St. Mura’s Church of Ireland Church

This handsome early nineteenth-century Church of Ireland church retains its early form and character, and is a landmark feature in the streetscape to the south-east end of Fahan. It also retains much of its early fabric including quarry-glazed windows, while the pointed-arch openings lend this building a muted Gothic theme that is typical of its type and date. The attractive stained glass windows to the chancel gable end and to the north-west side of the nave (see below) are later additions, added 1900 and 1949, but add significantly to the artistic appeal of this charming example of its type. The plain elevations are enlivened by the tracery to the windows and the cut stone hoodmouldings over. The soaring tower with plain stringcourses delineating stages, and with crenellated parapet over with high-quality cut stone pinnacles to the corners, is a landmark feature on the streetscape of Fahan. This church replaced an earlier seventeenth-century church (see 40820016) located a short distance to the south. Lewis (1837) records that this church was built in 1820 using a loan of £1,000 from the Board of First Fruits. An attractive cut stone plaque over the doorway to the tower confirms it was built in 1820 by the ‘Revd. William Knox, Rector’. The architect responsible was John Bowden (died 1822), architect to the Board of First Fruits from c. 1814 until 1821. Bowden was responsible for a number of Church of Ireland churches in the Diocese of Derry, mainly in County Derry. It was extended in 1858 with the addition of a new ‘robing room’ (vestry] and north windows, which were built to designs by Alexander Hardy, inspecting architect under the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for Ireland from 1854. Hardy was responsible for a number of Church of Ireland building projects in Donegal, including extensions to existing buildings at nearby Carrigans, at Killybegs, and possibly at Greencastle. New seats and a pulpit were also added as part of these 1858 works by Hardy. The chancel with its impressive triple-light window to the north-east gable was added in 1897 to designs by the Belfast architect Samuel Patrick Close (1842-1925). Close also designed the chancel extension at the Church of Ireland church at Glencolumbkille. The stained glass windows to this window to the chancel gable are by the celebrated company Mayer and Co. of Munich, whose work can be found throughout Ireland. This window depicts the Resurrection and is dedicated to George Workman Dickson. The designs for this window have been attributed to the noted artist William Francis Dixon (1848-1928). A distinctive and oddly primitive stained glass window was added to the north-west side elevation of the nave in 1949. This commemorates Mary Dickson of Fahan House and depicts St. Elizabeth of Hungary; it is the work of the renowned stained glass artist and painter Evie Hone (1894-1955). The interior also retains an interesting collection of wall memorials including one commemorating Revd. Josiah Marshall by T. King of Bath, dated 1794 (moved from earlier church to south?) depicting a coat-of-arms on a tablet, and one to Agnes Elizabeth Jones (1832-68), a pioneering nurse who trained with Florence Nightingale, who spent part of her childhood at Fahan House (see 40820013). Agnes Jones is best known for transforming the workhouses in Liverpool during the 1860s, where she died of typhus. She is also commemorated with a fine stained glass window and a statue in an oratory at the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool. Agnes Jones is buried in the former graveyard (see 40820016) adjacent to the south-east, The graveyard contains an interesting collection of cut stone memorials, some of minor artistic merit, including a number of Commonwealth graves. Of particular note is the Celtic high cross memorial marking a grave containing dead from the H.M.S. Laurentic, which was lost on 25th January 1917 after she struck two mines (laid by U-boat U-80) off Lough Swilly, and sank within an hour. Only 121 of the 475 on board survived. The single-storey outbuilding or possible former sexton’s house to the south-east also survives in good condition, and is an interesting survival in its own right. This fine church is one of the most attractive examples of its type and date in Donegal, and is an integral element to the built heritage and social history of the local area. The simple boundary walls and gateways to site add to the setting and context, and complete this composition.