St Mary’s

History

The present St Mary's church was completed in 1970, replacing an earlier and much smaller church which stood on the other side of the Melmount Road, in the cemetery area. The parish records that the move followed both a rapidly growing population as new housing was built and a change of approach to church building after the liturgical changes of Vatican II. The original plans were for a church seating 800; the building as completed seats 1,200.

The sanctuary was renewed in 1992, when a new altar, ambo and baptismal font were carved in cream-coloured stone. The presidential chair for the main sanctuary, in oak, and the altar, ambo, chair and furnishings for the Day Chapel were made by Strabane Training Services.

The building

The walls are of unplastered Tyrone brick, left in its varied natural colours both inside and out. The ceiling is set with wooden beams filling the squares between the metal beams, running in alternate squares at right angles. Aisles radiate from the altar to meet a wide processional area at the back, and the roof spans the interior without interior pillars, giving an uninterrupted view to and from the altar.

Notable features

The building was given the Award of Merit of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects in 1971; the architect was Patrick Haughey. The tabernacle, the baptismal font, the ambo and chair, the wooden crucifix and the brass lettering for the Stations of the Cross are by Oisin Kelly.