Context 156 - September 2018

C O N T E X T 1 5 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8 19 IHBC ANNUAL SCHOOL from the middle of the 19th century pulled in huge numbers of people looking for work, more churches were needed, with space at a premium. Presbyterian churches were tradition- ally preaching-boxes with galleries, but when St Malachy’s Roman Catholic Church was built in 1844 it also included galleries to seat the large number of worshippers. St George’s Church of Ireland Parish Church, built in 1812, was also visited. It is a plain neo-classical building, fronted by a grand 18th-century portico taken from an unfinished country house. Its interior has a surprisingly ornate High Victorian chancel, reflecting its Anglo-Catholic style of worship. Not to be out- done, St Anne’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, the final stop on the tour, has recently added a ‘spike’, which hovers over the crossing before shooting upwards to the heavens. The churches we saw were remarkably intact. Triumphant arrays of organ pipes and coloured glass had been added in the past to the original, simpler preaching-boxes and original features had been reinstated in St Malachy’s. However, the diminishing congregations provide chal- lenges. The churches visited were not obviously altered to provide new facilities, but churches elsewhere are going down that route. The halls of the Fisherwick Presbyterian Church in the Queen’s University area now house Phoenix Arts Belfast, and Des Cairns talked about the success of a new integrated Cathedral Coffee Room at Lisburn Cathedral (CoI). St Anne’s Cathedral, benefiting from its original open nave and movable seating, is ideal for various events. Strong impressions from the tour are the striking public faces of the churches; the elegant lines of an elliptical gallery and the slender, curved sides of box pews; and a fine organ demonstrated by excerpts from Handel’s Largo . The warm welcome we received from people with great devotion, pride, humour and sense of their churches’ place in history was unforget- table. They told us fascinating stories of the past and present. As a postscript, we visited a Presbyterian Church standing next to the peace wall in West Belfast a few days later and enjoyed the same welcome. The church supports the Enterprise Park through the gate on the other side of the wall, demonstrating that while churches have been part of a divided past, they now play an important role in bringing communities together. David Bevan Risky Belfast: rescuing buildings at risk Led by Ulster Architectural Heritage staff: Nikki McVeigh, chief executive, and Connie Gerrow, heritage-at-risk officer This tour focused on Belfast’s most prominent buildings-at-risk cases, past and present. Ulster Architectural Heritage (UAH) provided a brief Delegates enjoying the astonishing spectacle of St Malachy’s gothic ceiling (architect Thomas Jackson, 1844) The iconic art-deco building of the Bank of Ireland, saved from demolition with no immediate prospect for regeneration (Photo: Tom Parnell)