Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/31/001 A

Address :
Clonard Church Clonard Street Belfast County Antrim

Townland:
Edenderry

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Survey 2:
A

Date of Listing:
08/09/1986 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:
130-13 SW

IG Ref:
J3208 7433

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Owner Category

Church - RC

Exterior Description And Setting

Attached symmetrical triple-height gable-fronted stone Roman Catholic Gothic Revival church, erected c.1911 to the designs of John J. McDonnell. Extensively renovated and restored c.2011. T-shaped on plan facing south and set on an elevated site on the east side of Clonard Street with large bitamc carpark to the front and redbrick monastery attached to the east (HB26/31/001B) and Gates and Gate pillars (HB26/31/001C). Steeply pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridgecomb tiles, lead valleys and lead hip ridges. Replacement steel rainwater goods on moulded sandstone eaves courses. Roofs set behind raised gables with sandstone coping rising from moulded kneelers and surmounted by sandstone crosses. Coursed rock-faced quartzite ashlar walling with sandstone ashlar dressings. Rock-faced limestone plinth course with splayed sandstone trim and some stepped diagonal buttresses. Generally pointed-arched window openings formed in flush chamfered sandstone surrounds, splayed flush sills and leaded coloured glazing with storm glazing, tripartite to the aisles, bipartite to the clerestorey (unless otherwise stated). Triple-height front gable is flanked by four stage octagonal towers with loop-hole openings to the lower stages, quatrefoil openings to the third stage with arcaded upper stages surmounted by tapered stone roofs and iron finials. The gable is filled with a single compound moulded pointed arch with a bar tracery sandstone framed rose window set above a trefoil blind arcade. Triple gabled entrance comprises three replacement diagonally-sheeted hardwood double-leaf doors framed by polished granite columns on staggered plinths and stiff-leaf capitals supporting stepped pointed-headed arches filled with quatrefoil panels and leaded coloured glazing. The central door opening is slightly larger than the remaining openings and flanked by buttresses supporting squat polished granite columns supporting statuary and a further statue rising from the apex. To either side of the entrance is a single aisle window comprising a pair of pointed-headed openings and central roundel with hood moulding and stiff-leaf label stops. West nave elevation is seven windows wide with a lean-to aisle and a triple-height gabled transept. The transept has a tall pointed-headed window opening with tripartite perpendicular tracery, cusped roundel to the head and leaded coloured glazing. Stepped buttresses define all windows as bays while a secondary gabled side chapel and angled entrance porch interrupt the aisle elevation. The gable of the side chapel is enriched by a trefoil-headed niche housing a statue set on a squat polished granite column rising from a squat buttress. The angled porch has a flat roof with a projecting gabled entrance having timber sheeted door. The rear elevation is composed of a three-sided canted apse with the cheeks of the transepts projecting to either side. To the east is a single-storey wing and two-storey gabled sacristy. The accretions have pointed-headed window openings at ground floor level with stop-chamfered reveals, bull-nose moulded heads, flush splayed sills and single-pane timber sash windows. The first floor level of the gabled sacristy has a pointed-headed window opening with a rose window glazed with leaded coloured glazing, hood moulding with stiff-leaf label stops all set on a cusped panelled blind sandstone arcade. The gabled front elevation of the sacristy (south) is abutted by a square-plan four-stage bell-tower, abutting the adjoining monastery (HB26/31/001B). The tower has a pyramidal copper roof with iron finial and bipartite arched openings to all four side housing the bell stage. Tripartite window opening to the first floor level of the sacristy with a projecting flat-roofed entrance porch having a gabled hood and timber door. Setting Located on the east side of Clonard Street on an elevated site with a large bitmac car park to the front enclosed by replacement stone plinth wall and replacement iron railings. Principal entrance screen to the west of the front entrance (HB26/31/001C). Original stone plinth wall and decorative iron railings enclose the west nave and rear elevations. East nave elevation is seven windows wide, detailed as per west nave. Roof Natural slate RWG Replacement iron Walling Rock-faced quartzite ashlar / sandstone / limestone Windows Leaded coloured glazing

