St Theresa's Roman Catholic Church

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A stone church in Gothic Revival Style dating from 1909 to designs by architect Thomas O’Neil and constructed by James Henry & Sons of Belfast. Rectangular plan form with square plan tower to W end and polygonal apse to E. The church is located within its own grounds on a site including a two-storey red brick building to NW. The site is enclosed by gates and railings and fronts the N side of Glen Road.

Pitched natural slate roof with black-clay ridge tiles and raised stone verges. Sandstone moulded cornicing supports cast iron ogee guttering discharging to rectangular section downpipes. Block and sneck coursed rock-faced basalt stonework with Giffnock sandstone dressings and quoins on projecting plinth. Sandstone band to cill level. Windows have stained leaded glazing.

Principal elevation:
The principal elevation is symmetrical and faces W. Three-stage tower to centre with a tall broached octagonal stone spire with lucarnes and a cross-shaped metal finial. Shallow projecting gabled entrance porch to centre with raised stone verges and finial to apex. Round-arched door opening having a double-leaf sheeted timber door. Paired pointed-arch windows to second stage having two-part tracery windows. Large three-part tracery window to third stage. Three stage angle buttresses with gablets to tower.

The tower is flanked by two-storey lean-to porches having door openings facing N and S. Square-headed window openings to GF with two-part tracery windows. Three-stage buttresses with pinnacles to N and S ends.

South elevation:
Projecting two-storey lean-to porch to W end flanked by three-stage buttresses with pinnacles. Segmental-headed door opening with a square-headed hood moulding above, having a sheeted timber door, opening onto four steps. Square-headed tracery windows to floor above. Seven-bay wide nave having pointed arch two-part tracery windows with moulded hoods. Two-stage buttresses separate each bay.

East elevation:
Polygonal apse to E elevation with hipped natural slate roof. Pointed arch two-part tracery windows with moulded hoods to the canted bays, separated by two-stage buttresses. The apse is flanked by three-stage buttresses with pinnacles.

North elevation:
Projecting two-storey lean-to porch to W end flanked by three-stage buttresses with pinnacles. Segmental-headed door opening with a square-headed moulded hood above having a sheeted timber door, opening onto five concrete steps. Square-headed tracery windows to FF above.
Six-bay wide nave having pointed arch two-part tracery windows with moulded hoods. Two-stage buttresses separate each bay.
Double-height three-bay wide gabled outshot to E end. Square-headed door opening to centre having a sheeted timber door with tracery fanlight. Door opens onto a short flight of stone steps and is flanked by narrow square-headed tracery windows. Sandstone quatrefoil carving set within roundel above. Square headed windows to elevations facing W and E.

Setting:
Tarmaced parking to W with tarmaced and paved pathways around and lawned area to NE and S. Sweeping pathway laid in sett paving leading to W entrance.
The site is enclosed to S by rock-faced un-coursed basalt walling with cut-stone coping topped by square section cast iron railings. Square section boundary posts with sandstone dressings topped by stepped gabled coping stones.
The main gateway is to the SW, a pedestrian gate to S and a wide gate to SE gate.
The church is located within its own grounds on a site including a two-storey red brick Parish centre to NW. The site is enclosed by gates and railings and fronts the N side of Glen Road.

Materials:
Roof natural slate
RWG cast iron
Walling Block and sneck coursed rock-faced basalt with sandstone dressings
Windows windows with sandstone dressings and stained leaded glazing

Historical information

The construction of this church in the early 1900s provides further evidence of the outward expansion of West Belfast and the need for an increasing number of places of worship for its Catholic population, in this case along the Glen Road and Andersonstown district. According to Macaulay (p. 22), St Teresa’s ‘the first of many daughter churches of Hannahstown parish to be built in the twentieth century’. The 6-inch Ordnance Survey map of 1904 shows that there were no buildings on the site where the church was later to be built.

A plaque in the porch records that the church, parochial house and schools were the gift of the Misses (Hannah and Teresa) Hamill of Trench House, representatives of a wealthy Catholic family well known for its philanthropy, and that the foundation stone was laid in October 1909. Exactly two years later, on 15 Oct 1911, the church was dedicated by Dr Tohill, bishop of Down and Connor. The parish priest at this time was Canon Patrick Boyle.

The church was designed in the Gothic Revival style by Thomas J. O’Neill. It was constructed of basalt with sandstone dressings, the contractor being James Henry & Sons, Belfast. The high altar, pulpit and font were by Purdy & Millard, Belfast, while the stained glass was by Mayer & Co., Munich. The nine saints shown in the stained-glass windows represent the patron saints of nine of the Hamill children.

The church was listed in 1987. In 1991 it was altered internally to take account of the revised liturgy of Vatican II. In 2010, there were proposals to construct a new sweeping entrance ramp and to carry out internal renovations and construct a new sacristy. These alterations were underway by the summer of the following year.

References

Primary Sources
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
1. Ordnance Survey 6-inch map, 1904 – OS/6/1/60/3
2. Ordnance Survey 6-inch map, 1920-39 – OS/6/1/60/4

Secondary Sources
Northern Ireland Environment Agency
1. First Survey Record – HB/26/21/001
2. HB Records – HB/26/21/001
3. Ambrose Macaulay, Down and Connor: a short history (no date)
4. Eileen Fulton, History of St Joseph’s, Hannahstown, Co. Antrim, 1826-1993 (1993)

Online sources
Dictionary of Irish Architects: www.dia.ie (which
references Irish Builder, 28 Oct 1911)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
F. Structural System
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
U. Historic Associations
V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

A good example of a stone church in Gothic Revival Style dating from 1909 to designs by architect Thomas O’Neil and constructed by James Henry & Sons of Belfast. Constructed of basalt stone with Giffnock sandstone dressings and quoins. It has a tower with tall broached octagonal stone spire and pinnacled buttresses. Good interior with hammer beam roof trusses and stained glass windows to apse by Mayer & Co. of Munich. St Theresa's has a good setting, enhanced by fine gate pillars and has social interest for the local community. It is also of particular interest as the church, parochial house and schools were the gift of the Misses (Hannah and Teresa) Hamill of Trench House. The nine saints shown in the stained-glass windows, by Mayer & Co., Munich represent the patron saints of nine of the Hamill children.