Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB05/05/012

Address :
St Olcan's RC Church 160 Glenshesk Road Armoy Ballymoney County Antrim

Townland:
Cromaghs

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
23/10/1980 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Church

Former Use
Church

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
15/11

IG Ref:
D0852 3358

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Owner Category

Church - RC

Exterior Description And Setting

Small, single-storey RC church, of pre 1830 construction, with some later porch and vestry extensions and early 20th century decorative embellishments. The church is situated on the S side of Glenshesk Road, roughly one and a half miles east of Armoy and surrounded by a graveyard. The church is basically a long rectangular gabled building with a small central gabled porch to the N side, and somewhat larger gabled vestry extension to the SW, and a lean-to extension and outside staircase (which incorporates a porch) to the E gable. The building is finished in recent looking lined unpainted cement render, with a painted bevelled base course, raised in-out quoins, and decorative rendered verges. The roof of the main section is slated, as are those of the porch and vestry etc. All sections of the roof have rendered parapets with ‘gabled’ ends, and, to the ridges, there are decorative iron crests. The windows are largely uniform with pointed-arch heads, and all of the openings have similar moulded drip stones. Most of the openings has recent decorative metal security ‘grills’ over them. The main entrance is to the E face of the porch to the N side. This entrance consists of a broad flat-arch doorway with panelled timber double door. To the N (gable) of the porch there is a window. To the N façade of the main section of the building, either side of the porch, there are three relatively tall, evenly-spaced windows. To the E gable of the main section of the building there is a lean-to ‘boiler house’ extension to left. This has a small flat-arch window to the E face and a flat-arch doorway, with timber door, to the S face. To the right (N) side of the boiler house, there is an outside stair which rises against the main gable. This stair has rails in similar style to the security ‘grills, and incorporates a ‘porch’, which has a semicircular-headed door opening with partly glazed timber door. The stair leads to an upper level doorway, with a door similar to that below, this time set into a pointed-arch opening (which may originally have been a window). To the left hand side of the S elevation is the gabled vestry projection. To the S (gabled) face of this there is a small flat-roofed porch extension, with a flat-arch doorway to its E face, with timber-sheeted door. To the W face there is a small window. The porch extension has a ‘castellated’ parapet. To the W face of the vestry projection there are two windows, with a slightly smaller flat-arch window to the E face. To the S façade of the main section of the building, right of the vestry, there are three windows, similar to those on the N façade. To the E gable there is a triple pointed-arch (or triple lancet) window, set at a high level. The roof of the main section of the building has a series of Velux windows to each side, several ventilators to the ridge, with [?stone] ‘celtic cross’ finials to each gable. To the gable of the vestry there is a rendered chimneystack, and to that of the front porch there is a metal cross finial. The rainwater goods are made up of moulded cast-iron gutters and square downspouts. The church is surrounded by a relatively large graveyard which is enclosed by rendered walls. To the N wall (to the roadside) there is a carriage entrance with square pillars with ‘stepped’ caps and metal finials, and decorative wrought-iron gates.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

The age of this church is uncertain. It is shown on the OS map of 1832, and recorded in the valuation of 1834 as an old structure (grade ‘1C+’), with the OS Memoirs of 1835 also referring to it as ‘an old building’. It could conceivably date from the 1770s, when the relaxation of the Penal Laws witnessed the building of many Roman Catholic chapels (most were too small to be referred to as ‘churches’); however pre 1770s structures are not unknown. The original building, as shown on the 1832 map, consisted of the main rectangular section, noted as measuring 74ft x 24 x 10 in the 1834 valuation, and described as ‘not comfortable internally’ and in ‘middling repair’ in the abovementioned OS Memoirs. On the revised OS map the vestry section to the southwest is shown. The church as we see it today, however, appears to be the result of the renovation of 1921-23, commemorated in the panel inside the building. We know from this memorial that the mosaic work in the sanctuary was certainly added at this time, however it is likely that all of the other decoration, both inside and out, is of the same date. The decoration to the interior is of a very high standard which leads one to speculate whether some of it, (in particular the timber statue of Christ and the wainscoting), may have originally belonged to another, somewhat grander, church. References- Primary sources 2 PRONI OS/6/1/13/1 OS map, Co Antrim, sheet 13 (1832) 3 PRONI VAL/1B/130 First valuation, Armoy parish [Cary Barony] (1834) 4 OS Memoirs, Parish of Armoy, (1832-38), reprinted in ‘Ordnance Survey memoirs of Ireland…’ ed Angelique Day, Patrick McWilliams and Noirin Dobson (Belfast, QUB, 1994), p.4 5 PRONI OS/6/1/13/2 OS map, Co Antrim, sheet 13 (1857) 6 PRONI VAL/2B/1/23a Second valuation, Armoy parish [Cary Barony] (1859) 7 PRONI VAL/12B/2/1a Annual valuation revision book, Armoy ED (1864-78) 8 PRONI VAL/12B/2/1b Annual valuation revision book, Armoy ED (1878-85) 9 PRONI VAL/12B/2/1c Annual valuation revision book, Armoy ED (1885-1900) 10 Bassett, George Henry, ‘The Book of County Antrim’ (Dublin, 1888), p.87 11 PRONI VAL/12B/2/1d Annual valuation revision book, Armoy ED (1901-12) 12 PRONI VAL/12B/2/1e Annual valuation revision book, Armoy ED (1912-29) 13 ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory’ (Belfast, 1905) 14 PRONI VAL/3B/1/4 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Ballycastle RD (1935) 15 PRONI VAL/3C/1/4 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland [annual revisions], Ballycastle RD (1936-57) ) [This valuation book is currently closed ‘according to the criteria set out in the White Paper on Open Government’.] 16 PRONI VAL/4B/1/9 Second general revaluation of Northern Ireland [annual revisions], Ballycastle RD (1957-72) Secondary sources 1 O’Laverty, Rev. J., ‘Diocese of Down and Connor Ancient and Modern’ Vol.IV, (Dublin, 1887) Other
references 1 EHS HB05/05/012 First Survey report (27 April 1972) 2 EHS HB05/05/012 Photograph (Aug. 1978)

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Small, single-storey RC church, of pre 1830 (possibly mid to later 18th century) construction, with some later porch and vestry extensions, and early 20th century decorative embellishments. Though relatively modest externally, this church contains some rich internal detailing including mosaic walling and finely carved wainscoting.

General Comments

Date of Survey

04 October 2004