St. Colmans R C Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A double-height Gothic-style hall and tower Roman Catholic Church with tower, built c.1840; rectangular plan, three stage tower to east, 2-storey extension to west, porch and confessional projected to the north. Located adjacent to the junction of Monteith Road and Millvale Road, approximately 3 miles south east of Banbridge.

Pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles; cast-iron half-round gutters on metal brackets. Random rubble masonry walling built to courses with snecking with cement strap pointing; granite quoins to the main body of the church; tower has string course, stepped crenallated parapets with pointed plain dressed granite pinnacles. Pointed-arch windows with painted stone surrounds punctuated by blocks; brick voussoirs; painted masonry cills. Pointed-arch doorway with plain surrounds; brick voussoirs; replacement timber panelled doors.

The principal gable faces east and is symmetrically arranged. Centrally located symmetrical three-stage tower flanked by windows to gable end. Entrance door located on the north elevation of the tower; south entrance blocked up. The east elevation has a single window at ground floor level rising to string course; second stage; square headed timber louvered openings with brick surrounds, label moulding and brick elliptical relieving arch over, rising to string course; third stage pointed-arched timber louvered opening with brick voussoirs and hood-mouldings, rear elevation is blank, rising to string course; Irish crenallated parapet with pinnacles.

The south elevation is symmetrically arranged; four windows wide. Door located between left windows blocked.

The rear gable is blank; ruled-and-lined rendered; surmounted by a gable cross. Largely abutted by a two-storey diminished in scale cement rendered extension; crow-stepped gable with pinnacles as church; symmetrical casement uPVC windows to the west gable. The south cheek is abutted by a single-storey lean-to boiler room. The north cheek is exposed coursed random rubble masonry; single door to the ground floor left with uPVC window having brick surrounds centrally located at the first floor.

The north elevation matches the south. Porch left of centre; rubble masonry walling with rendered upper portion; leaded pitched roof and Tudor-arched opening. Blank half-octagonal confessional projection with hipped leaded roof with circular roof light.

Setting:

Rural
setting bounded largely by rubble masonry walls and dressed granite piers with replacement gates. Two-storey three-bay parochial house adjacent to the north. Graveyard to the south bounded by hedges. Car parking adjacent the north elevation.

Roofing: Natural slate
Walling: Rubble masonry coursed and snecked
Windows: Stained glass
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

St. Colman’s Roman Catholic Church, a Gothic style church in the townland of Tullintanvally, was constructed in 1840, replacing an earlier chapel that had stood on the same site since 1802. The first edition of the Ordnance Survey map (1833) depicted the original church as an oblong building orientated north-west by south-east along the modern Monteith Road. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs noted that Roman Catholics constituted half of the population of the Parish of Annaclone and described the earlier chapel as a ‘plain building erected in 1802 by subscription of Christians of all denominations (Ordnance Survey Memoirs, p. 14).

The original church was valued at £5 7s. and was likely a quite simple structure as the memoirs suggest, however in 1840 the original church was replaced by the current building. The new chapel was erected at a right angle to the original building and was orientated south-west by north-east; the newly constructed church was much grander than the original structure and as a result was valued at £30 in Griffith’s Valuation in 1862. This value was not altered by the end of the Annual Revisions in 1929, and the only discernible change to the site in the later editions of the Ordnance Survey maps was the construction of the Parochial House which was erected between 1859 and 1902.

St. Colman’s Roman Catholic Church was designed by Thomas Duff (c. 1792-1848), a Newry based architect who primarily designed churches but also constructed and renovated private residences such as Hillsborough Castle and Clandeboye House (Dictionary of Irish Architects). Upon completion of the church it was consecrated on 6th November 1840 and dedicated to St. Colman. McNeill notes that St. Colman’s was erected due to the efforts of the Rev. J. S. Keenan (Keenan was the founder of St. Colman’s College in Newry) (Campbell, p. 9).

In 1878 additions and alterations to the church were carried out by Timothy Hevey (1846-1878), an established church architect based in Belfast and Dublin; the alterations to St. Colman’s were one of the last contracts carried out by Hevey before his death later in that year (Dictionary of Irish Architects). It is not clear what alterations were carried out to the church at that time, however they were likely minor interior renovations as there was no subsequent alteration to the value of the church or alteration to the layout of the church on the third edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1902-03.

St. Colman’s underwent further renovations in 1924 when the interior was redecorated and two side-altars were added; a new High Altar was installed in 1928 and during the 1940s the original latticed windows of the chapel were replaced with stained glass (McNeill).

Further alterations were made in the 1960s when an octagonal baptistery was added, a new entrance porch installed and the choir gallery was enlarged. When modern lighting and heating systems were installed the cost of the renovation stood at £17,000; the architects employed were Smith & Fay. St. Colman’s Church was closed during the renovation work but was reopened and rededicated on 11th June 1967 (McNeill); field research has found that the renovation work completely modified the interior of the church resulting in the loss of all original fabric and character.

St. Colman’s was listed in 1977 and since that time the church has been the victim of an arson attack (carried out in 1997); a fire attack damaged the rear of the chapel destroying the windows, floors, stairs and interior furnishing of the upper and lower sacristies. The church was restored by the Northern Ireland Office and the floors and staircases rebuilt at a cost of £50,000. McNeill states that the ‘act of arson was a traumatic experience for [the] little parish, but nevertheless the church can truly be said to have been restored to its original grandeur’ (McNeill).

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/34/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/34/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1859
3. PRONI OS/6/3/34/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1902-03
4. PRONI OS/6/3/34/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1903-1918
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/3/34 – Townland Valuation map 1830s
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/352 – Townland Valuations 1830s
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/56 – Griffith’s Valuation 1862
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1A – Annual Revisions 1864-1874
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1B – Annual Revisions 1875-1883
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1C – Annual Revisions 1883-1897
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1D – Annual Revisions 1898-1908
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1E – Annual Revisions 1909-1929
13. Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Co. Down III, Vol. 12 (1834; 1837)
14. First Survey Record – HB 17/08/009 (1970)
15. Ordnance Survey Map – 238-2 (1975)

Secondary Sources

1. Campbell, E. ‘Ecclesiastical Buildings: Dromore Diocese’ Newry: 1940.
2. McNeill, L., ‘The Diocese of Dromore Past & Present: Parish of Annaclone’ Dromore: Dromore Diocesan Historical Society,
2004.

Online Resources

1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
V. Authorship
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A double-height Gothic-style single-nave Roman Catholic Church with tower, built c.1840. The exterior has retained much of its character style and proportions despite inappropriate pointing. The external additions have been carried out using sympathetic materials. The interior has been completely modified from the original layout c.1960 resulting in complete loss of the original character and historic fabric. The building has landmark qualities set in rural surroundings