Church of The Immaculate Conception (RC), Glenshesk Road, Ballycastle, County Antrim

Church of The Immaculate Conception (RC), Glenshesk Road, Ballycastle, County Antrim

A small, plain single-storey Roman Catholic church built in 1827, located on high ground to the west of Glenshesk Road, roughly 3.5 miles east of Armoy. The building has been extensively renovated in 2003. A stone panel on the north gable of the porch is inscribed "Glenshesk Chapel erected A.D. 1827. The site was a generous gift of Mr Cuppage", though this may originally have been positioned on the main north gable.

The church consists of a simple rectangular gabled structure with a gabled porch to the north and a vestry to the south-east. The façade is finished in painted lined render with moulded 'in-out' quoins, and the roof is slated. The main entrance is located on the west face of the porch and consists of a flat-arch doorway with timber-sheeted door.

The north gable of the porch features a pointed arch window with double lancet timber tracery (Y tracery) and a roundel over, all filled with small leaded panes. Above the main gable of the church itself, at a level above the porch, is a large round window with quatrefoil frame and stained glass, topped by a modern Celtic cross finial.

The west façade of the main section has five pointed arch windows, evenly spaced and of uniform size, except for the far-right window which is taller and appears to be a later insertion. The second, third, and fourth windows from the left have double lancet timber tracery with small leaded panes and stained glass panels. The first window is entirely filled with stained glass and has no tracery, as does the far-right window. The south gable of the main section has no openings.

The east façade of the main section features a window matching that on the far right of the west façade to the left of the vestry projection, and three further windows matching the middle windows of the west façade to the right of the projection.

The gabled vestry, boiler room, and toilet section projects from the left-hand (south) end of the east façade. Its south face has a flat-arch window with a modern timber frame. To its right is a small projecting lean-to porch with a doorway containing a timber-sheeted door incorporating a louvered panel. The east gable of the projection has a small window matching the south-facing window. The north face of the vestry projection has two doorways with doors similar to the main entrance; the left doorway leads to a toilet and has a disabled access ramp.

The church is approached via a drive to the south, with a stone-lined but slightly overgrown pedestrian pathway to the north. The immediate surroundings are paved, with a sloping lawn to the east and a tarmac car park to the west. At the north-west corner of the car park stands a decorative wrought-iron gate inscribed 'J S 1829'. A slightly more ornate and later-looking cast-iron gate marks the entrance to the pedestrian pathway.