St Eugene's RC Church, Plumbridge Road, Newtownstewart, Co Tyrone, BT78 4NR

St Eugene's Roman Catholic Church is a detached, double-height building dated 1823, standing on the west side of Plumbridge Road, Newtownstewart, County Tyrone. It occupies a prominent position on the main road to Plumbridge, set within agricultural land and clearly visible from the village. The church is of considerable architectural and historical importance as an early Catholic church in the area, with an impressive exterior and an intimate interior, and is notable above all for the rare and traceable evolution of its plan — from a simple rectangle, through a T-shape, to its present cruciform form.

Origins and Historical Development

The church's origins lie in a simple rectangular structure built in 1785, possibly thatched, during the incumbency of Father Charles McBride. In 1823, under Father Philip Porter, Parish Priest, it was remodelled into a T-shaped plan at a cost of £150 raised by private subscription, with much of the labour given freely. Contemporary accounts note that Protestants also assisted willingly, and the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland describe the resulting building as 72 feet in length and 57 feet in extreme breadth, containing three galleries, lit by twelve windows, and capable of accommodating 1,500 persons, with an average attendance of 1,000.

In 1834, Father Porter erected a temporary wooden steeple and belfry on a square brick base at the side of the chapel, standing 53 feet in total height and housing a bell weighing 330 pounds. This was, according to local historical accounts, the first belfry in the Roman Catholic diocese since Penal times, and was reportedly rung before the bell in Armagh Cathedral. Father Porter himself was a widely respected figure across the community; it is recorded that he was accustomed to attending Orange Order celebrations on 12th July and was presented with a sword by the Orange Order of Newtownstewart on his departure from the parish.

The church was remodelled again in 1861 at a cost of £807 under Father William Heggarty, Parish Priest, and an extension to the south — containing meeting rooms and a sacristy — was added around 1860 and further extended in 1949 under Father John McGowan, a project completed when, in the parish's own words, "money was tight and times were bad." This work also included a new roof and a marble altar and rails presented by Mr Fred Roche. The wooden spire was replaced in 1904, the work attributed to architect E. J. Toye, and clad in copper in 1909. The copper cladding was renewed in 1977, and following severe storm damage on Christmas Eve 1999, the spire was practically rebuilt and re-clad in copper in 2001 at a total cost of £55,000. Porches to the west and north were added in the 1990s.

Valuation records document a Roman Catholic Chapel on this site valued at £7 in the Townland Valuations, rising to £12 in Griffith's Valuation (1858), at which time it was leased from a Daniel Baird. By 1879 the value had risen to £20 following the addition of stables. The church appears as an "R C Chapel" on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 and is captioned "St Eugene's R C Ch" by the 1905 edition.

Exterior

The church consists of a rectangular nave with a gabled transept to the north, creating a T-shaped plan internally, with a square four-stage tower to the east. The single-storey sacristy to the south was added around 1860 and extended around 1950. Single-storey gabled porches to the north and west were added around 1990.

The roof is pitched natural slate with blue and black clay ridge tiles over a corbelled eaves course, with cross finials to the gables and a half-hipped roof over the sacristy. The walls are smooth rendered over a projecting plinth.

Windows throughout are pointed-arch-headed, timber-framed with double Y-tracery containing plain glass, set in painted sandstone surrounds.

The principal gable faces east and is abutted at its centre by the square tower. The exposed sections to the left and right of the tower each contain a quatrefoil oculus in a painted surround at gallery level. The tower itself has Tudor-arched double-leaf six-panelled timber doors in a painted sandstone surround at ground level. Above this, a plain string course defines the second stage, which contains a timber tracery oculus in a painted surround. A further plain string course marks the bell stage, where each elevation has a pointed-arch-headed louvred opening. A moulded string course leads to the parapet, which has pinnacles at the corners and houses a recessed octagonal timber fretted belfry surmounted by a copper-clad spire and ironwork finial.

The south elevation is abutted at its centre by the sacristy. The exposed sections to the left and right each contain two windows. The sacristy itself has a replacement square-headed vertically-sheeted timber entrance door flanked on each side by a square-headed timber-framed six-over-six sliding sash window with a painted masonry sill. There is a further square-headed vertically-sheeted timber entrance door to the west elevation of the sacristy, and a single square-headed timber-framed six-over-six sliding sash window with painted masonry sill to the east elevation.

The west gable is abutted at ground floor level by the gabled porch. The exposed section above contains a single window at gallery level surmounted by an oculus in a painted surround at the apex. The porch has a pointed-arch-headed leaded stained glass window, a timber casement window to the north elevation, and pointed-arch-headed double-leaf vertically-sheeted timber doors to the south.

The north elevation is abutted at its centre by the north transept. The exposed sections to the left and right each contain a single square-headed six-over-six sliding sash window with exposed sash box. The transept is abutted at ground floor level by the gabled porch. The exposed section of the transept contains two windows with leaded lattice lights at gallery level, surmounted by an oculus in a painted surround at the apex. To the east elevation of the transept there are two round-arch-headed nine-over-fifteen sliding sash windows, and to the west elevation a single round-arch-headed nine-over-fifteen sliding sash window. The porch has a pointed-arch-headed leaded stained glass window, a timber casement window to the north elevation, and pointed-segmental-arch-headed double-leaf vertically-sheeted timber doors to the south.

Rainwater goods are replacement cast-iron ogee-profile gutters and round downpipes, with some square replacement downpipes.

Interior

Internally, the church retains its original plasterwork and timberwork, including an original queen-post roof structure.

Setting and Churchyard

The church is set within a churchyard that contains a single-storey roughcast outbuilding to the south-east. The site is bounded to the east along the road by roughcast walling with sandstone coping. The principal access is through square painted ashlar sandstone piers supporting a pair of cast-iron gates. A secondary access to the south-east is through square roughcast piers supporting a pair of steel gates. A rubble retaining wall sits to the north-west.