Saint Patrick's Catholic Church

Detached Roman Catholic church on cruciform-plan, dated 1829, having three-bay elevations, single-bay transepts to the north and south and a single-bay chancel to the east end. Rendered bellcote with cross finial over to nave gable (west). Single-storey sacristy added to the east end and single-bay entrance porch to the west gable end. Pitched slate roofs, rendered chimneystack to sacristy. Painted roughcast rendered walls over smooth rendered plinth course having carved limestone plaque to west elevation. Pointed arch window openings having stained glass windows and painted limestone sills. Pointed arch window opening to porch, west elevation, with lattice glazed stained glass window. Square-headed door openings to north elevation and porch having timber battened double doors. A-frame timber roof with struts to interior having rendered corbels. Gallery with cast-iron railings having quatrefoil motifs to parapet and cast-iron spiral staircase. Set slightly back from the road to the east of Killashee.

This simple early nineteenth-century Roman Catholic church retains its early form, character and much of its early fabric, despite some alteration and additions over the years. Its simple form and relatively lack of ornament are typical of early post-Emancipation Roman Catholic churches in Ireland. It was probably originally constructed as a ‘T-plan chapel’ with the chancel added some time later creating the present cruciform plan. It has the bare minimum of Gothic Revival detailing in the form of the pointed arch window openings. The limestone plaque is finely carved, with a hand grasping a cross, and adds an element of artistic interest to the façade. The interior is notable for its decorative spiral staircase and cast-iron railings to gallery with quatrefoil motifs. This church was built by Rev. Richard Farrell, who also built the Roman Catholic church at nearby Cloondara (13307008), and was built on a site donated by the Royal Canal Company.