Church of Saint John the Baptist

Freestanding Gothic Revival gable-fronted single-cell church, dated 1832, having five-bay nave elevations, and three-bay sacristy to east. Pitched slate roof with cast-iron cross finial to gable-front. Pitched slate roof with rendered chimneystack to sacristy. Roughcast rendered walls to gable-front with shallow, snecked limestone breakfront with date plaque and buttresses with stepped bases, and render plinth course and platbands. Snecked limestone walls to south elevation with limestone plinth course and having buttresses with stepped bases between windows. Roughcast rendered walls to other elevations, with rendered buttresses and render plinth course. Roughcast rendered walls to sacristy, with blank cross motif to south elevation, render plinth course and buttresses. Square-headed window opening and blank oculus over to gable-front, former having stained-glass window. Lancet windows to nave and sacristy with stained-glass windows and limestone sills. Blank cinquefoil to east gable of nave, and blank trefoil window to east gable of sacristy. Round-headed door opening to gable-front having quarry glazed stained-glass overlight and timber battened double-leaf doors. Breakfront flanked by Tudor-arch doorways with timber battened doors. Limestone holy water stoup to southern doorway. Tudor-arch timber battened door to sacristy. Recessed pointed arch to altar end of church, and timber panelled gallery to entrance end. Freestanding bell tower to west with roughcast rendered walls. Square-profile cut limestone piers to road boundary with carved caps and double-leaf cast-iron gates, set in rubble sandstone boundary walls.

Father Con Scully, parish priest of Ballyclough and Kilbrin, built this fine mid-nineteenth-century Gothic Revival church. Fine quality materials have been used to the front and south elevations which are presented to the main road. The use of render to the rear, an elevation not frequently viewed by the public, is a manifestation of economics, a cost-saving measure which adds additional interest to the site. The austere façade is enlivened by the limestone breakfront with buttresses, which forms the main decorative theme of the structure. The date plaque is finely carved and adds artistic interest and context. The pointed arch recess to the interior continues the Gothic theme of the building. The bell tower and finely carved limestone piers with cast-iron gates enhance the setting of the church, prominently sited on an incline, the church presenting a strong silhouette in the landscape.