Ballyoughter Church of the Sacred Heart
The Church of the Sacred Heart, Ballyoughter, has stood at the centre of parish life for generations. Its foundation stone was laid on 12 March 1874 by Rev. Henry Williams, Administrator, and the church was dedicated to the Sacred Heart on 11 October 1874. The building was completed in 1876, and the parish marked its 150th anniversary with celebrations on 12 June 2026.
Designed by George Coppinger Ashlin, one of the leading church architects of nineteenth-century Ireland, the church is a striking Gothic-style stone building with a distinctive Italianate campanile above the entrance gable. Built using local stone, it remains one of Ballyoughter’s most recognisable landmarks and a lasting testament to the faith, generosity and commitment of the parishioners who brought it into being.
The church has been renewed and cared for throughout its history. In 1976, during the curacy of Fr. John Nolan, extensive renovations were carried out and the church was rededicated on 19 August of that year.
This section explores Ballyoughter Church through its history, architecture, clergy, earlier places of worship, parish records, centenary renewal and continuing place at the heart of the community.
North Wexford Historical Society has recorded the headstones in 14 graveyards in North Wexford. You may view the Ballyoughter headstones using the link below.
Image Gallery
Stations of the Cross in Church of the Sacred Heart
The ‘Stations of the Cross’ in Ballyoughter Church were donated, according to the People Newspaper of Saturday 11th March 1882, by Mrs. Malone, Market Square, Enniscorthy. A donation of ‘a life size figure of St. Joseph and the Holy Infant, richly decorated’ by J. Malone Esq. was also reported on the same date. The Very Rev. Canon Sinnott was the grateful recipient on behalf of the parish.
This newspaper article brings an interesting conundrum into focus. The current set of the ‘Stations of the Cross’ on display in the church are accompanied by a plaque indicating the set was donated by Margaret Leary, Medophall, who died in 1933. Are these Stations a new set and, if so, where are the originals?
Do you have information that may help solve this puzzle?
One of the Stations contains an inscription error. Can you spot it?
1891 Hymn Book
Printed in Liverpool in 1891 by Rockliff Brothers Ltd., Convent Hymns and Music used by the Pupils of the Sisters of Notre Dame is an uncommon survival from the Catholic school and convent music tradition of the late nineteenth century. Produced for use by pupils of the Sisters of Notre Dame, it reflects a time when hymns, litanies and devotional music formed an important part of Catholic education, religious instruction and parish worship. The book is also significant in its own right, as hymn scholars identify it as the first hymnal of the Sisters of Notre Dame.
This particular copy is especially valuable because of its local history. Rather than surviving as an untouched collector’s item, it was clearly used, handled and marked over many years in connection with Ballyoughter Church. Its worn pages, handwritten notes and musical markings make it a direct link to the voices, services and devotions of earlier generations. Copies of this hymnal survive in specialist collections, but examples with a clear local provenance are much rarer. Its greatest value, therefore, is not simply financial, but historical, devotional and personal.
