Survey Data
Reg No
31304308
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social, Technical
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Church/chapel
Date
1890 - 1900
Coordinates
75841, 306636
Date Recorded
07/03/2011
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached four-bay double-height Church of Ireland church, designed 1893; built 1895-6, on a rectangular plan comprising three-bay double-height nave opening into single-bay full-height chancel (east). Restored, 2000. Pitched slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles, concrete coping to gables including concrete coping to gable to entrance (west) front with Cross finial-topped roughcast battered gabled bellcote to apex, and cast-iron rainwater goods on timber eaves boards on exposed timber rafters retaining cast-iron downpipes. Roughcast battered walls; roughcast surface finish to entrance (west) front on repointed coursed or snecked sandstone base with repointed coursed or snecked sandstone battlemented piers to corners having concrete coping. Lancet window openings with cut-sandstone block-and-start surrounds framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings. Lancet "Trinity Window" (east) with cut-sandstone block-and-start surrounds framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings. Pointed-arch door opening to entrance (west) front with concrete threshold, and cut-sandstone block-and-start surround having concave reveals with hood moulding on monolithic label stops framing timber boarded door. Interior including vestibule (west); full-height interior open into roof with central aisle between timber pews, exposed collared timber roof construction on "Cavetto"-detailed wall plates with wind braced rafters to timber boarded ceiling, timber panelled pulpit on a half-octagonal plan with quatrefoil-perforated timber lectern, and pointed-arch chancel arch framing stepped dais to chancel (east) with cast-iron balusters supporting carved timber communion railing centred on timber altar table below "Trinity Window". Set in landscaped grounds with repointed coursed or snecked sandstone piers to perimeter having chamfered capping supporting flat iron gate.
Appraisal
A church designed by John Skipton Gervais (1861-1929) of Athlone (The Irish Times 5th November 1900) representing an important component of the built heritage of Inis Bigil [Inishbiggle] with the architectural value of the composition, one 'erected out of money bequeathed by the late Ellen Blair [d. 1887] of Sandymount Dublin for the building of a church in the poorest and most isolated spot in Ireland where Protestants could be found', confirmed by such attributes as the compact rectilinear plan form; the battered silhouette; the slender profile of the openings underpinning a "medieval" Gothic theme with the chancel lit by an elegant "Trinity Window"; and the bellcote embellishing the roof as a picturesque eye-catcher in the landscape. Having been well maintained, the form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the restrained interior where an exposed timber roof construction pinpoints the engineering or technical dexterity of a church conferring on Inis Bigil [Inishbiggle] the unique title as 'the only island [off Ireland] with only a Church of Ireland church'.