Dominican Convent

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A four-storey with attic gabled building in Byzantine style dating from 1868-70 to designs by architect John O’Neil of O’Neil & Byrne. Originally two wings forming an L-shaped plan, the building was extended to NW in 1897 by John O’Shea and E. & J. Byrne. An L-shaped plan chapel attached to NW (listed under HB26.24.001 B) gives the building its current plan form of four wings around a central quadrangle.

The building is located within its own grounds on a site forming part of St. Dominic’s Grammar School for girls, to the corner of Cavendish Street and Falls Road. The site includes a four-storey with attic gabled wing to W (attached) owned by the School (listed under HB26.24.001 C), a number of modern school buildings to SW (of little interest) and the two-storey modern Convent to E (of little interest).

Pitched natural slate roof with roll-top crested black clay ridge tiles and modern skylights. Moulded kneelers to gables. Cross to apex. Moulded dentilled cornicing supports cast iron guttering discharging to uPVC circular downpipes. Rectangular section red brick chimney stacks with corbelled stone coping. The GF is accessed by a flight of stone steps at the principal entrance. Lower GF is built in rock-faced random-coursed stone masonry and the upper floors are in red brick walling laid to Flemish bond with red, buff and blue brick dressings and quoins.
Square-headed windows to lower GF with cut-stone dressings having six/six double-hung timber sash windows and projecting cills. Round-arched windows to GF and FF with polychromous arches above, continuous projecting stone cills and moulded stone bands to impost level having round-arched double-hung paned timber sash windows. Segmental headed windows to SF with continuous stone cills and double-hung paned timber sash windows. Rose windows to gables to attic level (unless noted otherwise).

Principal elevation:
The symmetrical principal elevation faces S. The five-bay wide recessed central section is flanked by two-bay wide gables. Projecting single-storey portico to centre. Large round-arched door opening with double engaged pilasters having Corinthian capitals and decorated spandrel; square-headed double-leaf timber panelled door opening onto stone steps flanked by dwarf stone walling. Round arched windows to side elevation of portico. Polychromatic brick arch to windows and moulded bands at impost level. Portico is topped by an arched stone balustrade with corbelled coping. Paired round-arched windows to GF and paired segmental-headed windows to FF of central bay.

East Elevation:
Eight-bay wide elevation to E abutted by the gabled bay of the chapel to N end. Paired windows to FF & SF of first bay to S. Square-headed door opening at lower GF to second and eighth bay having timber sheeted doors.

North Elevation:
The N elevation is abutted by the chapel.

West Elevation:
The four-bay wide W elevation is abutted to N by the chapel and to S by a double-height gothic style porch connecting the Convent with the School building (listed under HB26.24.001 C).

Round-arched windows to the four-bays to S with polychromous arches above, continuous projecting stone cills and moulded stone bands to impost level having round-arched double-hung paned timber sash windows.

Quadrangle:
Tarmaced quadrangle to the centre of the building. All elevations facing into the quadrangle are in red brick. The chapel elevations have pointed arch tracery windows with stained leaded glazing.
Single and two-storey extensions have square-headed windows with projecting stone cills and six/six double hung timber sash windows. Modern four-storey flat-roofed extension to NE corner housing a lift.

Setting:
The building is located on a site with tarmaced driveways and pathways; part lawned to the E and S. The site is enclosed by rock-faced random coursed basalt walling to N and S with irregular stone coping. Replacement metal gates to gateway to SE. Double gates supported on square section stone piers in rock faced coursed basalt. Projecting plinth and moulded pyramidal coping. Raised section of walling to N and E form square gateways with round-arched door openings with cut-stone surrounds, now blocked with painted metal screens. The walling to NE is topped by painted metal fencing supported on dog-leg stays.

The site includes a four-storey with attic gabled chapel to N (attached) (listed under HB26.24.001 B), a four-storey with attic gabled wing to W (attached) owned by the School (listed under HB26.24.001 C), a number of modern school buildings to SW (of little interest) and the two-storey modern Convent to E (of little interest).

