Roman Catholic Church of St Joesph and St Malachy, 75 Moneyhaw Road, Magherafelt, BT 45 7XR

The Roman Catholic Church of St Joseph and St Malachy, built in 1958, is a mid-20th century structure originally designed in a modern style by John S. O'Doherty, architect of Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal. It stands in a rural area, facing the public road and set back within a graveyard in the townland of Drummullan.

Initially, the church comprised a portal-framed nave with a gabled roof, a taller gabled chancel with clerestory windows above the nave, and a tall rectangular tower at the west end. The building materials were rustic brick with some pebble dash. The tower included a glazed belfry stage and a flat roof.

However, in 1995 the church underwent extensive remodelling by Manor Architects, of Moneymore. This work fundamentally altered the building’s exterior appearance and character, changing the materials and forms to such an extent that it now appears as a new building of modern construction, resulting in a loss of its original architectural and historic interest. The altered building now features roughcast walls, a single ridged roof covering both the nave and the lowered chancel, tall slit windows in the tower, and a gabled roof on the tower.

The building was opened on 5 October 1958. Inscriptions on a plaque on the front of the building and another in the porch provide further details. References include an article in the Irish News dated 6 October 1958, and a mention in A.J. Rowan’s "The Buildings of Ireland: North-West Ulster" (1979).