Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/24/003 B

Address :
Coláiste Feirste Teach Chapel (Formerly Our Lady's Convent) Beechmount Falls Road Belfast Co. Antrim BT12 7PY

Townland:
Ballymurphy

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
08/06/1987 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
School

Former Use
Church

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
146/4NE

IG Ref:
J3118 7340

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Gabled red-brick chapel, dating from 1935 to designs by Frank McArdle, architect. Rectilinear on plan, with small octagonal stair tower to SE, two-storey corridor to SW, and single-storey extension to NE. Chapel attached to Beechmount House to SE (HB26.24.003 A) and to the former Our Lady’s Hospital (HB26.24.003 C) to W. It is now encompassed within Colaiste Feirste secondary school, on an elevated site including Beechmount House, the former Our Lady’s Hospital and a number of modern two-storey school buildings, between Beechview Park and Rockdale Street on the Falls Road, Belfast. Pitched natural slate roof with lead ridge, cross-shaped weathervane and copper ventilation grilles at regular intervals set flush with slate. Moulded reconstituted stone cornicing supports ogee guttering discharging to circular downpipes; all RWGs appear to be uPVC, including hoppers to N elevation. Red brick laid to Flemish bond on painted concrete splayed plinth. Windows have stained leaded glazing (unless noted otherwise). Principal elevation: The gabled principal elevation faces S and has a hexagonal stair tower to E and a two-storey corridor to the W that connects the chapel to the former hospital (now used as classrooms). The ground floor of the corridor is brick to match the chapel and the first floor is a modern glazed addition with curvilinear roof. Plain timber bargeboard to gable, painted. Two square-headed paired windows to GF with painted concrete toothed quoins, splayed cills and reveals, and flush lintel with relieving arches above formed in soldier coursed brick. Large pointed arch window to FF with plain intersecting-bar tracery and moulded hood, now fitted with storm glazing. Small quatrefoil window above. Gable flanked by two stage brick buttresses with painted concrete tapered weathering caps. Narrow square-headed windows to tower. Rear elevation: The rear elevation faces N and consists of the canted bay of the chancel with each bay separated by two-stage buttresses. Paired semi-circular arch windows with moulded stone cills and decorated arch above to each of the canted bays. Reverse side of two-storey corridor connecting to former hospital set back six bays from the canted end. Ground floor brick is punctuated by a square-headed opening with painted concrete lintel and flush splayed cill that contains leaded lights with an inward opening hopper; and a double door that opens onto nosed steps flanked by dwarf brick retaining walls with double canted concrete copings, painted. West elevation: The W elevation is six-bays wide. Round arched openings to each bay formed in alternating bands of soldier coursed brick and painted concrete voussoirs, with circular arched window and moulded cills. Each bay is separated by two-stage buttresses. Two-storey corridor attached to last bay to S. East elevation: The E elevation is six bays wide with a single-storey flat-roofed abutment to the last two bays to N. Semi circular arched window to each bay with moulded cills and decorated arch above. The bays are separated by two-stage buttresses. The abutment is approached by a concrete staircase with metal railings on brick retaining wall. Shallow pointed arch door opening to elevation facing E having a timber sheeted door and within depressed pointed arch above. Square-headed windows with painted stone cill and lintel facing S and E. All windows and doors to abutment have painted concrete flush splayed cills and lintels and a stop-chamfered detail to brick reveals; the arched door head is formed in alternating bands of soldier coursed brick and painted concrete voussoirs as before. Splayed plinth detail matches that at chapel. Decorative cast iron hopper and downpipe from parapet at S elevation to abutment. Setting: The chapel is connected to E with the two-storey pitched roof return of Beechmount House through a two-storey flat roofed red brick extension, with modern glazed enclosure to FF. High rendered brick walling aligns the NE site boundary and steps to respond to site topograhy. The yard to E is landscaped with a small pathway, pond and some planting. It is almost fully enclosed to S and E by the house, to W by the chapel and to N by the boundary wall. A second yard is enclosed on the W side of the chapel by a palisade fence that runs between the NW corner of the chapel the NE corner of the former hospital. To S, the chapel is connected with the two-storey pitched roof red brick buildings, formerly Our Lady’s Hospital, though a modern two-storey corridor. Tarmaced yard to S enclosed by the chapel to N, the former Our Lady’s Hospital buildings to W and the modern school buildings to S and E. Materials: Roof: Natural slate. RWG: uPVC, with some original cast iron. Walling: Red brick laid to Flemish bond with painted reconstituted stone dressings. Windows: Stained leaded glazing.

