St McNissi's old church (RC), Magheralane Road, Randalstown, Antrim, Co Antrim

St McNissi's Old Church

St McNissi's old church is a Roman Catholic cruciform building constructed in 1784, located on Magheralane Road in Randalstown. The church stands within the town centre, set back from the main road within its own grounds, which it shares with a former parochial house and a modern church building.

The structure comprises a rendered stone nave, transepts, and a shallow chancel, all topped with Bangor blue slate roofs in regular courses. A square belfry tower projects from the chancel gable, forming the most prominent vertical element.

The entrance front faces south-west and is marked by a substantial gable with smooth rendered walls and raised quoins to broad projecting pilasters at each extremity. A projecting plinth and stringcourses at intermediate levels articulate the elevation. The upper portion displays ashlar stonework in raking courses. The gable is crowned by a stone cross with pedestal inscribed '1824'. The central doorway contains a modern rectangular timber panelled door set in moulded reveals, surmounted by a raised cross within a Gothic arched drip moulding with floreated label stops moulded in render. Cement rendered steps lead to the entrance. On either side of the doorway are raised medallions containing quatrefoil, shield and shamrock motifs in stucco. Above sits a large Gothic arched lancet window of modern wired glass in a timber frame, with a moulded drip springing from the stringcourse.

The end pinnacles to the gable are of ashlar stonework in regular courses with Gothic panelling. Each side wall of the nave is rendered with ashlar stonework in regular courses to the top, finished with a moulded cornice and modern PVC downpipe. The nave contains two windows to each side wall, though the lower window on the left has been altered to form a doorway. All windows are rectangular timber tripartite sliding sashes, vertically hung 1 over 1 with horns and Gothic arched heads, set in plain reveals with moulded labels. Most are boarded up or fitted with modern metal security grilles; visible glazing is modern wired glass. A pair of modern rectangular timber panelled doors is set in the left-hand wall. Modern metal ventilator grilles are scattered through the walls.

The liturgical north transept is similar in general form to the nave, with a complete rendered gable featuring quoins to the extremities. An ashlar pinnacle projects from the west end, panelled only on its west face; the opposite end has a shaped rendered kneeler. The gable contains a plain Gothic lancet of modern wired glass above a central doorway. This doorway holds a pair of modern rectangular timber panelled doors with a rendered date panel inscribed '1894' (though only the '4' now remains as a raised numeral), and floreated label stops to the step-form drip mould. The west-facing side wall contains two windows, one above the other, originally including an upper window for a gallery. Both are Gothic-headed tripartite sashes with security grilles. The east side wall is rendered with roughcast, featuring a smooth rendered plinth and raised quoins. A cast iron downpipe runs down this elevation, alongside modern metal ventilator panels.

The south transept is similar to the north, with a rectangular section cast iron downpipe to its west wall. Its gable features large pinnacles at each extremity: the western pinnacle is ashlar stonework, whilst the eastern is smooth rendered brickwork. The datestone to the gable doorway is inscribed 'Built by the Revd. Peter O'Boyle 1784'.

The chancel has both side walls rendered with roughcast, featuring smooth rendered plinths and surrounds to Gothic arched window openings, now blocked with smooth cement render and having projecting granite cills. A moulded rendered cornice runs across, with moulded cast iron gutters and cast iron downpipes; a new PVC soil pipe has been added to the north side. The east gable is of coursed basalt rubble with a projecting granite stringcourse and flush roof verges.

The square belfry tower projects centrally from the chancel gable, built in coursed basalt rubble with three stages marked by projecting granite stringcourses. Its ground floor entrance is elevated and reached by a flight of stone steps. The entrance is a Gothic archway containing a rectangular ledged timber door surmounted by a ledged timber Gothic-headed panel. The top stage houses timber louvres within Gothic lancet openings on each face, with granite block dressings to the openings. Surmounting the belfry stage is a crenellated parapet with four corner pinnacles in ashlar stonework, each with Gothic panels to their outer faces.

At ground level, flanking the tower on either side are single-storey flat-roofed blocks with rendered walls of roughcast and smooth rendered borders and plinths. The southern block contains a Gothic arched doorway to the south and a small Gothic arched window to the east (now blocked); the doorway holds a new Gothic-headed ledged timber door. The northern block contains a blocked Gothic arched window, a similar doorway to the north, and a modern rectangular timber louvred double door.

The building stands within a tarmac forecourt extending from a gateway by the road around both sides of the church. The front boundary comprises a basalt rubble wall rendered to the road and plain iron railings on a low plinth, with a gateway consisting of a pair of original spear-headed iron gates mounted on plain square rendered piers with sandstone caps. To the west, a hedge bounds the front area; to the east, the grounds extend to the open areas around the modern church, with the former parochial house adjacent to the gateway. Behind the church lies a graveyard containing 19th and 20th-century memorials of no special interest.