St. Michael's Church ( Irish: ''Eaglais Naomh Mícheál'') is a large-scale

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church built of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

located on the south end of Saint Michael's Square, Ballinasloe,

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It was designed by

J.J. McCarthy Jonathan James McCarthy (born January 20, 2003) is an American football quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines. He became Michigan's starting quarterback in the second week of the 2022 season. Early years Born on January 20, 2003, McCarthy was ...

in 1846 and was built in 1858.

History

St. Michael's Church was to be designed after a competition by J.J. McCarthy in 1846. The project was abandoned due to the

Famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

. A revised designed by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin was started in 1842. The church was consecrated on 25 August 1858 by Cardinal Wiseman of Westminster.

Building and interior

St. Michael's Church is a freestanding gable-fronted Roman Catholic church built of limestone with pitched slate roofs with cut-stone eaves courses. The spire has octagonal-plan corner pinnacles with gargoyles diagonally to corners. It has triple lancet window openings to the upper part of the gable-front with continuous hood-moulding and stained-glass windows. The front elevation of the side-aisle of the ground floor of the tower has cinquefoil-headed double-light window openings with under carved hood-mouldings. The opening to the chancel has a pointed arch four-light traceried window with a stained glass. The church interior has a tiled porch and a pointed chancel arch with an organ gallery to the north end of the church. There are many stained-glass windows in the church, including some by

Harry Clarke Henry Patrick Clarke (17 March 1889 – 6 January 1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. His work was influenced by both the Art Nouveau and ...

and the

Rose of Lima Rose of Lima (born Isabel Flores de Oliva; 20 April 1586 24 August 1617) was a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic in Lima, Peru, who became known for both her life of severe penance and her care of the poverty stricken of the city thro ...

. There are murals in the church by Joshua Clarke and a mural of

Saint Grellan Saint Grellan is an Irish saint and patron saint of the KellyO'Donovan, ''Tribes and Customs of Hy Many'', pp. 8–12. and Donnellan of Uí Maine clans and of the parish of Ballinasloe, in County Galway, Ireland. Early life According to the hag ...

by Joseph Tierney. St. Michael's Church is the tallest building in Ballinasloe and the church is visible over much of Ballinasloe.

Gallery

File:Ballinasloe St. Michael's Church Nave 2010 09 15.jpg, Church interior and nave File:Ballinasloe St. Michael's Square 2010 09 15.jpg, North-west view of Saint Michael's Square

References

{{coord missing, County Galway Roman Catholic churches completed in 1858 Ballinasloe Churches in County Galway 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Ireland

History

Building and interior

Gallery

See also

References