Kilbroney Parish Church, Rostrevor Co.Down

Kilbroney Parish Church, Rostrevor, Co. Down, is a church constructed between 1818 and 1822, believed to have been designed by Newry architect Thomas Duff. It replaced a 1733 church situated south of The Square/Mary Street, which itself superseded an earlier medieval church. Plans for the new church were initiated in 1811 due to the inadequacy of the existing building. A plot was donated by General Robert Ross, and a loan of £1,100 was secured from the Board of First Fruits. Construction began in earnest with the laying of a foundation stone on 22 July 1818, and the building was in use by Easter 1822. The church was dedicated to St. Bronach. Construction costs totaled £1,837-4-0, with £200 contributed by the Board of First Fruits and the remainder raised through subscription. A gallery was added in 1827 at a cost of £150, providing space for 350 people. The church's dimensions, recorded in 1836, are approximately 65ft x 33ft x 22ft, with a tower measuring 18ft x 18ft x 50ft, and two returns to the north and east of the nave measuring 19ft x 6ft x 22ft and 10ft x 11ft x 7ft respectively. In 1866-67, the Ecclesiastical Commission's architects, Joseph Welland and William Gillespie, added a chancel, transepts, and a robing room, removing the earlier returns in the process. The roof and pews were replaced in 1883-84 by architect William James Watson. A Trelford organ was installed in 1892 and later moved to the gallery in 1906. The church is located within a conservation area and the listing includes the gates, walls, and railings.