Survey Data
Reg No
31310917
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Church/chapel
Date
1840 - 1850
Coordinates
115719, 272182
Date Recorded
13/01/2011
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached four-bay double-height single-cell Catholic church, begun 1844; completed 1847; extant 1894, with single-bay single-storey gabled projecting porch (north-east). "Improved", 1927, producing present composition. Renovated, 1980, with sanctuary reordered. Pitched slate roof with clay ridge tiles terminating in tuck pointed limestone ashlar gabled bellcote to apex to entrance (north) front framing cast-iron bell, and cast-iron rainwater goods on concreted cut-limestone eaves retaining cast-iron downpipes. Part repointed tuck pointed coursed or snecked limestone wall (east) originally rendered with tooled cut-limestone flush quoins to corners; rendered, ruled and lined surface finish (remainder) on rendered, ruled and lined chamfered plinth. Lancet window openings with cut-limestone sills, and tooled limestone ashlar voussoirs (east) or concealed dressings (west) framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on leaded stained glass panels. Lancet "Trinity Window" to chancel (south) with cut-limestone sills centred on concrete sill, and concealed dressings framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on leaded stained glass panels. Pointed-arch window opening to gable to entrance (north) front with cut-limestone sill, and concealed dressings framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fitting having stained glass margins centred on leaded stained glass panel. Full-height interior with stained glass memorial window (1986), Gothic-style timber panelled choir gallery (north) below stained glass memorial window (undated), carpeted central aisle between quatrefoil-detailed timber pews, Gothic-style timber stations between stained glass memorial windows (1891; 1906), cut-veined white marble Classical-style wall monument (ob. 1919) with dragged cut-limestone opposing wall monument (ob. 1859), and elliptical-headed chancel arch framing carpeted stepped dais to sanctuary (south) reordered, 1980, with stepped "predella" supporting replacement cut-limestone altar table below stained glass memorial "Trinity Window" (undated). Set in landscaped grounds including priests' burial ground with dragged cut-limestone Celtic High Cross-style marker, ob. 1919.
Appraisal
A church representing an integral component of the nineteenth-century ecclesiastical heritage of south County Mayo with the architectural value of the composition, one succeeding 'a small thatched building' marked on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1838; published 1840; Lewis 1837 I, 161), suggested by such attributes as the compact rectilinear "barn" plan form, aligned along a liturgically-incorrect axis; the slender profile of the openings underpinning a "medieval" Georgian Gothic theme with the chancel defined by an elegant "Trinity Window"; and the bellcote embellishing the roofline as a picturesque eye-catcher in the landscape: meanwhile, aspects of the composition clearly illustrate the continued development or "improvement" of the church to a design (1927) by Rudolph Maximilian Butler (1872-1943) of Kildare Street, Dublin (Irish Builder 1927, 86). Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the historic or original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior reordered (1980) in accordance with the liturgical reforms sanctioned by the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican (1962-5) where contemporary joinery; vibrant stained glass signed (1891; 1906) by Franz Mayer and Company (established 1847) of Munich and London; wall monuments dedicated to Reverends James Corbett PP (d. 1919) and James Waldron CC (d. 1859); and the jewel-like Burke Memorial "Trinity Window" attributable to Earley Studios Limited (closed 1975) of Dublin, all highlight the considerable artistic potential of a church making a pleasing visual statement in a rural village street scene.