Dominican Convent, 135-137 Falls Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT12 6AD

Dominican Convent, 135–137 Falls Road, Belfast

This is an excellent example of a building complex in the Byzantine style, arranged around a central quadrangle, and representing several distinct phases of construction spanning more than half a century. The main convent building is four storeys high with an attic and gabled roofline, dating from 1868 to 1870 and designed by architect John O'Neil of O'Neil & Byrne. The style has been described by architectural historian Paul Larmour as "Belfast Byzantine."

The building was originally constructed as two wings forming an L-shaped plan on a site off the Falls Road, on land previously unoccupied and owned by a John Hamill. On 22 March 1870, seven nuns of the Order of St Dominic arrived from the parent house at Cabra, County Dublin, and the community engaged in teaching girls through day and evening classes. The convent first appears in the Valuation Revision Books in 1882, recorded simply as a convent with a valuation of £113.

In 1897, architect John O'Shea working with E. & J. Byrne designed an additional wing extending to the northwest in a style matching the original block. This work cost £6,700, and the combined valuation of the buildings subsequently rose to £283. In 1926, architect Patrick (Padraic) Gregory extended the original block to the north in a corresponding style, and by 1929 the valuation had risen further to £529. Gregory also designed the chapel, which was built by Felix G. O'Hare and opened on 5 October 1930. The chapel is L-shaped in plan, attached to the northwest, and is listed separately. A further new block for the Dominican community was added to the east of the existing buildings by Samuel Stevenson & Sons. Together, these four wings enclose a central quadrangle.

The roof is finished in natural slate with roll-top crested black clay ridge tiles and modern skylights. Moulded kneelers appear to the gables, with a cross at the apex. Moulded dentilled cornicing supports cast iron guttering, which discharges to uPVC circular downpipes. The chimney stacks are of rectangular section red brick with corbelled stone coping.

The principal elevation faces south and is symmetrical. A five-bay wide recessed central section is flanked by two-bay wide gables. At the centre is a projecting single-storey portico featuring a large round-arched door opening with double engaged pilasters carrying Corinthian capitals and a lavishly carved decorated spandrel. The door itself is a square-headed double-leaf timber panelled door, approached by stone steps flanked by dwarf stone walling. The sides of the portico have round-arched windows with polychromatic brick arches and moulded bands at impost level. The portico is topped by an arched stone balustrade with corbelled coping. The central bay of the principal elevation has paired round-arched windows to the ground floor and paired segmental-headed windows to the first floor.

The ground floor is accessed from the principal entrance by a flight of stone steps. The lower ground floor is built in rock-faced random-coursed stone masonry, while the upper floors are in red brick laid to Flemish bond, with red, buff and blue brick dressings and quoins — a combination that strongly reinforces the Byzantine character of the building. Windows to the lower ground floor are square-headed with cut-stone dressings and six-over-six double-hung timber sash windows with projecting cills. At ground floor and first floor level, windows are round-arched with polychromatic brick arches above, continuous projecting stone cills, moulded stone bands at impost level, and round-arched double-hung paned timber sash windows. Windows to the second floor are segmental-headed with continuous stone cills and double-hung paned timber sash windows. Rose windows appear to the gables at attic level unless otherwise noted.

The east elevation is eight bays wide and is abutted at its northern end by the gabled bay of the chapel. The first bay to the south has paired windows at first and second floor levels. Square-headed door openings at lower ground floor level in the second and eighth bays are fitted with timber sheeted doors. The north elevation is abutted by the chapel. The west elevation is four bays wide, abutted to the north by the chapel and to the south by a double-height Gothic-style porch that connects the convent with the school building to the west. The four bays to the south of the west elevation have round-arched windows with polychromatic brick arches, continuous projecting stone cills, moulded stone bands at impost level, and round-arched double-hung paned timber sash windows.

The central quadrangle is surfaced in tarmac. All elevations facing into the quadrangle are in red brick. The chapel elevations within the quadrangle feature pointed arch tracery windows with stained leaded glazing. Single- and two-storey extensions have square-headed windows with projecting stone cills and six-over-six double-hung timber sash windows. A modern four-storey flat-roofed extension to the northeast corner houses a lift.

Part of the interior was modernised, resulting in some loss of original detailing, but a number of rooms retain their original features.

The building sits within its own grounds, which form part of St Dominic's Grammar School for Girls, positioned at the corner of Cavendish Street and Falls Road. The grounds include tarmaced driveways and pathways with lawned areas to the east and south. The site is enclosed by rock-faced random-coursed basalt walling to the north and south with irregular stone coping. Replacement metal gates serve the gateway to the southeast, with double gates supported on square-section stone piers in rock-faced coursed basalt, each with a projecting plinth and moulded pyramidal coping. Raised sections of walling to the north and east form square gateways with round-arched door openings with cut-stone surrounds, now blocked with painted metal screens. The walling to the northeast is topped by painted metal fencing supported on dog-leg stays.

Also within the site are a four-storey with attic gabled chapel to the north (attached, listed separately), a four-storey with attic gabled wing to the west (attached, owned by the school and listed separately), a number of modern school buildings to the southwest of little architectural interest, and a two-storey modern convent to the east of little architectural interest.

The building has considerable social and historical significance as part of a multi-phase complex associated with the Dominican Order's educational mission in Belfast. Together, the various elements of the complex make a positive contribution to the character of the local area.