A large early 1970s church of traditional planform. It has a fine series of later stained glass windows by Abbey Studios, Dublin.

The parish was erected in 1932 and a small wooden chapel built in 1933. This soon became too small and was enlarged a few years later. In 1971-2 the present church was constructed from designs by W. H. Saunders & Son, which aimed to replicate the character and atmosphere of the old church. The present front is said to have been added later (1982-3) by the same architects, although an illustration published in The Catholic Building Review in 1971 suggests it was always intended. In 1988, a series of stained glass windows by Abbey Studios, Dublin, was installed.

Description

The church was built in 1971-2; the frontage was possibly completed in 1982-3. The plan is roughly rectangular, with a narrowing of the south aisle towards the east. The materials are concrete and brick. The west elevation has a series of white-painted precast concrete arches of differing height in an asymmetrical composition. The central west doors are under a wide arch with two smaller arches. On either side are two smaller arches to the south and three to the north, leading to one taller arch at the north end. The north door also has such a projecting arch, while the side windows have concrete arches flush with the brick walls.

Below the organ gallery at the west is a narthex with windows into the church. The church has flat-roofed aisles on plain pillars and a canted nave roof above a clerestory. The nave ceiling and the clerestory are panelled in timber. Each of the four nave bays has an oblong clerestory window with stained glass by Abbey Studios, Dublin (1988). The east end has exposed brick walls. At the northeast is the Lady Chapel with a statue of the Virgin Mary on a timber pedestal. The sanctuary furnishings date from a 2003 reordering and are of Carrara marble.

Heritage Details