Sacred Heart Church, Carrickbeg Road, Toneel North Td, Boho, Co Fermanagh, BT74 8BF

Sacred Heart Church, Boho, is a freestanding rendered Roman Catholic church of single-cell plan, originally built in 1832 and substantially renovated in 1913, standing on the west side of Carrickbeg Road on an elevated, wedge-shaped site overlooking the surrounding countryside and Lough Erne to the east. The building is thought to occupy one of the only Early Christian sites still in active use for Catholic worship, and carries the only known dedication to St Faber, the Celtic holy woman traditionally credited with bringing Christianity to the area.

EXTERIOR

The church is a simple, plainly detailed building constructed of rubble stone finished in roughcast render, with smooth-rendered quoins, plinth and string course, and sandstone coping to the gables. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with overhanging exposed painted timber rafter ends. Rainwater goods to the church and vestry are painted cast iron; plastic rainwater goods serve the later toilet block. A tall red-brick chimney stack with concrete cap and clay pot rises from the vestry.

The principal, east-facing elevation is the most architecturally expressive face of the building, organised into a tri-partite arrangement by a projecting engaged limestone breakfront. This breakfront is shouldered and rises to a bellcote, itself topped by a sandstone Celtic cross finial and housing a single copper bell. The entrance is set at the base of the breakfront: a pointed-arch stone door surround with deep splayed reveals, raised on a granite step. The double-leaf doors are oak-sheeted with six panels bearing stop-end chamfered mouldings, finished in a woodgrained effect with simple ironmongery. The breakfront contains a central triple lancet window, with a larger single lancet to either side in the main walling. The bellcote opening is pointed-arch headed with splayed reveals and sill. All window openings to the church are pointed-arch headed with splayed sandstone reveals and sills, glazed with leaded stained glass.

The south elevation has four equally spaced lancet windows. Set into the centre of this elevation is an inset marble plaque recording the 1913 renovation of the church. The south elevation is also abutted by a flat-roofed toilet block — a later addition comprising a rectangular volume with entrances to the west and south and six windows, with square-headed fixed lights, concrete cills and frosted glass. The north elevation mirrors the south but has no marble plaque and is abutted to the west by the vestry. The west gable has sandstone coping surmounted by a Celtic cross finial, and a central triple lancet window above the string course.

The original vestry occupies a narrow rectangular portion to the north-west, extended further to the west. Its east entrance has a replacement sheeted timber door with leaded glass light and fanlight; there is a rear entrance to the south cheek and a painted timber sliding-sash window with frosted glass to the north. The vestry window facing the churchyard is square-headed with a concrete sill and a bi-partite 1-over-1 timber sliding sash. The toilet block addition has square-headed windows with concrete cills and frosted glass.

INTERIOR

The interior reflects the 1913 refurbishment date and is largely authentic in character. It is distinguished by an attractive timber truss roof and a fine stained glass and timber vestibule. One of the stained glass windows depicts St Faber, the church's patron saint.

SETTING AND CURTILAGE

The church sits within a historic churchyard containing memorial monuments dating from the 18th century to the 21st century, and possibly earlier, planted with yew trees and bounded by mature tree growth to the north-west and south. Near the south-west corner of the church stands the Boho Cross, the shaft base of a sandstone Celtic High Cross possibly of 10th century origin, which serves as a visible reminder of the site's deep historical and archaeological significance as a place of Early Christian and possibly pre-Christian worship.

The site is partially bounded to the south and east by a low rendered wall with concrete coping. The principal entrance is to the south, formed by two rendered gate piers with incised crosses, chamfered shoulders and polygonal caps, flanked by short stretches of screen wall. These piers carry a painted cast-iron vehicular gate with a pedestrian gate to the right. A second entrance to the south-east comprises a modern flight of steps with concrete plinth walls and tubular steel handrails. The church and south-west entrance gates and gate piers are included within the extent of the listing.

HISTORICAL NOTE

The site at Toneel North is thought to have had pagan significance before becoming an Early Christian foundation, possibly a nunnery established by St Faber. Various local features associated with her survive, including St Faber's bullan — a rock-cut basin — and St Faber's well. The foundation is believed to have developed into a parish church or abbey prior to the Reformation; a vicar of Boho, Malachy O'Gowan, is recorded in 1432. By 1603, when the site is mentioned in the Annals of Ulster, the medieval building had apparently been abandoned. Its only surviving element is thought to be a doorcase, removed and incorporated into the Church of Ireland parish church in 1777. Shortly after that date, a Mass-house was built to the south of the present site in Toneel North under the direction of Fr Patrick Thally, shown on the Ordnance Survey first edition map of 1834. This is thought to have subsequently become a school, with Catholic worship returning to the medieval site when the present church was built in 1832 — predating the first edition map by two years — as confirmed by a memorial tablet to Rev. Nicholas Smyth on the nave wall.

The Boho Cross was erected beside the new church at this time, possibly having been unearthed in pieces during the levelling of the site in the south-east corner of the old graveyard. Archaeological excavations have shown that the cross was erected over a charnel pit, thought to have been filled with grave slabs and remains disturbed during the building works.

By the second Ordnance Survey edition of 1857, the chapel had become T-shaped through an extension to the north, with various structures added in the grounds. Griffith's Valuation records the chapel at £10 10s. In 1913 the church was substantially refurbished or rebuilt in its present form by James Louis Donnelly, a Dublin-based architect originally from Omagh who carried out refurbishments at a number of Roman Catholic churches in County Tyrone, including those at Omagh, Killyclogher, Knockmoyle and Drumcree. The third Ordnance Survey edition of 1905–06 records the stone cross and confirms the surrounding perimeter was in use as a graveyard.