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Home , Donegore, Francis Makemie, Henry Cooke (minister), Regium donum, Six Mile Water, William Drennan

4 CENTURIES : 30 LOCATIONS 30 : CENTURIES 4 1 THE FIRST MINISTERS 2 THE FIRST PRESBYTERY 3 THE COVENANT AND 4 THE LATE 17TH CENTURY 5 THE 18TH CENTURY Early 17th-century was in a state of transition and in no part of the island was In Scotland attempts by Charles I to impose his authority upon the Church provoked a Presbyterians across Ulster looked to the new Presbytery for leadership Following the Restoration of 1660, ministers who refused to conform to the teachings and The prospects for Presbyterians in Ulster at the beginning of the 1690s seemed good. this more apparent than in Ulster. As a result of official and unofficial plantations there hostile response which eventually led to the National Covenant of 1638. This Covenant and spiritual guidance. As kirk sessions were formed and as ministers episcopal authority of the newly reinstated were dismissed. One virulent However, very quickly it was apparent that Presbyterians would continue to be denied full was an influx of settlers from England and, in particular, Scotland which transformed declared the only true form of church government and bound the nation were appointed to preach in various districts, the Presbyterian Church opponent of the Presbyterian ministers was Bishop Jeremy Taylor of Down and Connor who access to civil power and the enjoyment of religious freedom. The state church continued the character of much of the province. to the principles of the Reformation. began to put down deep roots in Ulster. in one day declared vacant 36 parishes in counties Antrim and Down. to be the Church of Ireland which remained hostile to Presbyterianism. Accompanying these settlements was the introduction One of the most significant episodes in the Many people in the north of Ireland also signed this On 10 June 1642, in , , In response to wider political developments Presbyterians. Despite its uneasy and at times In the years that followed there was considerable Many Ulster Presbyterians fought for the Williamite For many members of the establishment, Presbyterians of Protestantism. The Church of Ireland was the development of early presbyterianism in Ulster Covenant. In response, the government insisted that five of these ministers and four ruling elders, across the three kingdoms, the Solemn League fractious relationship with the Cromwellians, the state hostility towards Presbyterians and at cause at Derry, the Boyne and elsewhere. On were regarded as more of a threat than Catholics, established or state church and was organised along was the Revival which left a deep all Scots in Ulster over the age of sixteen take an oath chosen from the four regiments that had formed and Covenant was prepared in 1643 by Scottish Presbyterian Church continued to grow during the different times ministers were arrested and 19 June 1690, King William III, while at Hillsborough, especially because of their numerical superiority over episcopalian lines. However, a number of ministers impression on the Scottish communities of Antrim – the ‘Black Oath’ as it became known – abjuring kirk sessions, came together in what is regarded as Covenanters and English Parliamentarians. In 1650s and many more ministers from Scotland imprisoned. One particularly notorious incident restored and increased the regium donum, a Anglicans in Ulster. came to Ulster in this period who dissented from and Down in the late 1620s and early 1630s. the Covenant. This had a deeply destabilising effect the inaugural Irish Presbytery meeting, from which, return for a promise to reform the Church in moved to the north of Ireland. followed the discovery in 1663 of a conspiracy bounty that had first been paid to Presbyterian Between 1695 and 1728 legislation known as the this view of church government, preferring the on the province with many settlers withdrawing to in a formal sense, today’s Presbyterian Church in England and Ireland along presbyterian lines the by Captain Thomas Blood to seize Castle. ministers by the government in 1672. A few months In the 1630s the government took steps to bring the During this decade the structures of the was passed in the Irish Parliament. presbyterian system. In part, their move to Ulster was Scotland to avoid taking the oath. Ireland descends. This event is commemorated by a Scots agreed to provide military support to the Around 20 Presbyterian ministers were arrested later synodical meetings resumed with Church of Ireland into closer conformity with the Presbyterian Church developed further with the While Catholics were the principal targets of these due to the increasing hostility of the authorities in sculpture positioned beside Joymount Presbyterian Parliamentarians in their conflict with Charles I. on suspicion of complicity in this plot, but all the formation of the General . . As a result of these measures, In October 1641 an uprising began in Ulster which creation of a number of regional ‘meetings’, such laws, they also affected Presbyterians. For example, Scotland to presbyterianism. Church, Carrickfergus, and by the ‘Carrickfergus were eventually released with the exception of those ministers who were not prepared to was organised by the leading figures in the Gaelic In April 1644 orders were issued from Scotland as the Route in north Antrim and the Laggan in The aftermath of the Williamite war saw a new marriages conducted by a Presbyterian minister were Window’ in Assembly Buildings, . Blood’s brother-in-law, Rev. William Lecky, who The first of these men wasRev. Edward Brice who renounce their presbyterianism were Irish community. This insurrection quickly escalated that the Solemn League and Covenant should the Foyle Valley. In 1659, at , County influx of thousands of Scots into the north of not recognised by the state and children born of such was executed. moved from Drymen in Stirlingshire to excommunicated. In 1636 four ministers and resulted in significant loss of life and destruction be administered to the Scottish army where it Antrim, Presbyterians gathered for what has been Ireland, encouraged by harvest crises in their a marriage were regarded as illegitimate. in County Antrim in 1613. He was followed by, (Blair, Livingstone, James Hamilton of property. Many of the Scottish settlers fled for was garrisoned throughout Ulster and to anyone described as the first synod in Ireland. In 1684, during another difficult period for native land and the prospect of new opportunities In 1704 the was introduced in Ireland which

