Lych Gate, St. Patricks Church of Ireland, 260 Upper Malone Road, Dunmurry, Belfast, County Down, BT17 9LD

Lych Gate at St Patrick's Church of Ireland

A large, well-proportioned late Victorian lych gate of masonry and timber, erected in 1878 at the entrance to Drumbeg Parish Church, south of the Drum Bridge over the River Lagan near Dunmurry. Designed by Young & Mackenzie, the structure serves as both a functional gateway and a memorial of local interest to John Ferguson Montgomery of Ballydrain, erected by his sister Ellen Caldwell in 1876.

The building features pitched Rosemary clay tile roofing with ridge tiles and finials over the gable apex, laid on exposed timber rafters on purlins. These are supported by a robust timber king post truss fixed to a vertical timber frame, braced and secured to an oblong rounded foot stone. The timber structure encompasses and is partially embedded into a masonry arch.

The walling is squared rubble sandstone with ashlar sandstone quoins and surrounds, rising from a high projected plinth to a moulded cornice level. The principal north elevation is symmetrically arranged around an equilateral pointed arch inscribed with "In loving memory of John Ferguson Montgomery of Ballydrain died 1876. Erected by his sister Ellen Caldwell 1878". The arch displays two orders with chamfer stop detail and consists of yellow and red sandstone voussoirs with a red sandstone label course over. The arch is flanked by two vertical timber posts with bracing, rising to the open roof structure. Long-and-short quoins of yellow and red sandstone feature a chamfered plinth course beneath.

Timber sheeted gates rise to the lock rail with an arcaded opening and iron detailing above. The stiles have decorative mouldings at the top of the posts with an inverted decorative iron arcade running over the length of the top rail. A pair of copper crosses are inset from clay finials over the apex of the gable ends; the right-hand finial is broken.

The left and right elevations are symmetrically arranged with open gable-ended roof trusses over the narrow masonry structure. The lower masonry abuts basalt random rubble walling. The rear elevation mirrors the front elevation.

Historically, John Ferguson Montgomery (born 1832) was the second son of Hugh Ferguson and inherited the Ballydrain estate following his father's death in 1867. Known by the nickname "Rufus" on account of his red hair and beard, he died on 8th April 1876 following an accident while riding a horse in the Hillsborough Cup. The land for the lych gate was made available through a lease in perpetuity arranged by William Smith of neighbouring Drum House and Thomas Montgomery, who inherited Ballydrain after his brother's death, granting a plot of land to the church for a suitable entrance.

The original pitch pine gates were subsequently replaced with mahogany gates following an accident involving an erratic motorist. The lych gate first appears on the 1901 Ordnance Survey map and has remained in situ since its installation, continuing to provide a distinct feature in the landscape.

The gate is located at the foot of a hill rising to the church and churchyard, immediately adjacent to a bend in a busy road. A post-box is embedded into the masonry wall flanking the arch on the left side. The setting is rural, with the church acting as the backdrop. The lych gate has group value with St Patrick's Church (HB19.23.001A).