St Bartholemew's Cof I Church, Donaghmore Road, Newry, Co Down, BT34 1SE

St Bartholomew's Church of Ireland is a mid-18th century barn church with a later tower, standing in an elevated churchyard on the crest of a hillock in the townland of Glebe, near Newry, County Down. Consecrated on 8th September 1741 and dedicated to St Bartholomew, the church was built on the site of one of the oldest parishes in the Diocese of Dromore, traceable to the 5th century. The former parish school lies to the west and the former Glebe House to the north, both clearly visible from the church, making this one of the rare instances in County Down where an 18th century church, its glebe house, and an early 19th century school survive in such close proximity.

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION

The church is aligned west to east, with a tower abutting the west end. The roof is pitched and finished in natural slate with a granite eaves course supporting half-round metal rainwater goods. The external walls are finished in lined cement render, with a basecourse to the north and south elevations only.

The tower is three-staged, with the middle stage shorter than the other two and the topmost stage serving as the belfry. Rendered platbands divide each stage. At the first stage, two-stage angled buttresses rise from the south-west and north-west corners to the platband at the second stage. The main entrance is set in the north face of the first stage, within a Gothic-headed opening. The chamfered reveals are in granite blockwork up to the spring of the arch, above which is a rendered hood mould. The door is tongue-and-groove sheeted and bead moulded, with a dressed granite threshold. The west face of the first stage has a single lancet window with chamfered reveals and a splayed cill, lattice glazed with an ogee head and decorative spandrels. The south face is blank. The east face abuts the west gable of the church entirely.

At the second stage, plain angled buttresses continue from each corner into the third stage. The north, west, and south faces each have an infilled central panel with chamfered reveals, where timber louvres formerly sat. The east face is blank, partially abutted by the apex of the church gable. The third stage, the belfry, continues the angled buttresses to parapet level. Each face has a lancet opening with splayed reveals and cill, surmounted by a rendered hood mould (failing in places), with pairs of lancet-headed timber louvres and matching spandrels set within. The tower roof is concealed behind an embattled parapet with stepped granite copings, and each corner is terminated by a tall dressed granite pinnacle with a moulded finial.

The north and south elevations of the church are identical, each containing three lancet windows with cast-iron lattice glazing, Gothic tracery spandrels, and dressed granite cills. The west gable, on either side of the tower, is blank. The east gable is also blank and abutted centrally by the lower, single-storey sanctuary.

THE VESTRY

A small single-storey structure with a basement abuts the east end of the north elevation. Its pitched natural slate roof runs north to south, with half-round metal rainwater goods. The vestry has been extended at its east end under a catslide of the main roof, this extended portion projecting beyond the east end of the north wall and wrapping around onto the east gable, where it has a rendered chimneystack. The west elevation is rubble stone, with a central doorway in brick dressings containing a tongue-and-groove sheeted door and a flight of nine steps descending to a tongue-and-groove sheeted basement door. The north gable is rendered and blank, its lower half embanked by the raised churchyard. The east elevation is cement rendered and contains three modern timber casement windows. The south elevation is cement rendered with a modern timber door to the centre, facing onto the north side of the sanctuary with a narrow passage between the two.

THE SANCTUARY

The sanctuary abuts the east gable of the church. Its pitched natural slate roof is lower than the church roof, with a rendered eaves course. The walls are rendered to match the church. The east gable contains a large window of three lancets — the central one taller than the two flanking ones — set within a plain dressed granite architrave. These windows are leaded, quarry glazed, and coloured, with modern security glazing over. The north and south cheeks of the sanctuary are blank.

INTERIOR

The interior is well furnished with many attractive 19th century features. Of particular note is a unique carved stone baptismal font dated 1726, believed to have come from the earlier church that preceded the present building. The present choir stalls were added in 1887. The sanctuary walls carry scriptural tablets, a gift from Arthur C. Innes-Cross of Dromantine House in 1883. The Holy table is dedicated to the Gordon family of Mount Kearney.

SETTING AND CHURCHYARD

The church sits on the crest of a hillock, with the churchyard falling away on all four sides. The churchyard is bounded to the north and west by a high wet-dashed rubble stone wall with quarry stone coping. At the north-west corner, two large rendered gate piers with pyramidal granite caps carry a pair of wrought-iron gates with dog bars and arrow-head finials. Above the gateway is a wrought-iron throw-over with a lamp bracket.

