St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, Scarva Street, Loughbrickland, Co Down, BT32 3NH

St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Scarva Street, Loughbrickland

St Patrick's is a double-height Gothic style Roman Catholic church built between 1827 and 1832 to the designs of architect Thomas Duff, with a bell tower added in 1870 and a renovation and modern addition carried out around 2010. It sits midway along the east side of Scarva Street, the main thoroughfare through Loughbrickland, and is adjacent to Bovenett House.

Construction began in 1827 in anticipation of the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, which prompted the building of at least eleven Catholic churches in the Banbridge area between 1831 and 1852. Before this church was built, the Catholic population of Aghaderg — which stood at around 45% at the time of emancipation — had to travel to St Mary's at Lisnagade, two miles from the village. The church was built for £1,700 on a site presented by Nicholas Charles Whyte Esq, who also contributed £400 towards its construction. The Marquis of Downshire contributed a further £25. The contractor was Felix Murnaghan. The chapel was consecrated on 28th October 1832 by the Bishop of Dromore, the date chosen because it was the feast day of three 7th-century saints associated with Drumsallagh monastery, a Franciscan house of prayer situated just outside the village, which had been destroyed in 1569. The dedication was led by Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Reverend Doctor Thomas Kelly, assisted by the Parish Priest Father Arthur McArdle. The church is shown and captioned on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833. The Townland Valuation of 1828–40 lists the Roman Catholic chapel and land valued at £24, later raised to £30, and gives dimensions for the church and chancel. Griffith's Valuation of 1856–64 further raises the valuation to £34, with £1 for the churchyard.

A contemporary account from John O'Donovan in 1834 offers a vivid impression of the newly built church: "I have this morning walked to Loughbrickland and seen the Rev Mr McArdle PP of Aghaderg. He was very civil to me and showed me his beautiful chapel at Loughbrickland which he himself has erected. Its style is the most modern Gothic or what he calls Elizabethan style and its windows are of stained glass. He says that the Marquis of Downshire contributed £25 towards the erection and that every denomination of Christians in the neighbourhood lent their assistance completing it. Indeed the inhabitants of this part of the county seem to agree very well, notwithstanding their difference in religious opinions and I was much gratified to find the Presbyterian clergyman Mr Little, walk in to this priest with an appearance of the most friendly and intimate sociality."

The building is constructed in snecked coursed rubble masonry with ashlar granite dressed stone. The roof is finished in natural slate with clay ridge tiles, cast-aluminium rainwater goods, and modern conservation-style roof lights. Windows throughout have been replaced with modern stained glass or lattice leaded glazing in timber frames with uPVC-framed storm glazing, set within Gothic-arched openings with long-and-short quoins and chamfered cills and jambs. Doors throughout are also replacements in timber, within Gothic-arched openings with long-and-short quoins and chamfered surrounds and stops.

The principal elevation faces west and is symmetrically arranged. It has single windows to the left and right, rising to a string course and crenellated parapet, flanked by three-stage angle-buttresses surmounted by pinnacles. The symmetrical three-stage bell tower abuts the centre, with four-stage angle buttressing. The principal face of the tower has a blank first stage rising to a string course; a second stage with a Gothic-arched window with hood moulding and stops rising to a string course; and a third stage with a Gothic-arched timber louvred opening with tracery, hood moulding and stops rising to a string course, surmounted by a crenellated parapet with corner pinnacles and a central drop pinnacle. The north and south faces of the tower each have a door at first-stage level, a blank second stage, and a third stage matching the west elevation. The east face of the tower is abutted at first and second stage by the nave, with the third stage matching the west elevation.

The north elevation is asymmetrically arranged with four windows separated by two-stage buttresses. A replacement timber door is located below the window to the right of centre, within a Tudor-arched opening with chamfered surround. The south elevation mirrors the north, except that the right bay is now abutted by a modern addition which incorporates part of an existing return; sections of window formerly exposed here are now infilled with rubble stone. The modern extension is plain rendered with a pitched natural slate roof; the gable has a window left of centre, the left cheek is blank, and the right cheek comprises a modern rendered left bay with a window to the left and door to the right, while the right bay is gabled and retains part of an existing return with a Gothic-arched window flanked by single-stage buttresses with raked copings.

The rear, east elevation is three bays wide. A central projecting chancel is flanked by blank bays rising to a string course and crenellated parapet, flanked by three-stage angle-buttresses surmounted by pinnacles. The symmetrical gable-ended chancel has a large Gothic-arched window with long-and-short surrounds and hood moulding with stops, uPVC-framed storm glazing, and a round-arched arrow-loop rising to a raked string course. Coping stones are surmounted by an apex cross finial. The right cheek has paired slot recesses centrally positioned at high level; the left cheek is abutted by a single-storey return with a blocked-up square-headed opening at high level.

The church has undergone a series of alterations over its history. The bell tower was added in 1870 during the pastorate of Father Peter Mckey. Between 1912 and 1916 extensive structural changes and repairs were carried out for the Reverend Murtagh McPolin to the plans of J V Brennan, architect of Belfast, with Campbell Brothers of Banbridge as contractors. In 1938 interior redecoration, installation of a heating system, and repair and rearrangement of the surrounding grounds were undertaken. A new pipe organ, similar to that installed at St Mary's of Lisnagade in the same year, was installed in 1973. A refurbishment in 1974 saw the main entrance doors replaced, the roof repaired, and timbers in the church tower renewed. In 1986 external stonework was repaired and repointed. Following the Second Vatican Council, a significant reordering of the Sanctuary took place in 1985 under the supervision of O'Hagan and Associates, architects of Newry: the existing reredos was adapted and a new altar of white Carrara marble was installed, together with a new marble ambo and baptismal font. The church was redecorated again in 1988, and new wiring and lighting were installed in 1994. A major refurbishment took place around 2010, during which much historic interior fabric was removed, though primary elements including the altars and gallery survive.

Externally, the main body of the church has broadly retained its original style and proportions, although the doors and windows have been significantly altered. The alterations at the rear detract from the character of the main church. Despite the loss of much internal historic fabric, the building retains special interest as an early Catholic church by a notable architect.

The church is set back from Scarva Street with a small landscaped area to the front. To the right is a large lawn on the site of the former parochial house, which has been demolished. To the rear are several modern structures facilitating church services. The site is bounded to the street by a rubble masonry wall with railings. Directly opposite the church stands Bovenett House. The listing extends to the church, wall, gates and railings.