St. John's RC Church, Moneymore Road, Ballyblaugh, Newry, Co Down, BT34 1RR

St John's Roman Catholic Church, Moneymore Road, Ballyblaugh, Newry

This mid-19th-century church has been extensively modernised and retains few interior features of architectural interest, though it possesses two mass stones of local significance.

The church is a barn church built at the junction of Moneymore Road and Ballyblaugh Road. Construction began in 1863, with the foundation stone laid on 26 May 1863 by the Most Reverend John Pius Leahy, Bishop of Dromore. The Griffith Valuation noted the chapel "in progress of building" in November 1863 but not yet roofed. The building was not officially opened and dedicated until 22 October 1876. A Roman Catholic chapel had been cited at this location on the 1835 Ordnance Survey map, though not in its present alignment. The church appears in its current form on the 1903 map.

The building is constructed of coursed rubble stone with granite block quoins. The pitched natural slate roof is aligned north-south with moulded kneelers to the end gables. An advanced brick eaves course carries ogee cast-iron gutters, with square section downpipes attached to the walls by decorative cast-iron brackets.

The south gable apex features a rendered bellcote supported on a rectangular plinth with an inset central panel reading "CHURCH / ST JOHN the EVANGELIST / erected and dedicated / AD 1863". The bellcote contains a bell and Celtic cross finial. The principal elevation faces south and is symmetrical, with its central portion advancing as a broad three-stage buttress that diminishes in width at each stage and supports the bellcote plinth. The buttress corners have cement-rendered stepped quoins. At ground floor centre is a Gothic-headed doorway with cement-rendered stepped quoins, containing a pair of modern diagonal sheeted doors with a tympanum panel above. The tympanum is cement-dashed with a raised border and a raised circular panel at centre with decorative architrave and dressed stone cill. Above is a Gothic-headed leaded and coloured window with cement-rendered stepped quoins, now covered by a plastic security sheet. Windows throughout the building follow this pattern unless otherwise stated. A single window stands to either side of the central buttress on the main gable, with heads lining up with the cill of the central window. The third stage of the buttress is short and blank.

The left and right elevations are identical, each containing five equally spaced windows as those on the front gable. The rear north gable is blank and abutted at centre by a sanctuary with a pitched natural slate roof set below the church's ridge level. The sanctuary's rear gable features a large Gothic-headed leaded and coloured window, with a smaller window to its right cheek.

A modern link block joins the left cheek of the sanctuary to a small sacristy, featuring a flat leaded roof. The sacristy has a pitched natural slated roof with overhanging eaves and tongue-and-groove sheeting to the soffit, with plastic rainwater goods. Its blank gables are coursed rubble stone. The right elevation is pebble-dashed with five narrow modern windows with rendered architraves and concrete cills. The left elevation is partially abutted by the link block, with exposed sections pebble-dashed and blank.

The church underwent major modernisation and refurbishment in the early 1980s, including a new porch, steps, altar, and windows. It was rededicated on 6 February 1983. The original windows, visible in a 1976 survey photograph, were metal-framed with diamond quarry glazing. Poor quality brickwork to the openings on the side elevations suggests the building was originally rendered.

The church is set within a modern car park enclosed by a rendered and coped wall. The front wall is granite-coped and supports spearheaded cast-iron railings. A pair of matching gates are supported by dressed granite block piers. Built into the wall is a mass stone with a painted circle and cross, bearing a plaque reading "MASS STONE FOUND IN THE BRIDGE / ON RICES LANE / DONATED BY / J.P. MORGAN & FAMILY".

To the east of the church, in front of the modern link block, stands a second mass stone and granite cross. The mass stone bears a plaque reading "MASS ROCK / FROM / O'HARES GLEN / DERRYCRAW / DONATED BY THE O'HARE FAMILY". The dressed granite cross stands on a stepped granite base resting on a granite block plinth, with a plaque reading "FROM THE FORMER / GLENN CHURCH / CIRCA 1800".

Also set within the car park to the east of the church is a much-altered parochial house, two storeys with a pitched natural slate roof and decorative bargeboards. The walls are of coursed rubble stone with granite quoins, as the church. The ground floor is pebble-dashed with two modern garage doors to the right and a modern entrance door with a top-hung casement window to the left. The first floor contains three modern stained timber semi-circular headed windows.