St Laurence O'Toole R.C. Church, Main Street, Belleeks, Co Armagh, BT35 7PH

St Laurence O'Toole Roman Catholic Church is a freestanding, double-height, rendered and painted church building constructed in 1849, designed by architect Thomas McKeag of Crossmaglen and built by contractor Arthur Bennett, a stonemason of Ballykeel. It stands on an elevated site on the north side of Main Street in the rural village of Belleeks, County Armagh, with panoramic views over the village and surrounding countryside. It is a rare surviving example of a T-plan church of this period.

Origins and Historical Background

The village of Belleeks grew out of a planned settlement created in the 1790s by Arthur Acheson, 1st Earl of Gosford, on land belonging to the Acheson family, Baronets and later Earls of Gosford. In 1840 a chapel of ease was established for the local Roman Catholic congregation when a dwelling house formerly belonging to John Mulholland was converted for worship. By 1846 it had been decided to build a permanent church on the long, narrow plot to the rear, and a plan was obtained from Thomas McKeag. The new structure was designed as a relatively simple T-shaped building with a rear vestry and a capacity of around 400 worshippers.

McKeag's specification set out the construction requirements in considerable detail, including: foundations 3½ feet thick carried up to the bed of the first step at the entrance door; the next course to be 2½ feet thick and 16 inches high to serve as a base course, projecting 2 inches outside and 1 inch inside the net wall, which was to be 2½ feet thick, built in regular courses 1 foot high with bond stones placed two to each perch lineal; buttresses of hammered granite; door and window jambs and arches to be revealed with 9 inches thickness from the front of the wall to the recess for frames; steps and door landings of chiselled granite, with the landing in one stone measuring 6 by 3 feet and the steps in one length; buttress offsets each in one stone, neatly chiselled, and pinnacles correctly finished; the skew-course on the gables to be no less than 14 inches wide; and two neat crosses to be made, with all stonework executed in a workmanlike manner using materials of the best description.

Building work began in September 1846. John Feenan of Carrowbane undertook the ironwork, Edward Fearan of Camlough the slating, Patrick Feenan of Drumcrow the carpentry, and John Begley of Belleeks agreed to make and supply all nails required. The church was opened in January 1849 and dedicated to St Laurence O'Toole, the 12th-century Archbishop of Dublin canonised in the early 1200s — a saint chosen, perhaps, in deference to the local curate who shared the same surname. At the time of opening, building costs had amounted to £228-18-4, but the exterior walls remained unrendered and the interior was largely unfinished and unfurnished, with the timber altar reused from the original chapel of ease.

In 1855 the walls, inside and out, were plastered and the floor was paved, though further work was deferred partly through lack of funds and partly due to tensions between the Parish Priest, Father Daly, and the church committee. Father Daly's successor, John McMahon, proved more amenable, and between 1867 and 1871 a series of repairs and improvements were carried out, including re-mortaring of joints and re-plastering of the exterior, fitting out the vestry, addition of a gallery and seating, landscaping of the grounds, and construction of a boundary wall and formal avenue.

The front porch was added some time after 1959 but before 1986, probably in the 1970s. The interior appears also to have been renovated in the 1970s, including the application of timber sheeting in the recess behind the altar and the laying of carpet. A further internal refurbishment carried out after 2009 saw the removal of the timber sheeting from the altar recess and the removal of carpet from the aisles, revealing late Victorian floor tiles once again.

Exterior

The church has a T-plan form with a projecting single-storey porch to the south and a single-storey modern extension containing the sacristy to the north. The principal elevation faces south. Roofs are pitched and covered in natural slate, with uPVC gutters abutting the roof fascia and uPVC downpipes. Walls are rendered and painted over masonry, with the corners of the central volume featuring projecting stepped quoins and shallow projecting window surrounds.

The principal south elevation is surmounted by a bellcote rising from the gable, containing a single bronze bell and a wrought-iron cross finial. The gable has flat masonry coping, with diagonal buttressing featuring two offsets to the outer corners, surmounted by simple pointed masonry pinnacles with square bases and wrought-iron cross finials, that to the east being missing. A central oculus window containing stained glass sits above a projecting masonry string course, flanked by two lancet windows also containing stained glass and secondary glazing. The porch has a pitched natural slate roof with plain timber bargeboard and fascia, uPVC rainwater goods, and angle-headed window openings with plain reveals and painted masonry sills containing stained glass with secondary glazing. A two-leaf sheeted timber door to the east is contained within a pointed doorway set over a single step.

The west elevation has five lancet windows: those to the nave and to the north and south of the projecting arms of the T-plan have painted chamfered masonry surrounds, while those to the east of the projections have painted chamfered reveals without surrounds. The rear elevation has two lancet windows identical in character to those on the principal elevation. The east elevation has five lancet windows, all with painted chamfered masonry surrounds. A double-leaf timber-panelled door set over a ramped granite threshold is contained within a pointed arched door surround with painted chamfered masonry and a transom featuring a timber floral tracery design.

The sacristy extension has a pitched natural slate roof with a brick chimneystack with concrete capping, uPVC rainwater goods, and a timber fascia. Window openings are square-headed with plain reveals and painted masonry sills containing timber casement windows fitted with steel window grilles. A single timber-panelled door is contained in a square-headed opening to the east.

Interior

The interior is relatively simple in design. The original ornate timber ceiling with drop finials remains in situ, as does the encaustic tiled floor and the oak pews. The raked gallery, added between 1867 and 1871, adds to the interest of the interior. Some replacement joinery has been introduced to the sacristy, the reredos has been re-plastered, and the internal doors have been replaced.

Setting and Approach

The church is set back from Main Street on an elevated hilltop site. Access is through a decorative wrought-iron entrance arch and gate bearing the church's name, the date 2000, and various cross motifs. A long tarmacadamed drive leads from Main Street towards the highest point of the village, running through the rear grounds of the original chapel of ease. The hilltop has been levelled to extend the cemetery and provide parking, with additional space to the west.

The original chapel of ease — the dwelling house converted for worship in 1840 — still stands at the entrance to the church. Though modernised, it retains historic features including its roof and windows to the side and rear. Its relationship with the church to its rear is significant, illustrating the congregation's humble origins. Historic maps confirm that the setting has remained largely intact overall.

The cemetery, which slopes slightly to the east behind the church, contains a mixture of 19th- to 21st-century graves. At the northern boundary stands a rubble masonry grotto containing a wrought-iron gate, a timber altar, and plaster statues depicting the Virgin Mary. The graveyard is bounded by hedging, with a rubble masonry wall featuring cock-and-hen coping and wrought-iron gates to the east of the church, also giving access to the graveyard. Together, the entrance arch and gate, rubble masonry wall, wrought-iron gates, and rubble grotto each make a positive contribution to the church's setting. The intervisibility of the church and the village, owing to the building's elevated position, is considered significant in terms of both townscape and church setting.