Architects

McDonnell J.J

Historical Information

Shortly after becoming Catholic bishop of Down and Connor in 1895, Dr Henry announced his intention to found a house for the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (better known as the Redemptorists) in west Belfast. The bishop believed that the Redemptorists would be able to assist local clergy. Following the acquisition of Clonard House for the Redemptorists in 1896, plans were made to construct a new church on a nearby site. A temporary church, designed by John Joseph McDonnell, was constructed which was opened on 18 April 1897. Known as the ‘tin church’, it was dismantled in November 1911 with some of the brick and stone being used to build a new hall beside the Convent of the Sisters of Charity in Clonard House. The design of the new church was the work of the J. J. O’Donnell. The Redemptorists favoured a Romanesque-style church along the same lines as their church in Limerick, but there were objections from Dr Henry to building such a large church. He also favoured the Gothic style and in the end McDonnell produced plans for an Early French Gothic-style church which was 20 ft shorter than the one originally planned. Tenders were invited for a new church in June 1907 and on 5 August of that year the contract was awarded to Daniel and Ambrose McNaughten of Randalstown, the contract price being £20,000. On 20 August 1907 the first sod was dug by Fr Augustine O’Flynn, the rector of Clonard. The foundation stone was laid on 4 October 1908 by the Bishop of Down and Connor. A number of problems were encountered during the building process. Local quarries could not supply the necessary granite blocks and pillars and the latter had to be ordered from Aberdeen. Stone from Mount Charles in Donegal was harder to cut than anticipated. By the spring of 1910 the building work was in serious difficulties. Ambrose McNaughton died in May of that year, while his brother Daniel, having been declared bankrupt, was forced to withdraw from the contract. At this point, the architect, J. J. McDonnell, had to step in to oversee the building work and also to sort out what was owed to local suppliers. By the time the church was completed in 1911, it had cost £32,000. The dedication ceremony took place on 1 October 1911. The high altar was designed by Henry Berghman, a Belgian Redemptorist and member of the Clonard community. It was manufactured by John F. Davis of Cork. It was subsequently reduced in height. The organ was made by Evans & Barr of Belfast and was in use from 1912. In 1931-2 Oppenheimer of Manchester installed the mosaic of Christ the Redeemer in the apse. In 1961-2 the French artist, Gabriel Loire created the mosaics in the nave which were centred on the theme of the mystery of redemption. Larmour (p. 64) calls the church ‘McDonnell’s ecclesiastical masterpiece’. Brett (p. 74), however, is not so generous, noting that ‘the lower levels of the interior are conservative and uninspired’. He does lavish praise on the west façade which he calls ‘splendid; a tremendous rose window gazes serenely out over a broad sloping piazza’. In 1992 the sanctuary was renovated. In 2009 repairs were carried out to the stonework. On 15 March 2011 the church closed for a year so that it could undergo a major programme of internal restoration. On 25 March 2012 the church was rededicated. References Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Ordnance Survey 6-inch map, 1901 – OS/6/1/60/3 Ordnance Survey 6-inch map, 1920-31 – OS/6/1/60/4 Valuation Revision Books – VAL/12/B/43/D/17 (1897-1905) Valuation Revision Books – VAL/12/B/43/J/3 (1906-15) Valuation Revision Books – VAL/12/B/43/J/5 (1915-30) Northern Ireland Environment Agency First Survey Record – HB26/31/001A HB Records – HB26/31/001A Published sources Patrick O’Donnell, Clonard Church and Monastery (1978) C.E.B. Brett, Buildings of Belfast (2nd ed., Belfast, 1985) Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (Belfast, 1987) James Grant, One hundred years with the Clonard Redemptorists (Blackrock, 1993) Church of the Most Holy Redeemer. Clonard Church Centenary Guide (2012) Online sources Natural Stone Database: www.stonedatabase.com Dictionary of Irish Architects: www.dia.ie (which
references the Irish Builder, 15 June, 7 September 1907, 17 October 1908, 28 October 1911, 22 June 1912)

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form E. Spatial Organisation H-. Alterations detracting from building H+. Alterations enhancing the building J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance V. Authorship W. Northern Ireland/International Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

Symmetrical triple-height gable-fronted stone Roman Catholic Gothic Revival church, erected c.1911 to the designs of John J. McDonnell, referred to by Larmour as ‘McDonnell’s ecclesiastical masterpiece’. Extensively conserved c.2011. Established by the Redemptorists, this impressive church exhibits an array of fine stone masonry in its exuberant external detailing, especially the magnificent rose window to the south facing front facade. The detailing to the interior has been embellished and enriched by various artists over the course of the twentieth-century adding to the artistic interest that has evolved over time. The recent conservation scheme has added to the appreciation of this important site that has served as the focus of the local Catholic community and the wider West Belfast area. The church forms part of a group of structures on Clonard Street including the attached monastery (HB26/31/001B), the gate screen (HB26/31/001C) and the former Clonard House across the road (HB26/31/002).

General Comments

Date of Survey

07 April 2014