Architects

Historical Information

Originally a private residence, Beechmount was for many years a hospital and is now the location of Coláiste Feirste, an Irish-language medium secondary school. Up until 1932, a number of gentlemen’s families resided at the Beechmount estate; it was deemed to be a first class dwelling surrounded by beech trees in what was originally a rural setting, hence the name. Following the industrial expansion of Belfast and the subsequent population growth that led to the development of terraced streets along the Falls Road, coupled with the demographic shift in the area following the partition of Ireland in 1922, the house was no longer an attractive prospect as a private dwelling. In 1932 the estate was purchased by the Catholic bishop Dr Mageean on behalf of the diocese of Down and Connor. On 15 September 1932 he celebrated Mass there and formally handed the property over to the Sisters of Mercy. It was used to provide additional accommodation for the elderly and invalids who could not be cared for at the Mater Hospital due to a lack of space and was named Our Lady’s Hospital. In the annual report of the Mater Hospital of 1932 Our Lady’s Hospital at Beechmount was advertised as: "This hospital is for the reception of patients the treatments of whose complaints is of too prolonged duration for their reception in an ordinary hospital. This noble service was carried on for many years in the old Hospice on the Crumlin Road. As the accommodation there was found inadequate, His Lordship, the Most Rev. Dr Mageean, acquired the present Hospital which was formerly the residence of the Riddell family." The original house was insufficiently large to meet the needs of the hospital and so plans were drawn up to build a purpose-built hospital alongside it. By 1935 the new building had been completed. Constructed in red brick on an E-plan, the building was similar to the Mater, but on a smaller scale. After the completion of the hospital the old house became the residence for the Sisters and staff. On 11 February 1934 the foundation stone of a chapel for the hospital was blessed and the chapel completed by 27 October 1935. The chapel was built between the original house and the new hospital. The architect of the chapel and the conversion of the house to a hospital was Frank McArdle and the cost was £50,000. Early in 1974 a large part of the grounds was levelled to provide playing fields for the new extension to St Mary’s Training College. In 1976, the hospital had four large and twelve small wards and could cater for 140 patients. By the 1980s it was realised that the hospital would need a major upgrade. In 1990 the decision was made to build a new nursing home. The existing buildings were subsequently transferred to the trustees of the Irish-language medium secondary school in west Belfast. Now known as Coláiste Feirste, this school was previously called Méanscoil Feirste. References Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Ordnance Survey 1:1056 map, 1905 – OS/8/30/5/76 Northern Ireland Environment Agency First Survey Record – HB/26/24/003 HB Records – HB/26/24/003 Published sources Joe Corr, ‘Beechmount & Our Lady’s Hospital’, West Belfast Historical Society Outline Annual, vol. 2 (1976) Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (Belfast, 1987) Marie Duddy, Call of the North. A history of the Sisters of Mercy, Down and Connor Diocese, Ireland (Belfast, 2010) Gillian McClelland, Pioneering Women: Riddel Hall and Queen’s University, Belfast (Belfast, 2006) Online sources Dictionary of Irish Architects: www.dia.ie

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form I. Quality and survival of Interior K. Group value

Historic Interest

V. Authorship X. Local Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

Gabled red-brick former chapel built in 1935 for Our Lady's Convent, rectilinear on plan with hipped natural slate roof and canted end bay, to designs by Frank McArdle, architect. Building now used as a library within the Coláiste Feirste school complex with a small stair tower to SE, a two-storey corridor to SW that connects to adjoining buildings and a single-storey abutment to NE. Well proportioned and symmetrical the chapel has retained much of its original character, including the fine interior. Located on an elevated site on the west side of the Falls Road, the former chapel shares group value and social significance specifically with Beechmount House (HB26/24/003A), reputedly one of the oldest houses in the city, and the former Convent Hospital (HB26/24/003C). Original entrance steps and retaining walls to the N and E elevations have survived and add further interest to the building.

General Comments

This file has been renumbered, previously HB26/24/003.

Date of Survey

02 April 2014