St. Mary's RC Church, 35 Fireagh Road, Omagh, Co Tyrone, BT78 1SG

St. Mary's Church is a detached Roman Catholic church of T-plan form, located on the west side of Fireagh Road in Omagh. The building was rebuilt and dated 1844 on the site of an earlier church erected in 1764 by Reverend Terence McCawill. It survives as a good example of an unusual church type on a site of early date, with the original 1764 datestone remaining on its south gable.

The church is constructed with smooth lime-rendered walls and stepped sandstone quoins on the east elevation. The pitched roofs are finished with natural slate and terracotta clay ridge tiles, with stone verges supported on stone kneelers. Cast-iron ogee profile rainwater goods are supported on square cast-iron brackets and corbelled eaves course.

The principal elevation faces east and is symmetrical, containing a gothic door opening at each end with replacement timber sheeted doors and interlacing gothic tracery fanlights. Four windows to the centre incorporate gothic detailing with multi-pane timber sash windows containing interlacing gothic tracery fanlights and coloured glass, set within chamfered sandstone surrounds with projecting masonry cills. The central two windows originally had high sills as they were positioned behind the altar; these were altered to match the outer two during recent work.

The south gable of the nave contains a central window and an exposed datestone reading "THIS WAS BUILT BY THE ORDERS OF THE REV.D TERENCE McCAVIE IN THE YEAR 1764", with a stone carved cross finial to the apex. The west elevation features a slightly lower transept with pitched roof, also dated 1844 and detailed as the main block, with exposed blank sections. The north gable is detailed as the south gable.

A comprehensive datestone on the transept south elevation records: "ST MARYS CHURCH DRUMRAGH / Erected 1764 / by Reverend Terence McCawill P.P. / Reconstructed 1844 / by Reverend Edward McBride. P.P. / Renovated 1964 by Monsignor Patrick McDowell. P.P."

The church has undergone various extensions and alterations. A single-storey extension abutting the south elevation of the west transept contains the sacristy in a modern addition dated 2005, with pitched roof to the west and flat roof to the east, finished with cement tiles and red clay ridge tiles. Walls are part smooth rendered and part timber clad, with double-glazed timber casement windows. A porch to the north, now used as a store, and a single-storey confessional room (now store) with pitched roof abutting the centre of the north elevation are also present. During recent alterations in 2005, a single-storey extension at the front was removed and the two centre windows enlarged to match the outer two.

The church is set in a roadside location with the church graveyard to the east. The site is bounded at the gables by modern steel gates. A car park on the east of Fireagh Road is accessed through double set back entrances consisting of square piers with pyramidal coping supporting pairs of replacement cast-metal gates.

Historical records indicate that a church was first built on the site by Father Terence M'Cawill in 1764 and was known as the country chapel. It was at one time the only Catholic place of worship in the parish, originally a thatched barn with an earthen floor and without seats. The land was granted by Thorny Buchanan, blacksmith. The Ordnance Survey map of 1833 shows a T-shaped chapel on the site, and Griffith's Valuation of 1858 records the "R.C. Chapel & Yard" valued at £17. The major rebuilding undertaken in 1844 by Reverend Edward McBride resulted in the present form, which is shown on the 1854 Ordnance Survey map. The building was further renovated in 1964 by Monsignor Patrick McDowell. The church was awarded the RSUA Design Award 2008 following comprehensive alterations undertaken by HMD Architects Ltd in 2005.