among others, Rev. Robert Blair in Bangor, and and John McLellan), with about 140 safety to their homeland, while in 1642 an army else who wished to subscribe to it. Over the next Presbyterians, some ministers in in Ulster. Around 1700 William King, the bishop required those holding public office to produce a AND HERITAGE TRAIL HERITAGE AND Rev. John Livingstone in Killinchy, both County followers, set sail in the Eagle Wing for under the command of Major General Robert Munro three months, the Covenant was administered considered emigrating to America to escape of Derry, observed that due to a fresh wave of certificate stating that they had received communion

Down, Rev. Andrew Stewart in , and America with the intention of establishing was sent to Ireland to protect those who remained. to thousands of people at 26 locations across persecution, but in the end did not go ahead migration from Scotland, ‘the dissenters measure

in an Anglican church. This effectively disbarred

POCKET HISTORY POCKET Rev. Josias Welsh in , a Presbyterian colony in New England; the province, from Ballywalter in to with this. Despite these difficulties, Presbyterians mightily in the north’. By this time Presbyterians The regiments in this army were accompanied by Presbyterians from participation in local

both County Antrim. To begin with they never reached their Ballyshannon in County Donegal. The copy of the continued to form congregations and, having comprised a majority of Protestants in Ulster. ministers who acted as chaplains. They included: government. In 1719, with the passing of IN ULSTER IN such men were tolerated within destination as storms drove Covenant signed at Holywood is in the collection been excluded from parish churches, began to

the Toleration Act, Presbyterians were the Church of Ireland and there the ship back. Rev. Hugh Cunningham Rev. James Simpson of the Ulster Museum in Belfast. build their own meeting houses.

granted official recognition. Nonetheless, was no separate Presbyterian Rev. John Baird Rev. John Scott PRESBYTERIANS The Parliamentarians, now led by Oliver with the levers of power still firmly in the denomination at this time. Rev. Thomas Peebles Rev. John Aird Cromwell, failed to deliver on their promise to hands of an Anglican elite, and with other

Rev. John Livingstone ‘Carrickfergus Window’, Assembly Buildings, Belfast reform the Church of England as a Presbyterian restrictions still in force, they continued to

denomination and when they executed the king feel estranged from the state. THE STORY OF THE OF STORY THE in 1649 they were roundly condemned by Ulster’s Plaque to Rev. Josias The relationship with the state was only one Welsh in the old graveyard of the issues confronting the Presbyterian in Templepatrick Church in this period. For the first time a serious internal dispute threatened the unity of the Inscription on tablet in vestibule of Church. The subscription controversy is looked at First Derry Presbyterian Church in more detail in panel 7. The Church also faced the challenge of two alternative versions of Presbyterianism in the form of the Covenanters and the Seceders (see panels 6 and 8). Nonetheless, the Church maintained its position as the Rev. John Thomson, minister of dominant Presbyterian denomination on this island. Memorial to Rev. Andrew Stewart at Donegore St Columb’s Cathedral, Derry, was used by Anglicans Plaque at Hillsborough Fort commemorating King Presbyterian Church Church of Ireland church The signing of the National Covenant in Greyfriars, , in 1638 The Solemn League and Covenant Signatories to the Covenant signed in Holywood in 1644 and Presbyterians during the Siege of 1689 William’s restoration of the regium donum in 1690 from 1767 to 1828

