Survey Data
Reg No
31308905
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social, Technical
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Church/chapel
Date
1960 - 1965
Coordinates
110061, 279789
Date Recorded
23/11/2010
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached four-bay double-height Catholic church, rebuilt 1961-2; rededicated 1964, on a rectangular plan comprising three-bay double-height nave opening into single-bay double-height chancel (east) with single-bay single-storey projecting porch to entrance (west) front. Pitched slate roofs including pitched "cat slide" slate roof to porch with clay ridge tiles terminating in lichen-covered pre-cast concrete Cross finials to apexes, and embedded rainwater goods in slightly overhanging concrete or rendered eaves retaining cast-iron downpipes. Rendered walls bellcast over rendered plinth with rendered triangular "buttresses". Triangular-headed lancet window openings with concealed dressings framing fixed-pane fittings having margins centred on leaded stained glass crucifixes. Triangular-headed window openings to chancel (east) with concealed dressings framing fixed-pane fittings having margins centred on leaded panels. Triangular-headed lancet window opening in tripartite arrangement to entrance (west) front with concealed dressings framing fixed-pane fittings having margins centred on leaded stained glass panel. Triangular-headed opposing door openings to porch with concealed dressings framing diagonal timber boarded or tongue-and-groove timber panelled double doors having overlights. Interior including vestibule (west); square-headed door opening into nave with glazed timber boarded or tongue-and-groove timber panelled double doors having sidelights; full-height interior open into roof with stained glass "West Window" (undated), carpeted central aisle between timber pews, reclaimed Gothic-style timber stations between stained glass windows, stepped dais to sanctuary (east) with "basket weave"-pattern timber parquet stepped "predella" supporting timber altar table, and exposed steel roof construction with wind braced ceiling. Set in own grounds.
Appraisal
A church erected under the aegis of Reverend Christopher Kilkelly C.C. (----) representing an important component of the mid twentieth-century ecclesiastical heritage of County Mayo with the architectural value of the composition, 'an ingenious interpretation of [Saint Michael's New Cathedral (1956-62)], Coventry…unusual and successful in its own terms' (Craig and Garner 1976, 29), confirmed by such attributes as the rectilinear plan form, aligned along a liturgically-correct axis; and the angular profile of the openings underpinning a so-called "Modern Pointed" theme. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to rose-tinted interior where an exposed roof construction pinpoints the engineering or technical dexterity of a church making a pleasing visual statement in a rural village street scene.