St Mary's R C Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A double-height Gothic-style Roman Catholic Church with chancel, built c.1858 to the designs of William Barre. Located adjacent on the Greenhill Road, north of the junction with Seafin Road, approximately 3 miles north of Rathfriland.

Pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles and stone skews; cast-iron ogee moulded rainwater goods. Random rubble masonry walling built to course at plinth level; granite quoins and dress stone; two-stage buttresses. Pointed-arch windows with irregular long-and-short chamfered granite surrounds; geometrical stone tracery with leaded glazing. Pointed-arch doorway with deep set moulded surrounds with hood moulding and geometric raised-and-pointed stops; replacement timber sheeted doors.

The principal gable faces west and is symmetrically arranged and flanked with diagonal buttresses. The door is centrally located. Large west window over; cusped geometrical tracery with quatrefoils and central cross; hood moulding with plain stops. Plain raked stone coping and bell cote surmounted by an apex cross.

The north elevation is symmetrical in principal; steep inclined site dropping to the left. Five windows wide, partitioned with buttresses. Ramp running from the centre to the left serving secondary entrance (see rear gable).

The rear gable is blank surmounted by filigree apex cross; abutted by diminished-in-scale chancel flanked by diagonal buttresses and raised on tall plinth due to sloping site; large east window, similar style to west with variations to detailing; no hood moulding. Single lancet stained glass window to the left cheek. The right cheek has a masonry chimney breaking through eaves. Further abutted by a lower flat-roofed single-storey over basement secondary entrance; Tudor-arched door surround with raised apex; chamfered jambs with stops; paired lancet windows over basement door to the north elevation, the east elevation is abutted by a modern flat roofed two-storey over basement extension; of no interest.

The south elevation largely matches the north; the far left bay has a Tudor-arched door, matching the rear entrance, with a statuette of Our Lady set into lancet-arched niche.

Setting:
Set within a rural context, minor road running adjacent to the west. Graveyard to the south and tarmac carpark to the north and east. The site is bounded by a rubble masonry wall; modern railings and gates. Inscribed stone on the wall from previous church; “AIDED AND GIFTED BY THE DIFFERENT DENIMINATIONS OF CHRISTIANS, THIS CHAPEL BUILT BY THE REVd JAMEs McKEY A.D.1807.AS OFTEN AS DEVINE SERVICE IS PERFORMED PRAYERS TO BE OFFERED FOR ALL PEOPLE WHO CONTRIBUTED TOWARDS THE BUILDING OF.”

Roofing: Natural slate
Walling: Rubble masonry
Windows: Leaded
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The Church of St. Mary Immaculate, a church of the Catholic parish of Annaclone and situated in the townland of Lisnavaghrog, was constructed between 1857 and 1858, dedicated to St. Mary on 17th October 1858. Prior to the construction of the church services in the area were held in an adjacent ‘Mass House’ which can be seen on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map to the south of the current site. The Mass House was constructed in 1807 and was the sole place of worship for Catholics in the immediate area until the 1850s. The Builder records that the new church was designed by William Joseph Barre (c. 1826-1867), a Newry and Belfast based architect who is best known for designing the Ulster Hall in Belfast (Builder, p. 751).

Upon completion of the new church in 1858 the second edition of the Ordnance Survey maps (1859) depicted the new building as a rectangular-shaped structure possessing a north-east facing outbuilding adjoining its rear (giving the site a distinct L-shape). Griffith’s Valuation (1862) valued the church at £15 and this rating was maintained by the end of the Annual Revisions in 1929, despite the demolition of the rear outbuilding and the original Mass House between 1859 and 1901-02 when neither appears on the third edition map.

McNeil states that the original Mass House, a basic meeting place for local Catholics, was constructed in 1807 at the same time the current cemetery was set out. The only surviving trace of the original Mass House is an inscribed stone at the site which records that the church was “AIDED AND GIFTED BY THE DIFFERENT DENIMINATIONS OF CHRISTIANS, THIS CHAPEL BUILT BY THE REVd JAMEs McKEY A.D.1807.AS OFTEN AS DEVINE SERVICE IS PERFORMED PRAYERS TO BE OFFERED FOR ALL PEOPLE WHO CONTRIBUTED TOWARDS THE BUILDING OF.”

By the 1850s planning began for the erection of a new church that could accommodate the growing congregation of the area and in 1857, under the direction of the parish priest Rev. John Mooney, construction of the current church was begun (McNeil). The building was completed in 1858 and it is likely that the original Mass House was demolished shortly after the dedication of the new edifice. The Dictionary of Irish Architects note that the building to the rear of the church was the parochial hall; however it was also demolished by the third edition Ordnance Survey map in 1901-02 for unknown reasons (Dictionary of Irish Architects).

St. Mary’s Church was renovated in 1930 when the current high altar was installed. Further changes were carried out in 1965 when the original floor, seats and sacristy were replaced with new ones; the church reopened later that year. The only significant alteration to the exterior layout of the church, since the demolition of the parochial hall, was the erection of the flat-roof single-storey secondary entrance which was built by 1976 when it was depicted on the current edition of the Ordnance Survey map situated at the rear of the church. The Church of St. Mary Immaculate was listed in 1977 and since that time the interior has been redecorated and rearranged; the modifications occurred during the administration of the current Parish Priest, who was installed in 1994 (McNeil).

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/42/1 – First edition Ordnance Survey map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/42/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1859
3. PRONI OS/6/3/42/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1901-1902
4. PRONI OS/6/3/42/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1919-1920
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/3/42 – Townland Valuation map 1833
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/357A+B – Townland Valuation c. 1830
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/59/B – Griffith’s Valuation 1862
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/4A – Annual Revisions 1864-1876
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/4B – Annual Revisions 1877-1887
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/4C – Annual Revisions 1887-1898
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/4D – Annual Revisions 1898-1911
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/4E – Annual Revisions 1912-1929
13. Builder (Vol. 16, 6 Nov 1858)
14. First Survey Record – HB 17/09/010 (1970)
15. Ordnance Survey Map – 238-12 (1976)

Secondary Sources

1. 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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

A double-height Gothic-style Roman Catholic Church with chancel, built c.1858 to the designs of William Barre. Style, proportions and historic character survive, although the interior has undergone some modernisation affecting its original character. The fabric incorporated from the earlier church adds to its historic interest and is evidence of continuity of use on this site. Alterations to the gates and railings and addition of the car park compromise its setting. However, the church is still a good example of the work of a prominent local architect.