Sculpture of John Knox, 9 PRESBYTERIANS 10 PRESBYTERIANISM Assembly Buildings, Belfast 6 THE COVENANTERS 7 THE NON-SUBSCRIBERS 8 THE SECEDERS AND THE 1798 REBELLION IN THE 1800S Brochure for Presbyterian pageant, 1948 By the 1680s a majority of Presbyterians had come to a position on the Covenants In the early 18th century there occurred the first major dispute within Irish Presbyterianism. Following a dispute in the Church of Scotland over the issue of patronage and concerns The distinguished historian A.T. Q. Stewart famously observed, ‘The Presbyterian is The 19th century was a period of expansion for the Presbyterianism in Ireland with Bust of John Sinclair, of 1638 and 1643 which could be described as ‘respectful remembrance’. That is, This was over the issue of subscription to the Westminster Confession of Faith which had about doctrinal laxity, a number of ministers seceded (hence their appellation Seceders) happiest when he is being a radical.’ Political radicalism was never more obvious than hundreds of new congregations formed, partly in response to the rise in the population in Sinclair Seamen’s they believed that the Covenants had been important documents, but were no longer been made compulsory on all ministers by the Synod of Ulster. Led by Rev. John Abernethy in 1733 and formed the Associate Presbytery. The conservative evangelicalism of the in the 1790s when Presbyterians were instrumental in the creation of the United Irishmen the early 1800s, and also to the expansion of urban centres. This can be seen clearly in the Presbyterian Church, perpetually binding on them and their descendants. of Antrim, those who denied the necessity of subscribing to this work were known as Seceders appealed to many Presbyterians in Ulster and from the 1740s onwards Seceder and were heavily involved in the revolutionary activities that led to the 1798 Rebellion. rapidly-expanding industrial city of Belfast where between 1850 and 1900 the Presbyterian Belfast ‘New Lights’ or ‘Non-Subscribers’. congregations were established here. population quadrupled, while the number of congregations rose from 15 to 47. On the other hand, a minority of Presbyterians The 1830s was a decade of dissension within Influenced by the American and French Revolutions advanced into and forced a contingent of continued to believe in the continuing obligation of the Reformed Presbyterian Church over issues Failing to reach a consensus on the issue, in 1725 its first annual meeting in Belfast in May of that As a general rule, it would appear that it was in relevance to Ireland, nonetheless, the Seceders the Society of United Irishmen was founded in government troops back to their barracks. Soon The withdrawal of the liberals in the late 1820s awakening, of a depth and power that had never the Covenants and from them today’s Covenanters relating to the denomination’s historic position the Synod of Ulster placed those who took this year. In 1835 the Remonstrant Synod, the Presbytery those areas most strongly affected by the influx of here separated into the two camps. The Burghers Belfast in 1791 by a group of Presbyterians led by afterwards Ballymena and were taken, helped to clear the way for the union of the Synod been experienced before, spread through Ulster or descend. on political dissent and in particular on the Reformed Presbyterians stance in the Presbytery of Antrim (this did not of Antrim and the Synod of Munster came together families from Scotland in the years either side of established a Synod in 1779 in Monaghan and the Dr William Drennan, son of a former minister of but at Antrim Town the rebels were defeated. of Ulster and the . In 1840 the at a remarkable pace. While the Revival affected powers of the civil magistrate. Eventually, led by Of the early history of the Covenanters in Ireland mean that all of the congregations were in County to form the Association of Irish Non-Subscribing 1700 that the Seceders made the greatest impact. Antiburghers did so in 1788 in Belfast. the First Presbyterian Congregation in the town. ruling bodies of these two denominations came Protestants from all denominations, it was Rev. John Paul of Loughmourne, County Antrim, In County Down following an initial victory at very little is known, save that their numbers were Antrim). In the following year the Synod voted to Presbyterians. Soon afterwards clubs were founded in Dublin and together to form the General Assembly that particularly associated with the Presbyterian Church. those who challenged the accepted view withdrew The first Seceder congregation in Ireland was at A growing realisation that what they held in Saintfield, the rebels were roundly defeated at small and that they were widely scattered. They exclude the Presbytery of Antrim from the courts of a number of other places. The aims of the Society comprised nearly 450 congregations and some from the main body of the Church in 1840 and In 1910 the General Synod of the Non-Subscribing Lylehill, County Antrim. In 1741 Presbyterians in common was far greater than what divided them nearby Ballynahinch on 11 June and the rebellion The position of Presbyterians within wider society maintained close links with fellow Covenanters in the church. were parliamentary reform and the elimination of 650,000 