St Patrick's R.C Church, New Line, Drumintee, Newry, Co Armagh, BT35 8TA

St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church

St Patrick's is a substantial granite basilica church with tower, set within a churchyard on an elevated site on the west side of New Line at Drumintee, near Newry. The building is prominently visible throughout the Slieve Gullion Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The church is a mid-19th century basilica, constructed in 1869 (as recorded on the datestone), though a Roman Catholic chapel was cited at this location on the 1835 Ordnance Survey map. The structure is built of roughly dressed granite randomly laid, with limestone dressings, and features a pitched natural slate roof with concrete verges.

The church is aligned roughly east to west. The principal east gable contains the main entrance, consisting of a pair of Gothic-headed timber doors set in a deep moulded limestone reveal with hood mould. Above the entrance is a polished granite datestone inscribed 'S. Patricio / Dedicatum / 1869'. The gable is surmounted by a granite Celtic cross raised on a plinth block. The east gable features three tall lancet windows above the entrance (with the centre window being taller) and a trefoil niche with limestone dressing at the apex. Two-stage buttresses with stepped offsets rise to the roof level of the side aisles at the junction of the gable and aisles, with buttresses to the end of each aisle gable rising to cill course level. All buttresses and quoins at the east end are of quarry-faced limestone, though granite is used elsewhere.

The south elevation is seven openings wide. The clerestory level features paired lancets of diminished height, as do the side aisle openings, with the exception of the second opening from the right, which comprises a pair of Gothic-headed timber doors in a moulded limestone reveal. A large polished stone memorial dedicated to Andrew McDonald (died 1875) is positioned beneath the south side aisle window. The north elevation mirrors the south elevation but is only six openings wide, with the right end abutted by the tower and therefore lacking a buttress.

The west gable echoes the east gable, featuring three lancets and a trefoil niche, and is surmounted by a cloverleaf granite cross. Two octagonal metal vents are positioned at the centre of the roof ridge (the western vent is missing except for its base).

The three-stage tower is detailed to match the church and features four-stage buttresses to each corner. The north face of the first stage contains an entrance door similar to those serving the aisles. The west face has a pair of lancets, and the east face abuts the right side aisle. The second stage is pierced by a single tall lancet window on all exposed faces. The third stage rises above the roof level of the church and is crowned with a crenellated parapet. Each face of this stage has a pair of louvred lancet openings with a central louvred ventilation roundel above. The parapet is surmounted by finely dressed square-section pinnacles to each corner, with lancet-headed recessed panels to all exposed faces. Below the parapet sits a moulded granite cornice.

All openings feature stepped and chamfered finely dressed limestone reveals with a voussoir granite course over their heads. The side aisle roofs are monopitched natural slate. All buttresses and quoins are of quarry-faced limestone at the east end, with granite used elsewhere.

A modern single-storey sacristy abuts the left end of the west gable and the right corner of the south elevation, linked to the main church by a narrow link block. The sacristy is square in plan, constructed of granite and sandstone with strap cement pointing, and features a pitched natural slate roof with plastic rainwater goods. The west face has three narrow top-hung timber casement windows with flush concrete cills; the north and south faces are blank.

The church stands within a churchyard enclosed by walls—that to Finegans Road is random rubble, while that to New Line is cement rendered with concrete copings. The churchyard is accessed by a steep flight of steps rising to the southwest corner near the sacristy, and by a modern threshold with bollards at the principal east elevation. The churchyard contains numerous 19th and 20th century memorials, all oriented to face east. The building is positioned at a V-junction between Finegans Road and New Line.