Parochial House, Moneyglass, Toomebridge, Co. Antrim, BT41 3PT

Parochial House, Moneyglass

This detached, three-bay two-storey parochial house was built around 1890 and sits to the south of Our Lady of Lourdes RC Church on the west side of Moneyglass Road. It is an attractive example of mild Italianate design, symmetrical in composition and typical of late nineteenth-century parochial architecture.

The building has a rectangular plan with two-storey returns projecting to north and south on the east elevation. The roof is hipped and pitched with terracotta finials to the ridge and decorative ridge tiles. Two rendered chimneys serve the main block, with one chimney to each return; all feature moulded cornices and decorative clay pots. The walls are painted render over a banded plinth, with plain cill courses to both ground and first floors. The main block has corbelled eaves.

The principal (west) elevation is symmetrical and formal. At ground floor, a centrally positioned single-storey flat-roofed porch with moulded cornice contains a round-headed arch entrance opening with rendered archivolt resting on fluted colonnettes. The entrance door is round-headed, set within a further recessed rendered opening. The porch cheeks each hold a single segmental-headed 1/1 sliding sash window. Flanking the porch on either side is a flat-roofed projecting rectangular bay with moulded cornice, each containing two windows. Above, at first floor, each bay and the porch are surmounted by a single window. The central first-floor window contains fixed leaded stained glass with a Mary motif.

Windows throughout are characterised by their quality and decorative detail. First-floor windows on the principal elevation are segmental-arched-headed; ground-floor windows are square-headed. All are 2/2 sliding sash windows with horns, featuring rendered surrounds with keystones and label-stops. The north elevation has two first-floor windows; the left window retains coloured margin lights with etched glass to the centre and corners. A round-arched-headed door opening with render surround and keystone is located to the left, with a replacement door diagonally sheeted with cast iron strap hinges and keyhole.

The north and south returns have lower eaves than the main block, marked by a projecting rendered band, with sill courses to ground floor only. The north return has two first-floor windows and three ground-floor windows arranged asymmetrically (one to the left, two to the right beneath the upper windows). A rendered wall with saddle-backed coping and square gate pillars supporting replacement diagonally-sheeted gates abuts the elevation to the east.

The east elevation is largely obscured by the returns. A small two-storey stairwell return features a round-arched-headed window with masonry sill at half-landing level, containing coloured margin lights and etched starbursts to the corners, with mixed etched and frosted glass to the main lights. A single square-headed window serves the ground floor. The south return has a single first-floor window and a replacement square-headed timber casement window to the ground floor left, with an entrance door to the right. A small lean-to store and single-storey lean-to extension abut the north of this return, with a window to the first floor above. A later addition canopy supported on slender columns abuts the return to the east, with rendered walling enclosing the yard to the south.

The south elevation is blank to the left of the main block. To the right, a canted bay contains windows to both levels. The return itself has three first-floor windows and three ground-floor windows, with the rightmost ground-floor window diminished in size.

Interior

The layout and detailing of the house remain largely unchanged. Interest is added by the secondary staircase within the return and the differing floor levels between the main house and return, creating a somewhat complex interior arrangement. The house retains original windows with decorative stained glass throughout. Two marble fireplaces, originally from the Sacristy of Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel and Moneyglass Chapel, were installed in rooms G09 and G10 when the church was renovated in 1992.

Setting and Associated Buildings

The parochial house is set within the church grounds to the south of the church, surrounded by gardens and separated from the graveyard to the south by a hedge. To the east stand two slated roughcast outbuildings with timber-framed windows, used as church buildings. The west outbuilding is two-storey with a half-hipped roof and lean-to extensions to the east elevation, featuring loop holes to the ground floor. The eastern building is single-storey with a pitched roof and a western extension. To the south of the yard, a random rubble stone wall with circular gate pillars leads to the graveyard. To the west, the site is bounded to Moneyglass Road by an uncoursed black stone wall and church gates. These outbuildings play an important role in the social life of the church and contribute significantly to the setting.

The building makes a positive contribution to the setting of Our Lady of Lourdes RC Church and to the wider context of the rural hamlet of Moneyglass. It is of interest as a well-preserved example of late nineteenth-century parochial house design.

Construction and Alteration

The parochial house first appears on the 1903 Ordnance Survey map, providing a date range for construction of 1857 to 1903. Stylistically, the building appears to date to around 1890. The roof is pitched natural slate. Walls are painted render. Windows are timber 2/2 sliding sash (except where noted as replacements). Doors are timber panelled. Rainwater goods are ogee cast-iron.