members. formed the Eastern Reformed Presbyterian Presbyterian Church was formed by the Presbytery this district appealed to the Associate Presbytery led to the Burghers and Antiburghers coming in Ulster was all but finished. There followed a was also improving. Most Presbyterians became Scotland where a Reformed Presbytery was formed English interference in Irish matters. After efforts to Church. This denomination folded in the early A century later the issue of subscription again arose of Antrim and Remonstrant Synod. In the 1930s in Scotland to send them preachers. Occasional together to form the Secession Synod at series of executions including that of Rev. James The 19th century saw the Presbyterian Church reconciled to the reality of the union with Britain in 1743. The first Reformed Presbyterian minister, suppress it, the Society reorganised itself as a secret 20th century with most congregations either and was exacerbated by the division on the issue by the Synod of Munster also joined this body. Today preaching supplies were provided for several in 1818. In 1840 the great majority of Seceder Porter of Greyabbey, the only ordained minister of in Ireland establish overseas missions. In 1840 and were liberal in their political outlook. They Rev. William Martin, was ordained at The Vow organisation and began to prepare for rebellion. joining the Presbyterian Church or returning to conservative and liberal elements within the Synod, the 34 congregations of the Non-Subscribing years before Isaac Patton, a native of Myroe, near congregations joined with the Synod of Ulster in the Presbyterian Church to be put to death in what the General Assembly commissioned Rev. James welcomed the disestablishment of the Church of For four centuries Presbyterians have represented one of the on the , near , in 1757. Six the Reformed Presbyterian Church. the former favouring compulsory subscription. Presbyterian Church are found exclusively in Limavady, , was ordained their forming the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Following a failed French expedition in December was widely regarded as a miscarriage and Rev. Alexander Kerr to go as Ireland (which also saw the ending of the regium most important elements in the population of Ireland. Their influence years later an was Irish Reformed Presbytery Eventually this led to the withdrawal from the Synod counties Antrim and Down, with the exception minister in 1746. Church. A few Seceder congregations remained 1796, the repressive measures taken by the of justice. One of the last to be missionaries to India. Many others would follow donum) and the land reforms that benefitted established. Due to a depleted ministry this was Today there are some 40 congregations, societies has been strongest in the history of the northern province of Ulster of Ulster of seventeen ministers, led by Rev. Henry of the congregations in Cork and Dublin. The outside of this body, but in time most joined government in 1797 severely weakened the United hanged was the most famous as other missions were established in China as farmers introduced by the Liberal government dissolved in 1779, but was re-established in 1792. and fellowships in the Reformed Presbyterian The Seceders in Scotland divided over the issue where for over 300 years they have constituted a majority of the Montgomery of , and the formation of the denomination has as its motto, ‘Faith guided by the General Assembly, though a few joined the Irishmen in Ulster. Rebellion began in Leinster Ulster rebel of them all, Henry well as missions to the Jews and Colonial and at Westminster led by W. E. Gladstone. However, In 1811, at , County Antrim, a Synod Church in Ireland with several new causes of the Burgess Oath, giving rise to the Burghers Protestant population. The origins of the Presbyterian churches in Remonstrant Synod of Ulster in 1830, which held reason and conscience’. Reformed Presbyterian Church. in late May 1798. On the night of 6-7 June it Joy McCracken, a member Commonwealth missions. from 1886 onwards Presbyterians overwhelmingly of the Reformed Presbyterian Church met for the established in recent years. and Antiburghers. Though this division had little Ireland can be traced to Scotland and to the successive waves of spread to Ulster when a party of United Irishmen of the Third Presbyterian rejected Gladstone’s proposals for Home Rule first time. One of the most dramatic events in Irish religious immigration of Scottish families to this island in the 1600s. Memorial to Rev. Henry Congregation, Belfast. which proposed a devolved parliament in Dublin. Montgomery, Dunmurry history was the 1859 Revival. A spiritual This publication looks at the story of Ulster’s Presbyterians, highlighting the emergence Non-Subscribing of the historic Presbyterian denominations, the role of Presbyterians in the 1798 Presbyterian Church Statue of Rev. Tombstone at Hillsborough to Rev. James Hume, Rebellion and the formation of , and the contribution of Presbyterians Dr , the one of the earliest Seceder ministers in Ireland to education and the mission field. It also includes information on 30 sites where you self-styled ‘champion can discover at first hand the richly textured history of Presbyterianism in Ulster. of orthodoxy’, College Square East, Belfast

