Protestant Church, Fermanagh and Tyrone Hospital, 1 Donaghanie Road, Omagh, Co Tyrone, BT79 0NS

Protestant Church at Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital

This detached double-height Protestant Church was built between 1903 and 1904 to designs by C. A. Owen, architect, and first appears on the Ordnance Survey map in 1906. It is situated on an elevated site within the grounds of Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital, positioned east of the main hospital block and south-west of the gate lodge.

The church is a plainly detailed structure with modest scaling, comprising a rectangular single-cell nave with chancel to the east, a vestry abutting the north elevation, and a single-storey entrance porch centrally positioned on the west gable. Walls are constructed of roughly coursed squared-and-snecked rubble with a stugged finish and stepped sandstone quoins. Angle buttresses with offsetting articulate the elevations. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with crenellated clay ridge tiles, flat stone verges supported on ovolo moulding, and cast-iron rainwater goods with an ogee profile supported on a corbelled eaves course.

The principal west gable elevation is centrally abutted by the single-storey entrance porch, which is topped by a pitched natural slate roof. The exposed section above the porch contains a tripartite gothic leaded stained glass window with margin lights, flanked by single windows at each side, all within stepped chamfered surrounds. A square-headed narrow loophole opening and cross finial crown the gable apex. The north elevation is abutted at left by the single-storey vestry and contains three windows to the right, each divided by angle buttresses and offsetting. The east gable contains paired chancel windows with a square-headed loophole opening and cross finial. The south elevation contains four windows similarly divided by angle buttresses.

The vestry is detailed to match the nave, with a pitched natural slate roof and an ashlar chimney with offsetting at the party wall. All windows and doors are contained within shouldered chamfered stepped sandstone surrounds. The gable contains three stained glass windows, a square-headed loophole opening, and a cross finial. The right cheek contains an original timber-sheeted door accessed by two masonry steps and paired windows. The left cheek contains paired windows and is abutted by a plinth wall with wrought-iron railing enclosing masonry stairs leading to a basement-level door.

The entrance porch features paired windows within stepped chamfered surrounds and stone voussoirs on its west gable, with a wrought-iron lamp holder above. Each cheek contains square-headed double-leaf timber-sheeted entrance doors with original strap-hinges, recessed within shouldered chamfered stepped sandstone surrounds. These are accessed by a masonry step on the left and a concrete ramp on the right.

Windows throughout are gothic leaded stained glass with margin lights within stepped chamfered surrounds and projecting splayed stone cills.

Historical Context

The church was built to serve the rapidly growing hospital complex. The main hospital building was erected between 1847 and 1853 to designs by William Farrell, as one of the second series of asylums erected by the Irish Board of Works at a cost of £35,000, designed initially for 300 patients. An interdenominational chapel, later known as the old chapel, was attached to the rear of the hospital—likely added when architect George Boyd greatly extended the hospital in the late 1860s as patient numbers approached 300. This chapel could accommodate 130 worshippers and served all denominations.

Following an increase in patients during the latter part of the nineteenth century, a new chapel was recommended for the grounds as early as 1894 at a cost of £1,200. Between 1900 and 1901, a Roman Catholic Chapel was constructed to designs by C. A. Owen, relieving the old chapel of the large number of Catholic patients. Owen also designed the New County Infirmary for the hospital complex between 1895 and 1899. The completion of this Protestant Church in 1904 enabled the old chapel to be subdivided and converted into dormitory accommodation to ease overcrowding. The design of the Protestant Church is very similar in appearance to the Roman Catholic Chapel, though the builder of the Protestant Church is not recorded; Joseph Colhoun of Derry built the Roman Catholic Chapel.

The church, along with the main hospital building, gate lodge, and Roman Catholic Chapel, represents a significant phase in the history of institutional architecture in Ireland.