St Mary's R C Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A double-height Gothic-revival Roman Catholic Church dated 1871, built to the designs of Timothy Hevey. Rectangular plan form comprising nave with side aisles, apsidal chancel and tower (completed 1874). Located directly on the Dromara Road, adjacent to the junction with Ballydrumman Road in the centre of Leitrim village.

Pitched natural slate roof with scalloped course with crested terracotta ridge tiles; painted aluminium ogee moulded rainwater goods fixed to exposed decorative rafter-ends. Squared un-coursed granite walling; battered plinth to the sides and rear; projected plinth with plain plinth course to the front; granite dress stone and plain string courses. Generally lancet-arched windows with long-and-short granite ashlar surrounds; chamfered reveals, cill and granite voussoirs. Replacement timber-sheeted double-leaf doors with decorative strap hinges; set into moulded voussoired pointed arched opening with hood moulding and foliated stops; cross motif to impost stones; label course; long-and-short surrounds with polished granite half-columns on enlarged base and plinth block. Front entrance accessed by steps with replica cast-iron handrails and lamps.

The principal elevation faces east and is asymmetrically arranged. The front entrance is centrally positioned on the gable; three equally sized lancet-arched windows; rose-window comprising central quatrefoil surrounded by eight trefoils with moulded surround located in the gable head; gable surmounted with apex cross. The right is abutted by a three-stage gabletted angle buttress; the left is abutted by the tower with spire.

The left elevation is asymmetrical. The right is abutted by the four-stage tower with angled buttresses surmounted by a broach spire with trefoil detailing and moulded lucarnes with timber louvers; first stage comprises a double-leaf replacement timber sheeted door set into a pointed-arched opening with moulded archivolt and label course; moulded chamfered jambs with plinth stops to the south face; the east face comprises three inclining arrow-loop windows. The north and west faces abut the nave and side aisle. The second stage south face comprises a cusped niche with chamfered long-and-short surrounds embracing a moulded pedestal; no statuette; blank oculus over inscribed with “D.O.M. SUB. INVO. E.M.V.J. [Indecipherable portion] REV. AR.J. FINNEGAN, PAROCHUS, A.D. 1871”. Cinquefoil window to the north face. Third stage lancet windows to the south, east and west faces. Fourth stage paired round-headed arched openings with timber louvers; dress stone surrounds and decorative colonette mullion to all sides.

The nave to the left of the tower is five paired lancets wide; abutted at ground floor level by a lean-to side aisle; bays distinguished by two-stage buttresses; cusped tripartite window to the far left bay; slight projection below cill level to the central bay with trefoil light; enlarged sex-foil window to the west gable; clerestory glazing to nave comprising alternating cinquefoil and quatrefoil windows.

The west gable is symmetrically arranged; apsidal chancel with hipped roof with leaded hips; terminated by finial cross. Each face of the chancel with plate-tracery window comprising paired round-headed lights terminated by cinque-foil rose light set into a pointed-arched opening with chamfered long-and-short surrounds and continuous plain impost and cill courses. Flanked by west elevation of side aisles each with rose window; left angle is abutted by a bowed sacristy; slate conical roof terminated with a finial cross; three square-headed 1/1 timber sash windows with horns and dress stone surrounds facing west; flat-roofed porch to the north with moulded parapet; single timber sheeted door to the left with corbelled lintel.

The right elevation is asymmetrically arranged. The nave and side aisle match the left elevation. The left gable is abutted by a hipped roof bay with enlarged foot print, projecting beyond the line of the aisle; fully buttressed with single pointed arched window to the north and east faces.

Setting

The church sits prominently in the village and is a landmark within the valley. The church grounds are bounded to the east by replacement decorative railing fixed to a squared masonry wall with chamfered coping. The grounds are accessed from the road via a gates matching the railings fixed to square-plan masonry piers with displaying diminutive buttresses to each face terminated by gabletted cap with trefoil motifs. Decorative iron-arch displaying “DOM SUB INVO MARIAE IMM”. The paving to the front of the church are modern buff coloured sets. To the immediate south of the church is a rubble masonry grotto with Virgin Mary statuettes with an inscribed stone reading “THIS GROTTO WAS ERECTED BY MR AND MRS PATRICK OWENS BELFAST FORMERLY BACKADERRY AND SOLEMNLY BLESSED BY MOST REV DR. MULHERN ON THE 26th MAY 1929. THE REV E. Mc GIVERN BEING PARISH PRIEST.” Burial grounds to the north and west with an adjacent complex of outbuildings with corrugated-iron roofs. The south is further bounded by a partially rendered rubble masonry wall with decorative iron-gate; matching front gates detailing.