Rev. James Porter

PRESBYTERIAN HISTORICAL ULSTER HISTORICAL Lylehill Presbyterian Church SOCIETY OF IRELAND FOUNDATION

Acknowledgements Cullybackey Reformed Presbyterian Text by William Roulston. Design by Mark Thompson. Thanks are due to Valerie Adams, Librarian, Church in the mid 19th century Detail from the masthead of Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland; Leslie McKeague; Roger Bradley; Grace Moloney; the Ulster-Scots Agency. Rev. John Paul Plaque to Henry Joy McCracken, Masonic Hall, the Presbyterian newspaper

Rev. John Abernethy

Rosemary St, Belfast Banner of Ulster, 1847

BBC Northern Ireland television. Ireland Northern BBC

commissioned and broadcast by by broadcast and commissioned

Crawley, the series was originally originally was series the Crawley, 11 PRESBYTERIANISM 12 PRESBYTERIAN 13 EDUCATION AND 14 ULSTER PRESBYTERIANS 15 TRACING PRESBYTERIAN centuries. Presented by William William by Presented centuries.

the Ulster Historical Foundation. Historical Ulster the SINCE 1900 PLACES OF WORSHIP SOCIAL CONCERNS WORLDWIDE ANCESTORS Historical Society of Ireland and and Ireland of Society Historical four last the over Presbyterians

that looks at the story of Ulster’s Ulster’s of story the at looks that

available from the Presbyterian Presbyterian the from available Presbyterians entered the twentieth century with confidence, a clear sense of purpose, and It was not until the second half of the 17th century that Presbyterians in Ireland began The Presbyterian Churches have always placed a high premium on education, not only in terms For more than three centuries Presbyterians from Ulster have been carrying their Today an ever increasing number of people from around the world are interested in

acclaimed three-part series series three-part acclaimed

Authentic Ulster and copies are are copies and Ulster Authentic with a pride in their contribution to the modernising of Ulster as well as a strong awareness to build their own places of worship. (Prior to this they met in the parish churches of of an educated ministry, but also in having a literate membership. Many Presbyterian ministers faith across the globe – to North America, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere – finding out more about their Ulster Presbyterian ancestors. The same challenges that

is a highly highly a is People Independent An It has been released on DVD by by DVD on released been has It of their Scottish roots. This was symbolised in the opening of a new headquarters for the the Established Church.) To begin with Presbyterian meeting houses were built in less organised their own schools. One of the earliest of these was the school established by and have founded many congregations and built numerous places of worship. face those researching Irish ancestors in general also apply to those looking specifically Presbyterian Church – the magnificentAssembly Buildings – in Belfast in 1905. conspicuous rural areas or on the edge of towns. Rev. James McAlpine at , County Down, in 1697 where Rev. Francis Hutcheson, later for Presbyterian forebears.

Emigration to North America by Ulster Regarded as the man who introduced the Scottish

www.ancestryireland.com www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com Professor of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow University, received some of his early education.

During the third Home Rule crisis of 1910–14, The recent ‘Troubles’ was a period of intense trial for Lacking wealthy patrons, most Presbyterian In the 18th and early 19th century the preference for Presbyterians began in the late 17th century. Enlightenment to America, Rev. Francis Alison Though there are some registers of baptisms and The financial records of a congregation range from

visits to places of historic interest. historic of places to visits

history of Irish Presbyterianism in print and online. and print in Presbyterianism Irish of history unionists drew on the 17th-century Scottish many Presbyterians. Many Presbyterians died as a congregations did not build architecturally Classicism was a reflection of stylistic influences In the second half of the 18th century notable 19th century Assembly’s College was founded to Immigrants from Ulster made a huge contribution was born into a family of relatively modest means marriages (Presbyterian congregations generally stipend lists (the stipend being the minister’s salary)

opportunities for research in the archives with with archives the in research for opportunities

outing, and publishes materials relating to the the to relating materials publishes and outing, covenants in formulating a document – the result of terrorist atrocities during the conflict and distinguished meeting houses. Rather in their design from Scotland and the rejection of the Gothic of both academies were found at Rademon, County Down, train ministers for the Presbyterian Church, while towards the development of Presbyterianism in at Leck, County Donegal, in 1705. Several of his did not keep registers of burials/deaths prior to the to pew rent books and account books. Communicants’

