Sacred Heart Parochial Hall

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A symmetrical five-bay two-storey red-brick Parochial Hall; dated 1924 and built to designs by Francis McArdle. Situated in Gracehill Court to the west side of Oldpark Road. Rectangular on plan with central breakfront and gabled end bays to southeast; modern single-storey extension to northeast.

Hipped natural slate roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles and leaded hips; concrete kneeler stones to gables, decorative concrete corbels to northeast and southwest. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on corbelled brick eaves. Walling is English garden wall-bonded red-brick on a contrasting painted plinth to facade, with sandstone dressings, decorated string-course between floors and terracotta panels to porches; dry dash to top sections of southeast gables and to other elevations with painted smooth render plinth. Windows are round-headed replacement five-paned timber casements with flush concrete sills; semi-circular arched window openings (some boarded) with projecting concrete sills and stepped brick apron panels to first floor and narrow two-paned lights to southeast porches; moulded heads form string-course at impost levels; variety of replacement timber-framed windows to rear.

The principal elevation faces southeast and is symmetrically arranged, comprising pedimented central breakfront with two windows at each floor, having sandstone plaque between floors inscribed “SACRED HEART/PAROCHIAL HALL”. Corniced pediment rests on decorative dropped brick piers, stepped at base and linked by dentilled brick course; moulded sandstone roundel to tympanum inscribed “1924”. Flanking bays are each two windows wide. Gabled end bays are identical, having multi-paned semi-circular arched window to first floor and replacement metal entrance doors with timber-boarded transom light at ground floor fronted by plain metal gates; doors are surmounted by a sandstone broken pediment on ornately carved console brackets, flanked by narrow round-headed windows and accessed via concrete steps.

The southwest elevation has a modern metal door to ground floor left.

The northwest (rear) elevation is simply detailed with nine irregularly-arranged window at first floor and five round-headed windows to ground floor (small window to ground floor right).

The northeast elevation has window to first floor right and is abutted at ground floor right by the modern red-brick lean-to extension.

Setting

Situated in a residential housing estate to the west side of Oldpark Road, fronting onto Gracehill Court and surrounded by twentieth-century two-storey terraced housing. Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church to southeast. Accessed from Ardlea Street to northwest, Gracehill Court is laid with brick pavior. Enclosed to three sides by low brick wall topped by modern metal railings. Modern single-storey red-brick annexe to northwest.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: English garden wall-bonded red-brick
Windows: timber
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The Sacred Heart Parochial hall was built in 1923-4 to designs by Francis McArdle and is first shown on the fourth edition OS map of 1920-31 (www.dia.ie).

The Marrowbone, better known locally as the ‘Bone, is a small catholic community in North Belfast, most of whose inhabitants worship in the Sacred Heart Church. The formal opening of the Sacred Heart Parochial Hall took place on Monday 5th December 1924 in the aftermath of serious sectarian violence associated with partition. Fifty seven houses had been razed to the ground in the ‘Bone and rebuilding was aided by the American Committee for Relief in Ireland which distributed funds through the White Cross Society. The Society, managed by the Quaker businessman James G Douglas, was specifically established to provide aid to the victims of the violence of the early 1920s, and undertook to support financially the building of the parochial hall. The Society also obtained government sanction for the registration of the scheme under the Unemployment Relief Grant. The architect was Francis McArdle of the consulting engineers and architects, F & J McArdle, who were commissioned to design a number of structures for the Catholic Church in Belfast. The White Cross Building Society carried out the building work (Irish News).

The two storey hall comprised a billiard room equipped with three large tables, recreation room, reading room and cloakroom on the upper floor and concert hall, stage and lavatories on the ground floor with a dressing room and ‘operating room’ on the mezzanines at each end. The concert hall could accommodate 1,000 people and its floor was ‘specially prepared for dancing’. The usual attention had been paid to ventilation with specially constructed air ducts and gratings. The building made use of steel and concrete joists and floors were of reinforced concrete, the building was heated throughout, had electric lighting and the floors of vestibules and passages were of terrazzo marble. Leaded lights were by Clokey of Belfast (Irish News). In recent years the building has been extended to the rear and continues in use as a parochial hall.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/1/60/3 Third Edition OS Map (1901)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/60/4 Fourth Edition OS Map (1920-31)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/60/5 Fifth Edition OS Map (1920-38)
4. Irish News 6th December 1924

Secondary Sources

3. www.dia.ie

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A symmetrical five-bay two-storey red-brick Parochial Hall; dated 1924 and built to designs by Francis McArdle. Although there is some fine stone and brick detailing, and the building retains much of its original character, it is of a late date and not among the best examples of the type. It has also been compromised by modern alterations.