St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, 91 Drumagarner Road, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, BT51 5TE

St Mary's Roman Catholic Church is a Grade B1 listed building constructed in 1842 on an elevated site at Drumagarner, south-west of Kilrea in County Londonderry. It replaced an earlier chapel dating from 1778 on the same location.

The church is a symmetrical, free-standing double-height building constructed of coursed and squared greytone rubble with sandstone dressings. It is rectangular on plan with a pitched roof of artificial slate tiles fitted with roll-moulded black and grey ridge tiles, raised verges on kneelers with stone coping to the gables, and elaborate stone cross finials. The most distinctive architectural feature is the domed two-stage tower surmounting the north-east gable. The tower has a square rubble base with sandstone quoins, rising to a second phase of ashlar sandstone with louvered pointed-arches on all four primary faces, chamfered corners, and topped by an ashlar dome with a plain stone cross. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods and square downpipes drain the main church roof, with uPVC to the modern vestry extension.

The principal north-east elevation features a central segmental-pointed doorway with voussoired stone heads and sandstone surrounds, containing a replacement square-headed timber door with fixed tympanum. Flanking the doorway are lancet windows with hood moulds. Above the door sits a large pointed-arch four-light window with sandstone surrounds, hood-moulding with decorative stops and sill brackets. A sandstone inset to the tower base bears the date 1842 in Roman numerals. The south-east elevation is lit by five equally spaced windows. The south-west elevation contains a segmental-pointed window at centre with horizontal glazing bars. All pointed-arch window openings have rubble voussoired stone heads, sandstone surrounds and sills. Windows are replacement Y-traceried leaded stained-glass set in masonry surrounds with additional storm-glazing fixed to the exterior.

A modern twin-gable fronted single-storey stone-faced return building accommodates the sacristy and vestry at the centre of the ground floor. A portion of the original mid-19th century return, including walling and doorway, has been retained at the right cheek and matches the main church. The main elevation has three windows, with the left cheek abutting an additional flat-roofed extension to the north-west containing two modern doors. The north-west elevation echoes the south-east arrangement with a small concrete block wall to the right side.

The original vestry to the south-west gable has been extended in recent years, and the roof has undergone extensive refurbishment, though the interior layout and detailing remain largely intact.

The church occupies a prominent and elevated position within a rural graveyard setting south-west of Kilrea. The site is enclosed by coursed rubble stone walls with saddleback stone copings along Drumagarner Road, set back from the junction between Drumagarner and Drumsarragh Road. Access is via a bitmac path from Drumagarner Road, entering through two square-stone piers with pyramidal stone caps and quoins supporting cast-iron gates. A pedestrian entrance is located to the south-east side of the boundary wall. The immediate surroundings comprise a small number of houses to the east and south.

The building was first recorded as 'R.C Chapel' on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1853, located a short distance north-west of the previous chapel and surrounded by trees, with a burial ground to the south-east. In Griffith's Valuation of 1857, the chapel, graveyard and offices were valued at £24 under the leaseholder Rev. Paul. Drumagarner National School was also listed at the same location with a value of £2 10s, operating at the eastern edge of the boundary until sometime between 1905 and 1925. The combined value of chapel and graveyard was noted as £142 10s in the 1864 Annual Revisions. A Sexton's House was added to the grounds in 1892, with the occupier maintaining the property in consideration of cleaning the chapel. By 1905 the building was captioned as 'St Mary's R.C Church' on the third edition Ordnance Survey map. Ownership transferred to the Trustees of the church by 1935. Associated buildings have since been demolished, but the main church continues to function as a Roman Catholic Church providing an important social role within the community and remaining of local interest.