Survey Data
Reg No
31310104
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Church/chapel
Date
1950 - 1960
Coordinates
128794, 272942
Date Recorded
07/12/2010
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached five-bay double-height Catholic church, rebuilt 1955, on a cruciform plan comprising three-bay double-height nave opening into single-bay (single-bay deep) double-height transepts centred on single-bay double-height shallow chancel to crossing (east). Renovated, ----, with sanctuary reordered. Pitched slate roof on a cruciform plan with clay ridge tiles, concrete coping to gables with lichen-covered Celtic Cross finials to apexes, and replacement uPVC rainwater goods on rendered box eaves. Roughcast walls on rendered plinth with rendered strips to corners. Lancet window openings with concrete sills, and concealed dressings framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on leaded stained glass "lozenges". Lancet "Trinity Windows" to transepts with concrete sills, and concealed dressings framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on leaded stained glass "lozenges". Pointed-arch door opening to entrance (west) front with concealed dressings framing timber panelled double doors having overlight centred on leaded stained glass "lozenge". Lancet "Trinity Window" to gable with concrete sill, and concealed dressings framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on leaded stained glass "lozenges". Interior including vestibule (west) with terracotta tiled floor; square-headed door opening into nave with glazed timber panelled double doors having sidelights on panelled risers below overlight; full-height interior with timber panelled choir gallery (west) below stained glass memorial "Trinity Window" (1955), carpeted central aisle between timber pews, printed stations between stained glass memorial windows (1955) with stained glass memorial "Trinity Windows" (1955) to transepts, and stained glass windows (undated) centred on carpeted stepped dais to sanctuary to crossing (east) reordered, ----, with cut-veined white marble panelled altar. Set in landscaped grounds including priest's burial plot with cut-limestone grave cover, ob. 1960.
Appraisal
A church reconstructed under the aegis of Reverend James Mulrennan CC (d. 1960) representing an integral component of the twentieth-century ecclesiastical heritage of south County Mayo with the architectural value of the composition, one retaining at least the shell of a chapel (1834) displaying an abbreviated footprint on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1838; published 1839), suggested by such attributes as the cruciform plan form, aligned along a liturgically-correct axis; and the slender profile of the openings underpinning a streamlined "medieval" Gothic theme with the "West Front" defined by an elegant "Trinity Window". Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the historic or 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; and some vibrant stained glass, all highlight the modest artistic potential of a church making a pleasing visual statement in a rural village setting.