Survey Data

Reg No

15701010


Rating

Regional


Categories of Special Interest

Architectural, Artistic, Social, Technical


Previous Name

Saint Joseph's Catholic Church


Original Use

Church/chapel


In Use As

Church/chapel


Date

1870 - 1875


Coordinates

303621, 154901


Date Recorded

08/10/2007


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Freestanding four-bay double-height single-cell Catholic church, built 1872-3, on a rectangular plan; spire-topped single-bay three-stage tower (south-west) on a square plan.  Completed, 1912.  Renovated, ----, with sanctuary reordered.  Pitched slate roof with roll moulded ridge tiles, cut-granite coping to gables on cut-granite "Cavetto" kneelers with Cross finials to apexes, and cast-iron rainwater goods on cut-granite "Cavetto" consoles with cast-iron downpipes.  Snecked rubble stone wall (south) with cut-granite diagonal stepped buttresses to corners having cut-granite "slated" coping; coursed or snecked rubble stone walls (remainder) with cut-granite flush quoins to corners.  Lancet window openings, cut-granite block-and-start surrounds having chamfered reveals with hood mouldings on monolithic label stops framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having margined square glazing bars.  Lancet "Trinity Window" (north), cut-granite block-and-start surrounds having chamfered reveals with hood mouldings on monolithic label stops framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having leaded stained glass panels.  Pointed-arch door opening (south) with cut-granite step threshold, and cut-granite block-and-start surround having chamfered reveals with hood moulding on monolithic label stops framing replacement timber boarded double doors.  Pointed-arch window opening (gable) with cut-granite Y-mullion, and cut-granite block-and-start surround having chamfered reveals with hood moulding on monolithic label stops framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having margined square glazing bars.  Interior including vestibule (south); square-headed door opening into nave with replacement glazed timber double doors; full-height interior open into roof with central aisle between cruciform-detailed timber pews, timber stations between stained glass windows, exposed pointed-arch braced scissor truss timber roof construction on cut-granite "Cavetto" corbels with wind braced ceiling, and carpeted cut-veined white marble stepped dais to sanctuary (north) reordered, ----, with pointed-arch chancel arch framing cut-veined white marble panelled altar below stained glass memorial "Trinity Window" (1897).  Set in landscaped grounds.

Appraisal

A church representing an important component of the later nineteenth-century ecclesiastical heritage of north County Wexford with the architectural value of the composition confirmed by such attributes as the compact rectilinear plan form; the construction in an ochre-coloured fieldstone with silver-grey granite dressings not only demonstrating good quality workmanship, but also producing a pleasing palette; and the slender profile of the openings underpinning a "medieval" Gothic theme with the chancel defined by a restrained "Trinity Window": meanwhile, a discreet plaque ("1912") records the date when Reverend John Doyle (1847-1924) 'caused to be erected the tower and spire, with bell, of Ballyduff church' (Flood 1916, 31).  Having been well maintained, the form and massing survive intact together with quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior reordered (----) in accordance with the liturgical reforms sanctioned by the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican (1962-5) where the richly-coloured "Trinity Window" 'IN MEMORIAM OF VERY REV. CANON JOSEPH MURPHY [1842-97]' highlights 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 setting.  NOTE: An article in Wexford Independent gives notice of the upcoming 'Dedication of the New Chapel of Saint Joseph, Ballyduff, on Sunday, 4th May, the Right Reverend Dr. Furlong perform[ing] the Ceremony of Dedication, the Sermon [being] preached by the Reverend Patrick M. Furlong, C.C., New Ross' (Wexford Independent 30th April 1873, 1).  The Wexford People subsequently reported on the 'Dedication of the Church of Saint Joseph, Ballyduff, Sunday, May 4th, a scene long to be remembered with pride and gladness by the good people of Ballyduff' (Wexford People 17th May 1873, 5).