R.C. Church Lisbane

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Small simple gabled church of 1777 with graveyard all set within a sheltered low lying piece of land on the east coast of Strangford Lough.

Front NE gable has central plain timber sheeted door with seven pane semicircular arch fanlight above.

SE elevation has four evenly spaced semicircular arch headed windows with sliding sash and case frames with horizontal and vertical astragals. Pedimented ‘classical’ style headstone attached to SE wall at left.

NW elevation has two semicircular arch headed windows with sliding sash and case frames with horizontal and vertical astragals.

SW gable has three narrow semi-circular arch headed windows, with diamond pattern leaded lights, set at high level with middle window taller than outer two.

Roof pitched with rough hewn ‘Tullycavey’ slates and stone parapets, with simple thin cross finials at gable apexes.

The surrounding graveyard has headstones dating back to 1829 (with actual stone, dated 18 March 1829, with inscription “This is the first stone erected in this church yard”), with a large red sandstone Celtic cross to road side of graveyard. Low rubble wall with gate and stile around graveyard.

There is a low rough cast rendered wall with stile and simple cast iron gates at the SE entrance to the graveyard (next to the road).

Historical information

This church (as the cross states) was built in 1777 by Rev. Daniel O’Doran, the last parish priest to serve the entire Ards peninsula, with the help of a ‘general subscription’. It was built at a time when the penal laws against Catholics and Dissenters were beginning to be repealed and constructed on a site where mass had previously been celebrated in the open air. Shortly after its construction the parish of the Ards was divided in two with Lisbane church serving the restored parish of Ardkeen.

During the nineteenth century the growth in population in the Ards, especially in Kircubbin and the Greyabbey area, coupled with the remoteness of Lisbane, lead to the building of a new churches at Nunsquarter and Ballycran Beg, in 1865 and 1876 respectively. In the twentieth century Lisbane acted mainly as a mortuary chapel, but slowly feel into disrepair. The church was restored in 1966 and since that time is only used for services once a year, on All Souls Day (November 1st.).

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI Ordnance Survey Maps, 1st Edition, 1834, Co. Down 25.
2 Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.7: Parishes of County Down II, ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1991), p.2.
3 PRONI VAL 1B/35 1st valuation, Ardkeen, c.1835.
4 PRONI Ordnance Survey Maps, 1st revision, 1860, Co. Down 25.
5 PRONI 2nd valuation, Ardkeen, c.1863.

Secondary sources
1 R.S.J. Clarke (compiler) 'Gravestone Inscriptions Vol.13, County Down, Barony of Ards' (U.H.F. Belfast 1975), pp. 85-97. [Clarke notes a headstone of 1808, pre-dating the ‘official’ earliest headstone of 1829.]
2 J.J. Gilmore ‘Lisbane Church: A bicentennial sketch’ in 'Journal of the Upper Ards Historical Society No.2' (1978), pp. 8-9.
3 Rev. J. O’ Laverty 'Diocese of Down and Connor Ancient and Modern' (1878, reprinted 1980), Vol.I pp. 126-28.
4 'St. Patrick’s Church Ballyphilip 1762-1962' [souvenir bicentenary booklet] (?Portaferry, 1962).

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

W. Northern Ireland/International Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Simple and unassuming church/mass house of the 1770s delightfully situated on a somewhat serene inlet on the east coast of Strangford Lough. The church was restored in 1966.