Within the churchyard, to the south of the church, stands a Celtic cross 3.2 metres high, decorated with biblical figures and Celtic knotwork. Dating to the 10th century and believed to be a scheduled monument (SMR Dow 40/37), this cross was toppled during the Cromwellian conflict and re-erected in 1890 by the Reverend J. D. Cowan. It is believed that beneath the cross lies the central chamber of a souterrain — reportedly 62 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 4 feet high — constructed of fieldstones covered by large slab stones, and running as far north as the former Glebe House.

To the south-west of the church is the Innes-Cross family vault of 1819, aligned roughly west to east. It has a pitched natural slate roof laid in diminishing courses, dressed granite skews, and a stone ridge, over rubble stone walls. The west gable has an infilled doorway above which a recessed slate plaque reads: "THIS TOMB / WAS ERECTED AD 1819 / BY / ARTHUR INNES. ESQ / OF / DROMANTIME / IN THIS PARISH." To the right of the door, a polished granite tombstone with coloured pilasters and a decorative entablature reads: "In memory of / LOUISA LETTIA HENRIETTA INNES / the beloved wife of / ARTHUR CHARLES INNES / of DROMANTINE CO DOWN / died January 27th 1886. I will never leave thee / nor forsake thee. Heb xiii.5 / The lord thy God is with / thee whithersoever thou / goest. Josh i.9." It is believed that nine family members of the Innes-Cross family lie within the vault.

To the south of the Innes-Cross vault is a slate memorial with a decorated head and beaded architrave, reading: "MARSHALL JOSEPH MEE ESQ / WHO AFTER A SHORT ILLNESS DEPARTED / THIS LEFT AT THE GLEBE HOUSE / OF DONOUGHMORE ON 25TH DAY / OF JANUARY 1844 IN THE 22ND / YEAR OF HIS AGE."

The churchyard also contains a variety of interesting tombstones, some dating from the late 18th century. The grave of John Martin, a prominent Young Irelander, is also located in the churchyard and is recorded separately.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The place name Donaghmore, or 'Domnach Mor', means 'Great Sunday', believed to commemorate a visit to the site by Saint Patrick. The early church here, named St Mac Erc's after its founder Bishop Mac Erc, dates to the 5th century. It stood just to the south of the present church and is believed to have had wattle walls and a thatched roof.

By 1622, the 12 townlands and the rectory constituting the manor of Donaghmore were held by Sir Edward Trevor, who had the power to choose the parish clergy and manage its affairs. In the late 1730s the manor passed into the ownership of the Innes family of Dromantine House, whose influence is thought to have prompted the construction of the present church. The Parliamentary Returns of 1739 record: "The parishioners of Donaghmore have presented £80 to be ley to build a new church in four years, and said Primate (Boulter) has promised to give timber to roof the church and ten guineas to finish it." The church was consecrated on 8th September 1741.

In 1776, £3 13s 0d was paid for roughcasting and whitewashing the church. It was re-roofed in 1779 at a cost of £41. In 1819, £5 was spent on an iron gate for the graveyard and stone caps for its piers. The vestry was added in 1828 and the tower in 1829. Samuel Lewis, writing in 1837, described the building as "a small handsome edifice in good repair, with a lofty tower ornamented with buttresses, pinnacles and finials, which was erected in 1828 by voluntary contributions." The 1836 Valuation records the building as measuring 55 feet 6 inches by 29 feet by 19 feet, with a tower of 12 feet by 12 feet by 60 feet. The sanctuary was added in 1879 at a cost of £242 19s 9d. In 1905, a new church bell was installed — cast by Messrs Taylor of Loughborough — inscribed "Rev. J.D. Cowan. LL.D. Rector 1905."

The succession of vicars from the erection of the church is recorded as follows: Alexander Naismith (1740), George Vaughan (1758), Thomas Sacheverell (1769), Francis Johnston (1775), Rev. Brabazon Smith (1789), Rev. John Mountgarrett (1816), Marshall Joseph Mee (1824), John Campbell Quinn (1857), and J. D. Cowan (1882). On the death of Reverend J. D. Cowan in 1925, the parish came under the clergy of St Mary's, Newry.