Survey Data
Reg No
12401112
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social, Technical
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Church/chapel
Date
1845 - 1850
Coordinates
259445, 170947
Date Recorded
11/11/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached six-bay double-height single-cell Catholic church, built 1846, on a rectangular plan with single-bay single-storey gabled projecting porch to entrance (south) front. Renovated, ----, with sanctuary reordered. Pitched slate roof with clay ridge tiles, coping to gables including coping to gable to entrance (south) front with Cross finial-topped drag edged tooled limestone ashlar bellcote to apex framing embossed cast-bronze bell, and replacement uPVC rainwater goods on rendered eaves. Roughcast walls on rendered plinth with obelisk pinnacle-topped rendered diagonal stepped buttresses to corners. Pointed-arch window openings with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on leaded stained glass panels. Roundel (gable) with concealed dressings framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fitting having stained glass margins centred on leaded stained glass panel. Round-headed window openings in tripartite arrangement (porch) with concrete sill, and concealed dressings framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on square glazing bars. Interior including vestibule (south); round-headed door opening into nave with glazed timber double doors having overlight; full-height interior open into roof with vinyl tile central aisle between cruciform-detailed timber pews, mosaic tiled wainscoting, replacement stations between stained glass memorial windows (----), carpeted stepped dais to sanctuary (north) reordered, ----, with inlaid cut-white marble panelled altar, and exposed pointed-arch braced collared timber roof construction on corbels with wind braced ceiling. Set in landscaped grounds with rendered panelled piers to perimeter having shallow pyramidal capping supporting wrought iron double gates.
Appraisal
A church representing an integral component of the ecclesiastical heritage of County Kilkenny with the architectural value of the composition suggested by such attributes as the rectilinear "barn" plan form, aligned along a liturgically-incorrect axis; the "pointed" profile of the openings underpinning a stolid Georgian Gothic theme; and the bellcote embellishing the roofline as a picturesque eye-catcher in the landscape. Having been well maintained, the elementary 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 contemporary joinery; stained glass; and a much modified high altar, 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 street scene. NOTE: A "Commonwealth War Grave" features a standardised headstone marking the burial place of Guardsman Edward Aylward (d. 1918) of the Irish Guards.