St.Michael's R C Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A double-height three-bay Gothic-style Roman Catholic church built 1833 to the designs of Thomas Duff; rectangular plan form with gabled chancel; tower added c. 1875. Located centrally in the village of Finnis, adjacent to the junction between Dree Hill and Rathfriland Road.

Pitched natural slate roof with replacement metal crested ridge; cast-iron ogee moulded rainwater goods on chamfered masonry corbelled eave course supported on masonry eaves brackets; squared down pipes. Squared coursed masonry walling with granite dress stone to tower and principal gable; otherwise ruled-and-lined render. The windows are pointed-arched with chamfered long-and-short surrounds embracing cusped geometric-tracery. Tudor-arched double-leaf timber sheeted doors with decorative wrought-iron strap hinges and ironmongery; chamfered long-and-short surrounds.

The principal gable faces northwest and is symmetrically arranged. The door is located within the central bay with a tripartite window with geometric-tracery over. Flanking the bay are three-stage lateral buttresses surmounted with pyramidal pinnacles, terminating above the raked crenallated coping string-course (clasping buttress to north). Single window to the left and right bays. Large masonry gable cross presiding over a plaque inscribed with “MDCCCXXXV” at the gable apex. Square plan two-stage tower with embryo spire, slated with lucarnes, leaded hips surmounted by finial cross. The first stage is double height rising to a projected string course; northwest face comprises Tudor-arched double-leaf door with two-stage chamfered long-and-short surrounds with label mouldings and geometric stops over; window over rising to two arrow loop windows with long-and-short surrounds. The southwest and southeast faces comprise a single lancet-arch window with two arrow-loops over. Each face of the second stage comprises a pointed-arched opening with continuous hood moulding, chamfered long-and-short surrounds with timber louvers to the lower portion and cusped tracery to the upper portion; angled buttresses surmounted by a crenallated parapet.

The north east elevation is asymmetrically arranged. Four windows wide with a Tudor-arched double-leaf timber sheeted door with plain chamfered surrounds and plinth stops, located right of centre.

The rear elevation is blank with plain coping apex cross and clasped buttresses with pinnacles. Abutted by a gable-ended diminished chancel, similarly detailed; tripartite window with geometric-tracery; projected shoulders surmounted by masonry crosses; plain coping rising to apex cross; stepped access to the basement at the foot of the gable. The right cheek comprises two windows; projected plain chimney to the far right. A single-storey lean-to toilet block (of no interest) abuts the ground floor. The left cheek comprises two windows; the ground floor is abutted by a pitched roof kitchen block with matching ridge cresting and gable shoulders; broad tapering chimney over apex. The gable comprises two windows; single diminished-in-height window to the southeast face with a door to the right; the northwest elevation is partially projected beyond the façade of the nave.

The right elevation is asymmetrically arranged; matching the left elevation; the far left bay is abutted by the tower.

Setting

The church sits on an elevated site central to the village. The northwest is bounded by wrought-iron railings with castings; decorative cast-iron piers with matching gates. The church is approached by a straight driveway direct to the front entrance, lined with largely unoccupied burial grounds; hedge boundary to the left; rendered wall to the right. Beyond the rendered wall to the west of the church is a large tarmac car park; historic plaque embedded into a rubble walling inscribed with “FINNIS NATIONAL SCHOOL 1844”. To the left and right the church nave are further burial grounds. East of the church is St Michael’s Primary School, of no historic interest.

Roofing: Natural slate
Walling: Stone
Windows: Leaded/stained glass
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church, situated in the townland of Finnis, was constructed by means of public subscription and was completed in 1833. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1837) described the building as a ‘neat, rectangular building standing north-west and south-east, built of unhewn stone, faced with cut granite and lighted by 11 neat windows [measuring] 88ft by 41ft.’ In 1837 the writer noted that there were 2,491 members of the Roman Catholic religion in the Parish of Dromara and that the average attendance at the chapel at Finnis was 700 people (Ordnance Survey Memoirs, p. 66).

The first edition of the Ordnance Survey map (1833) depicts the chapel as a rectangular-shaped building; whilst the contemporary Townland Valuations (c. 1830) records that the newly completed chapel was valued at £16 5s. There was little change to the chapel in the 1860s when Griffith’s Valuation noted that its value stood at £17; the only discernible change to the site since the 1830s was the construction of a national schoolhouse which was erected in 1844, valued at £3 and located to the west-side of the chapel.