Roofing: Natural slate
Walling: stone
Windows: Stained glass
RWG: Aluminium

Historical information

St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, situated in the townland of Leitrim, was constructed between 1871 and 1874 and replaced a former chapel on the site that had stood since the late-18th century. The first edition of the Ordnance Survey maps (1834) depict the earlier chapel as cruciform-shaped building situated on the exact location as the current structure; the contemporary Townland Valuations valued the original chapel at £7 9s. In the 1830s the original chapel was described as ‘a plain slated rectangular building ... [measuring] 60 by 30ft, cross-shape.’ The Ordnance Survey Memoirs state that the original church was constructed in 1786 but underwent extensive renovation and modification in 1835; the original chapel contained open seats and a gallery which could accommodate the average weekly attendance of 300 parishioners (the total Roman Catholic population of Upper Drumgooland Parish at that time stood at 3,594 (Ordnance Survey Memoirs, p. 22; 1841 Census).

By the 1860s Griffith’s Valuation noted that the value of the original church had risen to £12, partially as a result of additions made in 1835. The second edition of the Ordnance Survey map (1859) depicted no discernible change to the site and between 1862 and the end of the Annual revisions in 1929 there was no alteration to the value of the site despite the erection of the current church in 1871-74. When completed, the new church was depicted as a rectangular-shaped building captioned ‘St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church on the third and fourth editions of the Ordnance Survey maps (1901; 1919-20).

McCartan states that the Roman Catholic Parish of Upper Drumgooland was established in 1784, however it was two years before the first church in the area was established on the current site in Leitrim townland under the supervision of the parish priest the Rev. Patrick McKay. The only significant alteration to the original building between 1786 and 1871 was the renovation and modification work carried out on the chapel in 1835. Five years after the work was completed the congregation was still paying for the renovation of the chapel; in order to alleviate the remaining debt a collection was taken up in 1842 when Fr. Theobald Matthew, the leader of the Catholic Temperance Movement, preached a sermon in the newly modified (original) chapel (McCartan).

However, despite the enlargement of the original church in 1835, by the mid-19th century plans were made to replace the (presumably inadequate) structure with a new edifice. The current church was erected at the urging of the parish priest, Fr. A. J. Finnegan. The church building was constructed first, using granite stones that were quarried in the area; the square tower and spire was not added until 1874 and before its installation the construction work had cost almost £3,000 (McCartan). O’Reilly states that the Church of St. Mary Immaculate was designed by Timothy Hevey (1871-74), a Belfast-based architect who also designed St. Colman’s Roman Catholic Church in Dromore (HB17/15/004) and St. Colman’s Church in the Parish of Annaclone (HB17/08/008). There is a striking similarity between the exteriors of St. Colman’s Church in Dromore and St. Mary’s Church in Leitrim, the main difference being the location of each building’s square tower and spire. The builders contracted to carry out Hevey’s design were O’Flynn & Mackin whilst the interior carvings and altars were fitted by C. W. Harrison of Dublin (O’Reilly, p. 206; Dictionary of Irish Architects).

The current church was officially opened and dedicated on 2nd August 1874 and since that time has undergone a renovation between 1924 and 1926. During this project the interior of the church was redecorated and fitted with new material including the mosaic sanctuary floor and the altar steps. The Stations of the Cross as well as the Lourdes stained glass windows were gifted to the church by a Mrs. McEvoy, a local parishioner; the stained glass window depicting the Resurrection of Jesus was donated by a Mr. John Owens. In 1929 a further addition was made to the church when the Lourdes Grotto was installed on 26th May, the gift of Mr. And Mrs. Patrick Owens. In 1971 the congregation celebrated the centenary of the new church with a celebratory mass on 10th October (McCartan).

St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church was listed in 1977 and since that time has undergone additional renovations between 1998 and 1999; around completion of the restoration, the church was subject to arson which resulted in its closure. St. Mary’s Church reopened at the end of 1999.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/36/1 – First edition Ordnance Survey map 1834
2. PRONI OS/6/3/36/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1859
3. PRONI OS/6/3/36/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1901
4. PRONI OS/6/3/36/4 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1919-1920
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/3/36 – Townland Valuation map c. 1830
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/359 – Townland Valuations c. 1830
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/51/D – Griffith’s Valuation 1862
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/15A – Annual Revisions 1864-1879
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/15B – Annual Revisions 1880-1894
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/15C – Annual Revisions 1895-1908
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/15D – Annual Revisions 1909-1929
12. Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Co Down I, Vol. 3 (1836)
13. First Survey Record – HB17/10/004 (1969)

Secondary Sources

1. McCartan, M. ‘The Diocese of Dromore past & present: Parishes of Drumgooland’ Dromore: Dromore Diocesan Historical Society, 2004.
2. O’Reilly, S., ‘Timothy Hevey (1846-1878): An episode in Irish High Victorian architecture’ National University of Ireland, 1994.

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
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

A double-height Gothic-revival Roman Catholic Church dated 1871, built to the designs of Timothy Hevey. It is a prominent landmark and its character, appearance and style survive with the burial ground to the rear, adding to the setting. The historic character of the richly decorated interior of high craft value has survived, after restoration, with much detailing and fabric unaltered. The church is a good example of its type and of the work of a noteworthy local architect.