Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB11/13/002

Address :
St. Columba’s Church of Ireland Church Street Omagh Co. Tyrone BT78 1DG

Townland:
Omagh

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
23/11/1976 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Church

Former Use
Church

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
137-4SE

IG Ref:
H4493 7263

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Owner Category

Church - C of I

Exterior Description And Setting

A triple-height Gothic Church of Ireland church, built between 1863-1871 to designs by architect J. E. Rogers of the Church Commissioners in Dublin, located at the east side of Church Street. Rectangular nave, facing west; flanked by catslide aisles and lower transepts to north and south; three-stage tower with spire to north; double-height gabled porch to south; lower chancel to east with lean-to shed to north; lean-to vestry to east of south transept. Pitched natural slate roof, angled blue/black clay ridge tiles; stone-coped verges; ogee metal replacement gutters on timber rafter feet; blocked stone chimneystack to north elevation of vestry. Walling is random coursed basalt with dressed sandstone quoins, Windows are gothic stained glass with splayed sandstone surrounds. Doors are gothic vertically sheeted double-leaf with wrought-iron strap hinges with quatrefoil plate tracery tympanum over, surmounted by hoodmould. Principal (west) gable has splayed plinth; five cusped lancets in gabled surrounds divided by cusped collonettes, surmounted by Geometric tracery window with hoodmould, splayed sill course; apex has quatrefoil with hoodmould. Tower has angled buttresses with off
setting, splayed and moulded stringcourse above each stage. First stage and second stage have two windows; left cheek is similarly detailed, third stage has gothic plate tracery with cusped column flanked by gothic stone-louvred openings, cinquefoils over, to all elevations (except to south, which is blank). Broach spire has decorative banding; south elevation abuts church; right (north) cheek second stage has two windows, first stage has door. Porch has angled buttresses with offsetting; gable has door with bipartite lancet over; left cheek has single door; right cheek is abutted by aisle, exposed section is blank. South aisle has two windows. South transept gable is symmetrical with two bipartite double-height windows with trefoils over; flanked by single windows to each side, apex has octafoil with plate tracery; left cheek is abutted by aisle to left, exposed section has single cusped window; right cheek is abutted to right by vestry, exposed section is blank. Vestry east elevation has square-headed casement with splayed surrounds, two windows, left cheek has single window to left of shoulder-headed vertically sheeted door with wrought-iron strap hinges; right cheek is blank. Nave is entirely abutted to north by (from left) transept, aisle and tower; abutted to south by (from left) porch, aisle and transept. Exposed section is blank. North transept is detailed as south but both cheeks have windows. North aisle is three windows wide. Shed is detailed similarly to vestry. Chancel cheeks are blank; gable has square and snecked walling with single Geometric tracery window with hoodmould, trefoil over. Setting:- Set back from road in elevated site, bordered by decorative cast-iron railing on splayed stone plinth, lawn to north and south, rubble stone boundary wall to south; modern former rectory across Church Street to west. Roof: Natural slate Walling: Basalt Windows: Gothic stained glass RWG: Metal

Architects

Rogers, J.E (of Dublin)

