Under Wraps

Not all the sites of Belfast's Catholic heritage are open to visitors... Some are still under wraps.

A Restoration Success

St Patrick’s (1874-7)
Donegall Street, BT1 2FL

On the Northern edge of the city centre stands this imposing church, the original Pro-Cathedral for the diocese of Down and Connor, and the former residence of the bishop, designed by Timothy Hevey and built by Mortimer Thompson. The passer-by on Donegall Street is greeted by a fine spire (180ft) over a high recessed arch enclosing a rose window, a tympanum with statue and the west door. The facade is, as is the building as a whole, mostly composed of red Scrabo sandstone from County Down, with some detailing and carving in limestone. The tympanum above the main door contains a statue of St Patrick attributed to James Pearse (father of the Irish Nationalist and Political Activist, Patrick Pearse). This, as with the two smaller tympanums, has some floral carving including the Sacred Heart with Passion Flowers.



In 1995 the church was severely damaged by a fire started in a nearby derelict building, the whole roof of the church being destroyed. Local architects Rooney and McConville were employed to conserve and refurbish the building. This included the building of a new roof and the re-ordering of the sanctuary with new furnishings.

The interior of the church is bright and spacious with the roof being carried on tall, slender granite columns with sandstone bases (which were once painted brown). The focus of the whole church is the old high altar, with its tall romanesque reredos as it sits in its central position in the apse. Although this somewhat dwarfs the new, West-facing limestone altar, it does draw the eye toward the spacious sanctuary. The new furnishings, altar and ambo in limestone and a sedelia in wood, are very tasteful and substantial looking. The bronze of the Supper at Emmaus, on the front of the altar, matches the bronze of the Baptism of the Lord in the baptistry. The baptismal font itself, predates this church, being part of the first church on this site.



When visiting St Patricks, the visitor cannot help but be struck by the beauty of the triptych on the left side of the nave. It is by Sir John Lavery and depicts Our Lady, flanked by Saints Patrick and Brigid. Sir Edwin Lutyens designed and had made an altar to sit beneath this triptych, but this is now lost. Another feature in this church is the handsome memorial to Bishop Patrick Dorrian, the great builder, educationalist and man of vision. This sits beneath the North gallery but the Bishop is buried beneath the sanctuary.

The scale of this building is very impressive. From the street it appears sturdy and imposing, whereas the interior is a long bright space, which is warm and welcoming. The warmth is certainly added to by the coloring of the wood on the new ceiling, supported by two arcades of coloured granite pillars and sandstone arches. The excellent acoustic and general atmosphere of the church certainly impart a sense of the sacred to the visitor.

Romanesque at the heart of Belfast

St Mary’s Church (1784)
Chapel Lane, BT1 1HH

The small winding streets of shops and ‘kitchen-houses’ are almost all gone in Belfast now, replaced by more suitable housing, redeveloped street layouts and in the building of shopping malls. These streets, however, were the original surroundings of St Mary’s, the Mother Church of the city of Belfast, its original parish church, and the oldest Catholic church in city. Nestled behind ‘Castlecourt’ and near the famous Kelly’s Cellars, St Mary’s provides a quite space in the midst of a busy shopping area with its cool interior paneled with dark wood and its long rose garden and grotto (built in the 1954 Marian Year it is modeled in the grotto in Lourdes).

The church has changed in appearance many times since the eighteenth century. Up to the 1780s Mass was celebrated in the home of John Kennedy in nearby Castle Street (the tall mahogany cabinet which was used as an altar is now situated behind the tabernacle in the current sanctuary). The original building was assisted with money from wealthy Belfast Presbyterians and members of the Church of Ireland, and although subsequently rebuilt in 1868 and again in 1941, the original walls remain. The interior was remodeled by the Belfast architect Padraig Gregory during the 1940-41 refurbishment. This included the removal of the East wall, and the construction of an apse decorated with mosaic and new sacristies. Gregory also installed new liturgical furnishings, including a round romanesque style baldachino and a romanesque style red brick facade.




The sanctuary was further remodeled in the 1980s by the Irish artisan Ray Carroll. The success of this remodeling (opened in 1984 for the bicentenary) is debatable. Although Carroll retained the Gregory baldachino and the pulpit (1813), the new furnishings and carpeted, raised predella do not make the best use of the sanctuary space and are not in keeping with the style, heritage or tradition of the building.

It is, however, a beautiful place, a real city oasis.