St. Mary’s Church was opened in 1784. At the time, it was the only Roman Catholic church in the then town of Belfast and the census of 1782 recorded only 365 Catholics living in Belfast city. It was funded by collections from local Church of Ireland and Presbyterian congregations. In 1813, the church’s pulpit was donated by the Anglican Vicar of Belfast, Canon Turner. None of the original 18th century church can be seen as it the façade was renovated in 1868 in Italianate design in by John O’Neil.[1] It features a rose window, polychromatic brick work, round headed window arches, cornice and hipped roof towers.
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[1] Marcus Patton, Central Belfast, An Historical Gazetteer (Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society), pp.58-59.