Stephenson Mausoleum, Kilbride Cemetery, Moyra Road, Doagh, Co Antrim, BT39 0JD

Stephenson Mausoleum

The Stephenson Mausoleum is a detached, Indian-inspired three-bay mausoleum built in 1837 within Kilbride Cemetery, to the west of Moyra Road in Doagh, County Antrim. It stands on an elevated site north of Kilbride Presbyterian Church, set prominently among nineteenth and twentieth-century gravestones.

The mausoleum is rectangular in plan and constructed of ashlar granite over a stepped plinth. It is detailed with a cavetto-moulded string-course, an entablature featuring pointed-arched machicolated motifs, and a cornice. A bulbous stone dome surmounts the centre of the structure. The principal elevation faces south. The central bay contains a pointed-arched entrance opening with a square-headed carved surround and a cast-iron six-panelled door featuring Y tracery pattern. Central colonnettes rise from either side of the entrance to finials, flanked by wings extending to string-course height. Each wing contains a single pointed-arched recess with a polished granite inset and square-headed carved surround. The corners are articulated with engaged hexagonal colonnettes.

The west and east elevations mirror each other, each with a single recess to centre. The north elevation has three recessed insets. The granite insets record the burial details of family members: George Alexander Stephenson, Surgeon to the 3rd Dragoon Guards, who died 18 November 1864 aged 76 at Brittas, County Antrim; Samuel Martin Stephenson, Superintending Surgeon to the Madras Presidency, India, who died July 1834 aged 50; and James A Stephenson, who died at Killally 9 May 1839 aged 57; and Agnes Stephenson, relict of John Stephenson of Holywood, who died 12 April 1862 aged 72. Some recesses are overgrown with ivy.

The mausoleum was erected to commemorate four Ulster medical men and their family members. Samuel Martin Stephenson's service as a Superintending Surgeon in India informed the building's distinctive style. The cast-iron doors were made by Rowan, a local nineteenth-century engineer, and carry his name. Contemporary sources describe it as a "miniature Taj Mahal in stone", suggesting the design may have been inspired by a family member who served in the Dragoons and encountered the original during travels. The mausoleum was built at the expense of Dr Stephenson at a cost of £300 and is constructed of Tardree stone. Its robust features remain intact and impressive, though parts are overgrown. The style is unusual and almost unique in Northern Ireland, representing a naive Moghul composition of considerable architectural and historical interest.