Survey Data
Reg No
31312211
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social, Technical
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Church/chapel
Date
1935 - 1940
Coordinates
127639, 253184
Date Recorded
14/12/2010
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached five-bay double-height Catholic church, begun 1938; completed 1939; dated 1939; dedicated 1939, on a cruciform plan comprising three-bay double-height nave opening into single-bay (single-bay deep) double-height transepts centred on single-bay double-height chancel to crossing (west) with single-bay three-stage tower (south-east) on a square plan. Pitched slate roof on a cruciform plan with lichen-covered clay ridge tiles, concrete coping to gables including concrete coping to gable to entrance (east) front with Celtic Cross finial to apex, and replacement uPVC rainwater goods on rendered cut-limestone eaves. Roughcast walls on rendered chamfered plinth with rendered stepped buttresses having rendered coping. Pointed-arch window openings with concrete sills, Y-mullions, and concrete surrounds having chamfered reveals with hood mouldings over framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on square leaded glazed bars. Pointed-arch window openings to transepts with Y-mullions, and drag edged dragged cut-limestone surrounds having chamfered reveals framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on leaded stained glass panels. Lancet window openings to crossing (west), drag edged dragged cut-limestone surrounds having chamfered reveals with hood mouldings over framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on leaded stained glass panels. Pointed-arch door opening to entrance (east) front approached by two dragged cut-limestone steps between wrought iron railings, dragged cut-limestone surround having stepped rebated reveals with hood moulding over framing timber boarded or tongue-and-groove timber panelled double doors. Quatrefoil flanking window openings, dragged cut-limestone surrounds having chamfered reveals with hood mouldings over framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on leaded stained glass panels. Multifoil "Rose Window" to gable, dragged cut-limestone surround having stepped reveals with hood moulding over framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings. Lancet flanking window openings, drag edged tooled cut-limestone surrounds having chamfered reveals with hood mouldings over framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on square leaded glazing bars. Interior including vestibule (east) with mosaic tiled floor; square-headed door opening into nave with glazed timber panelled double doors having sidelights on panelled risers below overlight; full-height interior open into roof with timber panelled choir gallery (east) below "Rose Window", carpeted central aisle between cruciform-detailed timber pews, paired Gothic-style timber stations between stained glass memorial windows (undated) with stained glass memorial windows (undated) to transepts, cut-veined white marble Classical-style wall monument (ob. 1885) to transept (south) with cut-veined white marble wall monument (ob. 1864) to transept (north), pair of stained glass memorial windows (undated) centred on cut-veined grey marble stepped dais to sanctuary to crossing (west) with stepped "predella" supporting cruciform-detailed cut-veined grey marble altar, and exposed scissor truss timber roof construction on beaded corbels with wind braced rafters to diagonal timber boarded ceiling on carved timber cornice. Set in own grounds with rendered panelled piers to perimeter having "Cyma Recta" or "Cyma Reversa" stringcourses below shallow pyramidal capping supporting "Fleur-de-Lys"-detailed mild steel gate.
Appraisal
A church reconstructed under the aegis of Reverend Henry "Harry" Feeney PP (1889-1945; fl. 1931-45), and to a design (1938) by Edward Raphael Ryan (fl. 1933-64) of Galway (IAA), representing an integral component of the twentieth-century ecclesiastical heritage of south County Mayo with the architectural value of the composition, one abutting a chapel erected (1830) with financial support from Patrick Kirwan (d. 1854) of nearby Dalganpark, 'a neat edifice in the ancient English style with a square tower' (Lewis 1837 II, 555), confirmed by such attributes as the cruciform plan form, aligned along an inverted liturgically-correct axis; the "pointed" profile of the openings underpinning a streamlined Georgian Gothic theme; and the pyramid-topped monolithic tower embellishing the roofline as a familiar eye-catcher in the landscape. 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 where contemporary joinery; vibrant stained glass including the Conroy Memorial Windows; and Classical wall monuments dedicated to Reverend John Goode PP (d. 1885) and Richard Golding (d. 1864) of nearby Shrule House (see 31312212), all highlight the artistic potential of the composition: meanwhile, an exposed timber roof construction pinpoints the engineering or technical dexterity of a church making a pleasing visual statement in a rural village setting.