Materials
Roof: natural slate
RWG: cast iron guttering, uPVC downpipes
Walling: random-coursed, rock faced stone walling to lower GF at S & E, red brick walling to remainder floors
Windows: generally 6/6 double-hung timber sash windows

Historical information

St Mary’s Dominican Convent in Belfast was built in 1868-70 on a 2-acre site owned by John Hamill off the Falls Road that not had previously been occupied by any buildings. It was built to designs by O’Neill & Byrne (specifically John O’Neill) and Larmour (p. 39) described its style as ‘Belfast Byzantine’. On 22 March 1870, seven nuns of the Order of St Dominic came to the new convent from the parent house at Cabra, County Dublin. These nuns engaged in teaching girls through day and evening classes.

O’Laverty (pp 440-41) noted that the convent was ‘beautifully situated’, and that when the proposed new wing was built ‘it will form one of the most imposing buildings in Belfast’. The building can be first identified in the Valuation Revision Books in 1882 when it was denoted simply a Convent with a valuation of £113.

In 1897 John O’Shea with E. & J. Byrne designed an additional wing to the west in a similar style to the original block. Its construction resulted in the valuation of the buildings rising to £283. A comment in the Valuation Revision Book noted that £6,700 had been expended on this work. The Valuation Revision Book for 1906-15 has a value of £400 on the buildings which was revised (no date given) to £372.

In 1926 the original block was extended to the north by Patrick (Padraic) Gregory in a corresponding style. The Valuation Revision Books shows that the value of the buildings was increased from £372 to £529 in 1929. Gregory also designed the chapel which was built by Felix G. O’Hare and opened on 5 October 1930.

The First Survey card includes a helpful ground plan showing when the different parts of the convent were built. Recently, a new block for the Dominican community was added to the east of the existing buildings by Samuel Stevenson & Sons.

References

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
Valuation Revision Books, 1882-96 – VAL/12/B/43/E/8
Valuation Revision Books, 1897-05 – VAL/12/B/43/D/18
Valuation Revision Books, 1906-15 – VAL/12/B/43/J/3
Valuation Revision Books, 1915-30 – VAL/12/B/43/J/6
Ordnance Survey 6-inch map, 1857 – OS/6/1/60/2
Ordnance Survey 6-inch map, 1904 – OS/6/1/60/3
Ordnance Survey 1:1056 map, 1905 – OS/8/30/5/66
Ordnance Survey 6-inch map, 1920-39 – OS/6/1/60/4

Published sources
Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (Belfast, 1987)
Ambrose Macaulay, Patrick Dorrian: Bishop of Down and Connor, 1865-1885 (Dublin, 1987)

Northern Ireland Environment Agency
First Survey Record – HB/26/24/001

Online sources
Natural Stone Database: www.stonedatabase.com
Dictionary of Irish Architects: www.dia.ie

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

An excellent example of a building complex in Byzantine style arranged around a central quadrangle. A four-storey with attic gabled building dating from 1868-70 to designs by architect John O’Neil of O’Neil & Byrne. Originally two wings forming an L-shaped plan, the building was extended to NW in 1897 by John O’Shea and E. & J. Byrne. L-shaped plan chapel attached to NW (listed under HB26.24.001 B). There is an impressive main entrance portico with lavishly carved spandrel above the entrance door. Stone masonry to LGF and very attractive red brick walling laid to Flemish bond to remaining floors, with red, buff and blue brick dressings and quoins. The Byzantine style of the building is accentuated by the round-arched windows with polychromous arches above. Part of the interior was modernised resulting in some loss of original detailing, but some rooms retain their original features.
The building is located within its own grounds on a site forming part of St. Dominic’s Grammar School for girls, to the corner of Cavendish Street and Falls Road. The site includes a four-storey with attic gabled wing to W (attached) owned by the School (listed under HB26.24.001 C). The building has social and historical significance, being part of a building complex having different phases of construction, and the group make a positive contribution to the character of the local area.