St Colmans RC Church, Longstone Road, Rathfriland, Newry, Co Down, BT34 5BT

St Colman's Roman Catholic Church, Longstone Road, Rathfriland

This is a cruciform church with its main entrance set within the front north-facing gable that looks towards Longstone Road. The church is built of rendered stone walls in slightly textured unpainted cement. The roof is natural slate, cruciform in plan, with raised moulded concrete coped skews and knee stones to all gables. The front gable carries a wrought iron Celtic cross finial, and the boxed overhanging timber eaves are fitted with modern half-round metal rainwater goods.

The main entrance to the north gable is contained within a slightly advanced cement-rendered gabled door surround with an advanced base, instepped jambs, moulded kneelers, and moulded concrete coping topped with a cross finial. The Gothic-headed opening has chamfered reveals and a labelled hood mould. The door itself is diagonally sheeted varnished timber fitted with decorative iron strap hinges and a cable twist door pull.

Above the entrance are three stained glass lancet windows aligned vertically, with the central one taller than those on either side. All have chamfered reveals, splayed cills, and a common labelled hood mould. The left (east) and right (west) walls of the nave each contain four lancet windows with splayed reveals and cills. The northernmost windows on each side have cast iron lattice frames, while the others contain stained glass.

The transept runs east to west across the building. Each transept's north face has a door similar in style to the main entrance with a plain surround. The west and east gables of the transepts are identical, each containing three lancet windows with a taller central one, all with plain quarries and splayed surrounds. The south face of the east transept has a single stained glass lancet window. The south face of the west transept is abutted by the sacristy.

The south gable of the church advances slightly beyond the transepts and contains three lancet windows in plain surrounds with stained glass. Its east cheek bears a wall-mounted Neo-classical memorial dedicated to Reverend John Gribbin (died 1864). Its west cheek, along with the south face of the west transept, is abutted by the sacristy.

The sacristy has a pitched natural slate roof with a raised verge to the exposed gable, an embattled coped parapet, and a concrete cross finial. Its walls match the main church. The south gable of the sacristy has two lancets in splayed reveals with cement-rendered architraves. Its east elevation features a small projecting porch with a sheeted timber door on its south face and a small leaded window on its east face.

A short driveway from Longstone Road provides access to the church. The churchyard is enclosed by a rubble stone wall, cement-rendered and coped to the front. Built into its outside face at the road junction is a granite plaque inscribed "BARNMEEN / NATIONAL SCHOOL / 1834". A pair of modern iron gates on plain piers face the main road, and to the west is a nineteenth-century wrought-iron pedestrian gate with dog bars and cast finials.

The churchyard to the front is grassed with shade trees. To the rear is a graveyard containing mainly nineteenth-century memorials, with the earliest legible stone dated 1812. At the rear left stands a two-storey parochial house of little architectural interest, with an artificial slate roof, smooth cement-rendered walls, and modern uPVC windows.