Historical Information

The current church appears on the third edition OS map of 1905-6.A previous church is shown on the first and second edition OS maps of 1833 and 1854 respectively. Valuation Revisions record a ‘church and graveyard’, under exemptions. The building valuation is £49 10s. R. H. Allen in ‘Organs & Organists of St Columba's Church’ (2004) states that the present church was designed in a thirteenth-century Gothic style and sited on the highest point in Omagh. R. K. Taylor notes that the church was designed by the Architect J. E. Rogers of the Church Commissioners in Dublin. It was built in 1863 and consecrated in 1871 replacing a previous church which was built in 1777. Allen quotes the OS Memoirs for the consecration date of 28th October 1871. Jeremy Williams in ‘Architecture in Ireland, 1837-1921’ writes that Rogers began with the chancel in 1863 and planned to incorporate many of the eighteenth-century church’s features. The tower was built in 1873 when the decision was made not to incorporate the tower of the previous church. The design of the tower closely resembles other towers designed by Rogers, such as Skerries Church of Ireland Church in Co. Dublin. Williams states that Rogers left architecture a decade later to pursue a career in watercolours. The east and west windows were donated by the Stack and Galbraith families. The east window has a maker’s mark of O’Connor. The Stack family also built ‘Mullaghmore House’ (HB11/12/001). The Galbraith family is associated with Clanabogan House (HB11/05/001). The mosaic reredos was the work of distinguished architect Thomas Drew. The arcade capitals and west arcade windows are in the Venetian Gothic style. (Taylor, 1971). At the east end of the nave is a freestanding polished granite Roll of Honour for Ulster Defence Regiment (created c.1991) relocated c.2006 to this church from St. Lucia’s Barracks (HB11/09/005). Alongside it is a marble World War II wall-mounted memorial over a similarly detailed memorial dedicated to the war dead (presumably World War I) with makers mark by “C. W. Harrison & Sons” of Dublin. Near these memorials is the Houston Memorial Brass Eagle lectern (c.1879). To right, is the varnished timber Browne Memorial pulpit (c.1899), this replaced a Gothic-styled stone one that was then sold to Cappagh Church. In the south transept on the east wall is a white marble wall-mounted memorial which is dedicated to the memory of the Rev. William George Stack, Late Curate of the Parish of Drumragh (d.14 July 1837) of Mullaghmore House (HB11/12/001). Alongside it hangs a similar neoclassical marble wall-mounted memorial dedicated to the memory of ‘John Hamilton, M.D., Physician of the Omagh Fever Hospital’ (d. 27 Nov. 1856) ‘erected by his friends of every rank and creed.’ On the west wall hangs a modern wall-mounted polished granite memorial dedicated to the ‘Royal Ulster Constabulary, George Cross and all those who made the supreme sacrifice 1922-2001’, which was installed in 2008. References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/6/35/1-First Edition OS Map (1833) 2. PRONI OS/6/6/35/2-Second Edition OS Map (1854) 3. PRONI OS/6/6/35/3-Third Edition OS Map (1905-6) 4. PRONI VAL/2/D/6/17 –Town Plan of Omagh (1858) 5. PRONI VAL/12/B/6/36 –Valuation Revisions (1860-1929) 6. PRONI VAL/12/B/41/37-Valuation Revisions (1903-1929) 7. PRONI VAL/12/E/186/1/5 –Town Plan of Omagh (1882-1909) 8. PRONI VAL/12/F/7/7/1- Valuation Revisions (1930-35) Secondary Sources 1. Allen, R. H. ‘Organs & Organists of St Columba's Church: An in depth historical account of the organs and organists of St Columba's Church in Omagh from 1865’ 2. Taylor, R. K. A Hundred Years of St. Columba Church. 1971. 3. Williams, Jeremy. “Architecture in Ireland, 1837-1921: A Companion Guide.” Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd, 1994.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

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

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

A triple-height Gothic Church of Ireland church, built between 1863-1871 to designs by architect J. E. Rogers of the Church Commissioners in Dublin. Part of an interesting collection of churches of four different denomination’s including Sacred Heart RC Church (HB11/11/001A), Omagh Methodist (HB11/11/006) and Trinity Presbyterian (HB11/11/007A). The church has a prominent setting and is of architectural interest for its Gothic style, proportion, elaborate ornamentation and well preserved interiors. Its architect, most of whose recorded work was in connection with the Church of Ireland, and association with the Church Commissioners in Dublin, the successor body of the Board of First Fruits contribute to its interest. It is a major example of ecclesiastical gothic demonstrating fine craftsmanship and consistency in detailing both internally and externally.

General Comments

Date of Survey

14 January 2009