy.

Pitched natural slate roof; the ridge is red clay with a dogtooth cresting to nave and plain ridges to north aisle. The gables are raised and coped in granite; there are bracketed and canted kneelers at eaves and a cruciform stone finial at ridge to east gable. The west gable of the nave carries an ashlar granite gabled bellcote but is otherwise similar to east gable. Bell is rung by an external cable on west wall. The sanctuary has lead hips and an iron cruciform finial. Eaves have a projecting masonry course. Ogee rainwater gutters and rectangular downpipes are seamless aluminium. Walls have a battered base, approx. 0.75m high and are smooth plastered with ashlar lining.

The south wall is the main entrance façade. Windows (two to each side of entrance porch) are Gothic shaped lancets; flush cills are granite; stepped dressings to jambs are unpainted render with chamfered arrises. Detailing to porch gable and baptistery are small-scale versions of detailing to main building but windows in each flank have a square granite head and cill with stepped rendered jambs. There are buttresses set at right angles on the corners of the porch and the baptistery; also one per bay centred between the windows; the caps are pitched; bases are battered and all is in strap pointed ashlar granite. Set into the blind arch in the gable of the baptistery is a painted plaster crucifix.

Details to the north aisle are similar to main building but plain render walls. Gothic headed lancet to north wall, a blind quatrefoil high in the west gable wall. Gabled entrance porch with rounded Gothic headed arch containing diagonally sheeted double doors approached by five granite steps plus a granite threshold. A confessional projects from the centre two bays of the north wall and has a flat roof.

The sacristy appears to be a quite recent construction with a flat asphalt roof that projects over the plain rendered walls; windows are modern rectangular top hung timber casements fitted with galvanised security grills. The door to the sacristy is modern flush timber and painted, up four steps and enclosed by a low rendered wall.

West gable has three tall gothic lancets with plain render surrounds. All windows are stained and coloured glass quarries. The sanctuary has a single Gothic headed lancet in walls parallel to nave, each side, otherwise walls are blank.

The churchyard is enclosed by a low granite wall of squared quarry-faced rubble coped with concrete. To the north side, falling ground raises the plinth wall on the outer side. There are two gateways. That leading to the entrance porch has square ashlar granite piers rising three courses above the wall; the arrises are stop chamfered and the cap is flush with chamfered top. The gates are wrought iron with cast iron details. The other gateway is in quarry faced blocks with similar caps.

Historical information

No building is shown on this site on the 1834 OS 6” map. A school house is shown on the 1859 edition. According to the 1861 Valuation, this belonged to the Church Education Society. It disappears from the valuation books in 1882. The present chapel was completed by Rev Marner, parish priest, in 1890. It first appears in the 1891 Valuation entry. It is shown on the 1901 OS map, by which time Attical School had relocated a short distance south. Rev. Marner was also responsible for Star of the Sea School (HB16/05/061), also opened in 1890.

Sources:
1. PRONI - OS 6/3/55/1 (1834 OS map) (Down sheet 55).
2. PRONI - OS 6/3/55/2 (1859 OS map) (Down sheet 55).
3. PRONI - OS 6/3/55/3 (1901 OS map) (Down sheet 55).
4. PRONI- VAL 2B/3/81B, p.6.
5. PRONI- VAL 12B/19/18B, p.44.
6. PRONI- VAL 12B/19/18C, p.42.

Secondary Sources:
1. C. Bradley (n.d.), ‘Histories of the Parishes, no.6’, in The Irish Weekly.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

This is a simple Gothic style church with plain finishes and layout. The original nave has been extended to the north and to the rear is an unsympathetic flat roofed sacristy. Many of the finishes are mid and late 20th century and it is not considered special enough to warrant protection.