Survey Data
Reg No
40900302
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Church/chapel
Date
1940 - 1960
Coordinates
238551, 448320
Date Recorded
24/09/2008
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay gable-fronted Catholic church, built c. 1950, having eight-bay side elevations (north and south), central gable-fronted single-bay single-storey entrance porch to the entrance gable (east), single-bay single-storey gable-fronted entrance porch to the north elevation, and with rendered round-headed bellcote to the west gable end. Pitched natural slate roof with clay ware ridge tiles, rendered cross finial to front gable, raised ended gable copings to east and west with rendered skew blocks to eaves, bellcote to west gable, and with cast-iron skylight over altar. Raised rendered gable copings to entrance porches. Smooth rendered walls over projecting plinth. Round-headed windows to side elevation shaving painted sills, leaded coloured glass with bottom hung inward-opening lights in timber sub-frames, and with render hoodmouldings over. Square-headed door opening with render hoodmouldings over, and with battened timber door and double-doors. Timber wainscoting to sill level to interior with timber pews. Set within own grounds incorporating car parking, detached boiler house to rear with monopitch corrugated-metal roof, painted render to walls. Garden and modern stone walls to east of site.
Appraisal
This plain but substantial mid-twentieth-century hall-type Catholic church or chapel of ease retains its original architectural character and form despite some modern alterations. The retention of the natural slate roof to the main body of the church adds a pleasing patina of age. The simple hoodmouldings and modern coloured glass fittings to the openings help to alleviate the plain elevations. The gable-fronted form harks back to the Catholic churches of early decades. This building was probably originally built as a chapel of ease within the parish of Clonmany, and it was built when Ballyliffin was expanding from a small settlement into a modest town. Although relatively modern in date, this simple church is a focal point within the largely modern village of Ballyliffin, and has provided a social and spiritual focus for the local community since 1950.