The third and fourth editions of the Ordnance Survey map (1903; 1903-20) record that for a period of its history the church was known as the Church of the Sacred Heart (in fact the maps never refer to the building as St. Michael’s). Despite alterations to the church in the late-19th century when the current tower was added (1875) there was no alteration in the value of the property by the end of the Annual Revisions in 1923.

St. Michael’s Church was constructed in the early-19th century; Clarke suggests that the chapel was erected on the site of a much earlier building; perhaps as early as the 16th century. Although Clarke gives no evidence to support his claim of a medieval church, the oldest stone in the graveyard dates from 1767 and supports the existence of at least a mid-18th century structure on the site (Clarke, p. 145).

Construction of the current church was started in 1825 under the supervision of the Rev. Francis Reavy; however it was not completed until 1833 under the Rev. Michael McCartan. The architect who designed the Gothic edifice was Thomas J. Duff (c. 1792-1848), a Newry-based architect who made a successful career designing churches and public buildings, mainly in south-east Ulster, and who is best known for his plan of Newry Cathedral (Dictionary of Irish Architects). The church was constructed of freestone, which Davies states was likely quarried in the nearby townland of Dree, and was fitted with a datestone reading 1835 in Roman numerals. Although construction of the chapel had been completed in 1833, the building was not dedicated until the new local Bishop for the area was appointed in 1835, explaining the datestone of 1835. The national schoolhouse was erected in 1844 and was demolished in 1980 (Davies; Long).

The First Survey records that the current Bell Tower was added to the church in c. 1875. A decade later in 1887 the chapel was reroofed and redecorated under the Rev. D. Mallon. The current church bell was also installed during this period and was inscribed with ‘Church of the Sacred Heart’ and the date 1886. It is not known when the name of the church was changed to St. Michael’s, although the name may have been rededicated as a result of the church’s position on a hill; Davies states that during the 19th and 20th centuries a number of churches throughout Ireland were rededicated to St. Michael the Archangel. The association of St. Michael with the chapel is not clear, however the Catholic Encyclopaedia records that in early-Christian Germany many churches built on hills were dedicated to St. Michael in order to replace the pagan god Wotan whose sacred place were mountains. It is possible that this early-Christian tradition passed to Ireland; however it remains an unverified theory (Davies; Catholic Encyclopaedia website).

In 1911 the four mural panels in the sanctuary were installed; coloured opal glass was added to these panels creating remarkable biblical scenes. The four panels portray the Archangel’s Michael and Raphael, a Nazareth scene and a recreation of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper (Davies).

St. Michael’s Church was listed in 1977. The most recent changes to the church include the restoration of the Last Supper panel in 1983, the laying of a new floor in 1984, and the erection of the shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes, a gift from a parishioner, a Mr. Barney O’Hare, in 1996. In the same year the church was reroofed for a second time and the current baptismal font added (Davies).

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/28/1 – First edition Ordnance Survey map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/28/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1859
3. PRONI OS/6/3/28/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1903
4. PRONI OS/6/3/28/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1903-1920
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/3/28 – Townland Valuation map 1833
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/341 – Townland Valuation c. 1830
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/50A – Griffith’s Valuation c. 1861
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/2A – Annual Revisions 1864-1875
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/2B – Annual Revisions 1876-1883
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/2C – Annual Revisions 1884-1894
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/2D – Annual Revisions 1895-1908
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/2E – Annual Revisions 1909-1923
13. Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Co. Down III Vol. 12 (1837)
14. First Survey Record – HB17/11/014 (1969)

Secondary Sources

1. Clarke, R. S. J., ‘Gravestone inscriptions: Vol. 19’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1983.
2. Davies, A., ‘The Diocese of Dromore Past & Present: Parish of Dromara’ Dromore: Dromore Diocesan Historical Society, 2004.
3. Long, S. E., ‘The Parish of Dromara, Ireland: A short history’ Dromara: Unknown publisher, 1979.

Online Resources

1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie
2. Catholic Encyclopaedia Website - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10275b.htm

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

A double-height three-bay Gothic-style Roman Catholic church built 1833 to the designs of Thomas Duff; rectangular plan form with altar; tower added c. 1875. Detailing throughout is of good quality and much historic fabric survives, including stained glass and murals, although there has been some modification to the liturgical furniture. The historic setting has been compromised by a large tarmac car park adjacent to the tower but its prominence survives. The church exhibits robust character, style and historic appearance and is a good example of the work of a notable local architect.