Survey Data
Reg No
30404508
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Social
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Church/chapel
Date
1820 - 1840
Coordinates
162300, 248749
Date Recorded
26/01/2010
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding T-plan Roman Catholic church, built c.1830, having two-bay nave, single-bay transepts, slightly projecting chancel area, four-stage bell tower to west, and twentieth-century sacristy addition to east. Pitched concrete tiled roof with cast-iron rainwater goods and replacement uPVC fascia. Coursed squared rubble limestone walls with dressed quoins, except for gables of transepts, east wall and sacristy, which are rendered. Rendered plinth. Rendered walls, plinth and string courses to bell tower, with dressed limestone parapet having carved pinnacles. Pointed-arch window openings with tooled surrounds to nave and transepts, with raised render reveals to transept gables, all having timber Y-tracery stained-glass windows and limestone sills. Pointed-arch doorway to north transept gable with dressed limestone and render surrounds, with timber sheeted double-leaf door. Tower has pointed-arch timber louvered windows to top stage and west face of second stage, and blind oculus windows to front and side elevations of third stage. Interior has plastered barrel-vaulted ceiling with ornate marble reredos set within round-arch recess with moulded imposts, and timber balcony over entrance reached by metal spiral stairs. Set in own ground with stone piers and chain to north and car-park to south.
Appraisal
This attractive Roman Catholic church is located in a prominent position in the centre of Moylough, opposite Moylough House. Unusually, the Gothic Revival building, with its bell tower and pinnacles, looks similar to First Fruits Church of Ireland churches of the same era. The rendered gables and bell tower with limestone nave make for an interesting visual contrast while the pinnacles to the bell tower are an attractive skyline feature. The building has social importance being a centre for religious worship for the Moylough community.