St Michael's Church C. of I., Cooley Road, Sixmilecross, Omagh, Co Tyrone, BT79 9DH

St Michael's Church of Ireland stands on an elevated churchyard site on the west side of Cooley Road, Sixmilecross, Omagh, County Tyrone. Built in 1836 and funded by the Board of First Fruits, this detached double-height church is a modestly scaled but well-constructed example of early 19th-century church architecture, with original features surviving in good condition.

The building comprises a rectangular nave with a chancel to the east, a diagonally aligned single-storey vestry abutting the north elevation of the chancel, and a square-plan three-stage tower to the west gable. The walls are constructed of roughly coursed squared-and-snecked rubble with diagonal buttresses and offsetting. The roofs are pitched natural slate with blue and black clay ridge tiles, saddle-back stone verges, and replacement u-profile cast-iron rainwater goods supported by cast-iron square brackets and stone projecting eaves courses.

The principal elevation faces west and is centrally abutted by the three-stage tower. The exposed sections of the tower contain pinnacles at the verges and narrow square-headed loop-holes with cusped gothic louvred openings at each side. The first stage of the tower features diagonal buttresses with offsetting and a central gothic rebated opening containing square-headed double-leaf vertically sheeted timber doors with a fixed timber sheeted panel above and original ironmongery. The second stage carries a datestone reading "ERECTED / 1885 / Rev. R. S. O'LOUGHLIN A.M. / INCUMBENT." The belfry stage contains gothic louvred openings at each elevation and terminates with a crenellated parapet and pinnacles above a string course.

The north (nave) elevation contains three windows. The east gable is abutted by the chancel, detailed as the nave with a pitched natural slate roof and chimney to the apex. An exposed section to the right contains a square-headed timber panelled door with a fixed panel above within a gothic chamfered surround. An exposed section to the left is abutted by the single-storey diagonally aligned vestry with a pitched slated roof and chimney to the apex of the east gable.

The south (nave) elevation contains three windows. The chancel, built circa 1850, has an east elevation with a central gothic stained glass window featuring a projecting chamfered surround, hoodmould and label-stops. Diagonal buttresses with offsetting are positioned at the corners. The single-storey vestry, also built circa 1850, is detailed as the nave with a pitched natural slate roof. The gable contains a central square-headed timber panelled door with a fixed panel above within a gothic opening with projecting chamfered surround and a stone finial to the apex. The right cheek contains a single gothic lattice glazed window with margin lights within a projecting chamfered surround. The left cheek is abutted by a plinth wall which encloses a masonry stair leading to a replacement door at basement level.

All windows throughout the building are timber tracery windows with lattice glazing contained within gothic openings with projecting painted chamfered surrounds.

The church occupies an elevated setting within a churchyard containing nineteenth and twentieth-century grave markers. An obelisk grave marker to the east commemorates Violet Christie, who died 10 December 1872, wife of Reverend Andrew Christie, the first minister of St Michael's Church between 1837 and 1867. The churchyard is bound to the road by a roughly coursed random rubble wall with segmental coping. Access is provided through square ruled-and-lined piers with precast concrete moulded coping and ball finials supporting a pair of replacement cast-metal gates.

Historical Development

The site has ecclesiastical significance predating the current building. A church was erected at Sixmilecross in 1733 as a Chapel of Ease. This building was closed in 1811, and parishioners were expected to attend the new church erected at Carrickmore, four miles distant. This arrangement proved unsatisfactory. In 1831, it was decided to build another church at Sixmilecross. Whilst construction proceeded, the local Presbyterian congregation kindly allowed their church to be used for worship. Lord Belmore conveyed the site for the new church, and the Board of First Fruits provided £900 towards its construction. The building was consecrated on 4 October 1836 and dedicated to St Michael.

The church is recorded on the Townland Valuation map of 1828-40, where it is valued at £10 7s 0d. In Griffith's Valuation, the value is amended from £10 to £17, a figure which remains consistent through subsequent revisions. The church first appears on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1854.

The chancel and vestry were added subsequently to the original nave, circa 1850. The tower with pinnacles was constructed in 1885, as confirmed by the datestone on the second stage and the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1906. A Holy Table was presented in 1951 by Mr Henry L Wilson PC. A cross of polished brass for the Holy Table was presented in 1978 by Reverend R.E.M. Benson. Additional burial ground was consecrated on 16 December 1979.

Notable Associations

St Michael's Church has associations with several individuals of historical note. A stained-glass window commemorates the Dunlap family, one of whom was John Dunlap, who printed the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776 and published the first American daily newspaper in 1784. Sir John Ross, an eminent public servant and the last resident of nearby Dunmoyle Castle, is buried in the church graveyard.