28 January, 2018

Ballinrobe Public Library 2

Ballinrobe Library was converted from St. Mary's Church, an 18th century Church of Ireland church which was in very poor condition.  The building was carefully restored in 1996. The library is accessed through an archway on the Main Street.
Medieval Irish Churches, were frequently converted to suit the practices of the new Protestant religious requirements, and had been built usually of roughly coursed limestone.   Few of the Church of Ireland denominations places of worship retain their original features especially, the seventeenth or eighteenth century physical arrangements of Churches as is the case with St. Mary's.

Photos taken - 2014
Info courtesy of Historical Ballinrobe




The current architectural style of the St. Mary’s Church is typical of the early 19th century ‘Board of First Fruits’ Church which was used as a term describe an architectural style.   This  re-introduction gothic elements of architecture and decoration in the late 18th and early 19th century in Ireland.    They were a result of the British Government funded, and Church of Ireland controlled Board, which made grants and loans available for the repair or building of Churches and Glebe Houses. 


St. Mary's was a simple oblong, gable-ended structure and was probably converted for use by the Established Church sometime between 1660 and 1780.   Many refurbishments and alterations took place over the centuries with the removal of the box pews c. 1860 and the triple tier pulpit. 


There was a steeple erected on a tower around 1815 which lasted only 9 years and must have sustained serious damage, perhaps from a great storm before its permanent removal.



29 comments:

  1. Beautiful images, Bill. I especially love the book statue! Thanks for sharing. Jo

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  2. Hi Bill.

    Well nicely restored.
    Still nice that a lot has been preserved.

    Groettie from Patricia.

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  3. And so the church building change with the times. Nice little reportage Bill.

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  4. I like those books too! Churches are changed into libraries here aswell.

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  5. That is so interesting. I love to see a church remade into something rather than being abandoned. We have a couple of homes in this area that are converted churches.
    LOVE those big books!!!
    Have a wonderful Sunday, Bill! Diana

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  6. Hello Bill.
    Very beautiful and interesting Church!
    Lovely book statue!
    Wonderful pictures!
    Thank you for sharing!
    Have a lovely new week!
    Dimi...

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  7. ...lovely to see buildings be repurposed, those books are 'heavy reading.'

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  8. I’d love to see the insdie too. Intriguing!

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  9. I, too, would have loved to see the inside. I think it’s lovely to reuse a building and, for some reason, it makes me feel like the graveyard is being kept company.

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  10. The policies kept this building in good condition and now it has been put to good use.

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  11. I had no idea that we would find such a lovely structure after passing through that archway. And, what a history of change adaptation. Very interesting.

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  12. Great post!
    Interesting reading.
    : )

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  13. At least a library should not disturb those resting beneath - one church not far from here has been converted into a recording studio!

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  14. Wow the library is so much more than I imagined after yesterday's post. How neat. Since reading is indeed holy the use of a church is almost perfect.
    MB

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  15. It looks like great care was made in that restoration.

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  16. Ha Bill, prachtige foto's van deze goed gerestaureerde kerk, hele mooie omschrijving heb je er bij vermeld, dank je Bill voor de goed uitleg.
    Groet kees.

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  17. What a great reworking of a structure. Must have taken a tome of labor. In fact, I see the tomes sitting in the grass; probably to make sure people know this is a library.

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  18. I love this so much, the church and grounds looks amazing and it's now a library?! Fantastic.

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  19. A beautiful structure. Church buildings don't often look that fancy in my small town, but I like it.

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  20. Now that's a library with some interesting history! I never would have guessed that it's now a place of book worship!

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  21. Really nice photo essay. We have so many decommissioned churches in our city proper. Some of them have been re-purposed but many are vacant and deteriorating.

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  22. Beautiful buildings and lovely green!! You are a good tour guide -- making this interesting history come alive.

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  23. I saw the post title and then when I saw the building I thought "that looks like a church, not a library".

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  24. wow that is an amazingly old building, so nice to see it's been looked after.

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