Survey Data
Reg No
41309002
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Social, Technical
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Church/chapel
Date
1970 - 1975
Coordinates
292117, 306902
Date Recorded
22/03/2012
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding irregular-plan Roman Catholic church, built 1974. Three-storey sacristy with mono-pitch roof and curved walls rising to form pinnacle at north end, with lower conical roof supported on curved walls forming main body of church. Altar to north end, entrance to south, with over-sailing roof forming canopy over entrance doors. Metal sheet covering to roofs, parapet walls with sheet metal coping to roof over sacristy, convex roof-lights to conical roof, with over-sailing upturned eaves of corrugated uPVC. Square-profile roughcast rendered chimneystack within pinnacle. Curving roughcast rendered walls of irregular height. Square-headed window openings with curved reveals, timber-framed stained-glass windows, and smooth render risers. Round-headed lancet window openings having timber frames and smooth render sills to sacristy. Square-headed door opening to front (south) elevation, recessed under roof, with double-leaf timber battened door and sidelights. Square-headed door opening to north elevation having double-leaf timber battened door. Round-headed door openings with timber battened doors to ground and first floor levels of sacristy, first floor accessible via external spiral staircase with cantilevered concrete steps. Round-headed opening to second floor level of sacristy having timber battened shutter. Interior has raised platform denoting chancel to north, with curved timber pews. Curved timber roof beams radiating from chancel end, with timber support piers to rear. Roughcast rendered walls. Timber fittings to altar and curved timber pews. Round-plan column supporting cast-iron bell to north-east of church. Pair of irregular-plan single-storey priests' houses to north-east of church, in similar design to church. Flat metal-sheeted roofs having corrugated uPVC upturned eaves, square-profile roughcast rendered chimneystacks. Roughcast rendered walls with curved edges. Square-headed window openings with uPVC windows and sloping sills. Square-headed door openings having timber battened doors and sidelights, recessed in lobby, with glazed doors to front of lobby to east house. Square-headed openings with timber battened doors.
Appraisal
Built in 1974 by Carr, Sweeney & O’Farrell, this Church replaced the Church of Saint Mary (built c. 1820) as the parish church. The curved exterior walls and asymmetrical aspect of this building represents the growing expressionist slant of Irish church architecture in the latter decades of the twentieth century, and the form reflects the rolling landscape of County Monaghan. This is combined with more traditional ecclesiastical characteristics, such as stained glass, which adds artistic interest to the interior. The church forms part of a group with an adjacent pair of priests' houses, which are built in the same design, adding contextual interest to the site. It is an interesting and unusual feature in the rural landscape outside Inishkeen.