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About Stormont St Molua
Stormont St Molua is a Church of Ireland church in Stormont, County Down. It is in the Diocese of Down & Dromore.
History
In 1957 the diocese purchased a 1¼ acre site near Parliament Buildings at Stormont, lying equidistant from St Columba's, Knock and St Elizabeth's, Dundonald. There had been little church building in the diocese for nearly fifteen years and none at all during the war years of 1939-45; in the immediate post-war period strict government control of scarce building materials meant that these were mostly allocated to replace bomb-damaged or obsolete housing. By 1958 those restrictions had eased and the diocesan Church Extension Committee was able to plan new buildings for a spreading population.
The Parish of Stormont was constituted on 1 January 1960 and a temporary hall church was dedicated for worship on 16 April 1960. The first sod on the site was cut on 18 March 1961 and the foundation stone of the present church was laid on 30 September 1961 by Lord Wakehurst, then Governor of Northern Ireland. The parish hall was opened on 3 March 1962, after which the temporary hall was removed and transferred to St Gall's Church at Carnalea, Bangor. The church was completed towards the end of that year and consecrated on 3 November 1962, and the first wedding took place two days later.
The building
The church was built of rustic Dungannon brick to a design by Denis O'D Hanna LRIBA, who described the design as "modernist with its roots in the traditions of the church". The building is 120 feet long by 60 feet wide (36.6 metres by 18.3 metres). The west front is dominated by three narrow spires, each supporting a cross, the main spire 50 feet (15.2 metres) high. The spires are covered with cedar shingles, chosen in preference to copper both for their appearance and because of concerns that heavy rain would make a copper covering unbearably noisy and that verdigris might run and stain the brickwork.
The church is listed Grade B+ by the Department for Communities as a building of architectural interest, and in 2013 it was shortlisted in the Best Modern Churches competition held by the UK National Churches Trust.
Notable features
Over the main entrance doors a chain of 12 angels executed in brass symbolises the protection of heaven, and at the feet of the angels those involved in the design and construction of the church are represented along with their tools. On the curved wall to the left of the doors a stone moulding shows the Holy Spirit descending into the Bread and Wine and the Font; to the right, a matching moulding shows the Eagle representing the Word of God, with Satan entangled in its grasp and an open book lettered Alpha and Omega.
Inside, painted panels in the ceiling of the nave illustrate the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Baptism of Jesus, the Last Supper and the Kiss of Betrayal, and the organ screens on both sides of the chancel carry the Crucifixion in beaten and shaped metalwork. Behind the Holy Table a mural entitled "Christ in Majesty" is painted on a concave bay 37 feet high and 35 feet wide. The bell for the central tower came from Hollymount Parish in Claremorris, Co. Mayo; after continuing problems with its sound and safety concerns over its mounting it was taken down, and it is displayed in the vestibule.
