St. Patrick’s Hall

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Church like gabled hall of 1900 in a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic, with projecting square castellated tower to right, arched and lancet windows and various simple moulded courses and decoration. The hall set within the terrace on the Shore Road, slightly above ground level with gable to street

The front façade is asymmetric and faces roughly W. To the right the tower projects roughly 1.5m from gable and is level with rest of terrace. The hall is entered via steps to plain timber sheeted double door in N face of the tower (behind pavement wall and gate). Two pane semi-circular arch fanlight above door with door and fanlight set within arch recess which is itself within a longer recessed panel which stretches above first floor.

The first floor of the N and W faces of the tower each have a long narrow window with semi-circular arch head, with window set in a recessed panel dentilled at top. Tower rises slightly above main hall gable and has crenellated top on bracketed corbel, with roundel window below, to all elevations except the E (rear) which is blank. The W face of tower has a small high level window with semi-circular arch head set in recess to ground floor with ‘date’ frieze (‘A.D. 1900’) above in uncial lettering. Exposed upper section of S face of tower mainly blank but with circular moulding to uppermost section corresponding to roundel windows on N and W faces.

Ground floor of gable has group of three narrow windows (now boarded) with semi circular arch heads all set in archivolt which continues as string course across rest of gable. All arched windows formerly leaded. Moulded frieze between ground and first floor with words ‘T[h]alla Naoim Padraig’ in uncial script with Celtic cross motifs to each side of writing with motifs and letters all in frame with shamrock motifs to each side of frame. Cill course above frieze. First floor has lancet shaped recess with label moulding, with decorative stops, above. Three tall narrow windows with roundel window in tympanum all set in recess, with pointed arch heads to two outer windows and semi circular head to that in middle. Small roundel window above moulding. Moulded course to gable eaves (which continues on tower) with Celtic cross finial.

Low wall with wrought iron railings and gate posts with wrought iron gate also level with terrace, stretching from west side of tower to gable of adjoining house. Chamfered plinth to tower, wall and gate posts. Wall originally had stone balustrades instead of railing.

Main hall building behind facade is very long (c.34m x 8m) and is finished in plain render with gabled Bangor blue slate roof. There are several high level window openings to the S façade of the hall (now partly boarded). The hall shows evidence of having been extended eastwards at some point. This 'extension' has several blocked up window openings to the S.

N.B. A detailed full scale replica of this hall has been built at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.

Historical information

This building was constructed in 1900 by Rev. Hugh Magorrian (on land leased from the Nugent estate) for use as a parochial hall for the congregation of St. Patrick’s RC church. In the 1990s the church sold what was left of the original 99 year lease to the trustees of the Nugent estate. The Nugent estate retain ownership of the freehold.

A full scale replica of the hall was built at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in the mid 1990s, as part of the museum’s Edwardian townscape, and is currently open to visitors.

[Interestingly one of the principal stone masons involved in the actual building in 1900 was a local man named John Dorrian- was this man a descendant of the mason named Dorrian who built the parish church of St. Patrick in 1762, and whose name still survives on an inscribed stone on the church wall?]

References- Primary sources

1. UFTM WAG 609, 611, 612 W.A. Green Collection, photographs of Portaferry Quay, harbour, Shore Road etc.

Secondary sources
1 'St. Patrick’s Church Ballyphilip 1762-1962' [Souvenir booklet] (Portaferry, 1962), pp.32-33, 101
2 G. Philip Bell, C.E.B. Brett, Sir Robert Matthew, 'Ulster Architectural Heritage Survey: Portaferry & Strangford'
(Belfast UAHS 1969), p. 17
3 James McMullan, "St. Patrick’s Hall" in 'Journal of the Upper Ards Historical Society No.13' (1989), pp. 18-20

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Almost church-like gabled hall of 1900 in a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic, with projecting square castellated tower to right, arched and lancet windows and various simple moulded courses and decoration. Now altered with modern metal railings and balconies added to front elevation and replacement windows. Loss of original historic fabric means that the building does not meet the statutory tests for listing.