family history conferences in Ireland, combining combining Ireland, in conferences history family

an annual lecture programme and a summer summer a and programme lecture annual an Ulster Covenant – that would express their deep many more were injured. and configuration these places of worship reflected the Roman and Church of Ireland. by Rev. Moses Neilson and at , County Magee College in Londonderry, founded through the America, none more so than the Donegal-born students would go on to sign the Declaration 20th century) dating from as far back as the late lists were also kept and these can be annotated with

annual lecture tour in North America and organises organises and America North in tour lecture annual

visitors to consult its resources. It also organises organises also It resources. its consult to visitors opposition to proposed changes to their position the Presbyterian emphasis on preaching and the need Good examples of Classical churches include May Rev. Francis Makemie who sailed across the of Independence. Around the time of the 1798 17th century, most Presbyterian registers survive additional information, such as when a communicant

In the 21st century the Presbyterian Church faces the Tyrone, by Rev. William Crawford. The driving force generous bequest of the widow of a Presbyterian

materials. Each year the Foundation conducts an an conducts Foundation the year Each materials.

Green, Belfast, and welcomes members and and members welcomes and Belfast, Green, within the United Kingdom. for everyone to hear the message. Street, Belfast, constructed for Rev. Dr Henry Cooke; Atlantic in 1683. His pioneering ministry earned Rebellion a number of Presbyterian ministers and from the 19th century. married, emigrated or died. Occasionally there may be

major challenge of secularism and the increasing behind the opening of Belfast Academy in 1786 minister, offered courses in arts and divinity.

it maintains a library of genealogical and historical historical and genealogical of library a maintains it

maintains a library and archive at 26 College College 26 at archive and library a maintains Castlereagh, the first Presbyterian church to be built was a Scotsman, Rev. Dr James Crombie, minister him the title, ‘Father of American Presbyterianism’. probationers withdrew to America on account of a congregational census.

The partition of Ireland in 1921 was viewed by disinterest in matters of religion. A number of The typical 18th-century Presbyterian meeting house In the 19th century many Presbyterians became The various levels of church government within where Belfast, Street, Gordon 31 Exchange, Corn

Presbyterian Church of Ireland. The Society Society The Ireland. of Church Presbyterian with a belfry; and Portaferry, regarded as one of the of the First Presbyterian Congregation, who wanted their support for the United Irishmen. They included

Presbyterians as a ‘regrettable necessity’. While congregations, especially in inner city Belfast and was built on the T-plan with the pulpit in the centre actively involved in ventures designed to promote Presbyterian ministers have been key drivers the Presbyterian denominations have also created The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland heritage services. The Foundation is located in the the in located is Foundation The services. heritage

Presbyterian Church of Ireland and the Reformed Reformed the and Ireland of Church Presbyterian finest Neoclassical buildings in Ireland. to establish a school along the lines of a Scottish David Bailie Warden from Bangor who went on to

most Presbyterians now found themselves within on the west bank of the River Foyle in Londonderry, of the long wall. If extra room was needed galleries moral improvements in society and reach out to of emigration from Ulster. In 1718 Rev. James records of use to genealogists. At congregational (www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni) has registers of range of professional research, publishing and and publishing research, professional of range

Church in Ireland, the Non-Subscribing Non-Subscribing the Ireland, in Church collegiate institution. serve as US Consul at Paris.

the new state of Northern Ireland, a significant have folded, while others are at risk of closure. would be added with access to them usually via Gothic architecture, for long eschewed by Presbyterians, the unchurched. These included the Temperance McGregor of Aghadowey in the Bann Valley led level the records include session books which baptisms and marriages for the great majority of Ulster. It achieves this through a comprehensive comprehensive a through this achieves It Ulster. of

Presbyterian order in Ireland – the Presbyterian Presbyterian the – Ireland in order Presbyterian minority in the border counties of Ulster and in Nonetheless, in other areas new congregations have external staircases. More innovative designs can be became increasingly popular during the Victorian period Prior to the 19th century the overwhelming movement, championed by such figures as part of his congregation to New England, as did More than a dozen of the descendants of Ulster cover a range of matters, many of which relate of congregations of the different Presbyterian people of the nine counties of the historic province province historic the of counties nine the of people

and promote the history of the churches of the the of churches the of history the promote and other parts of the island – some 50,000 – were been established and existing causes revitalised. seen in the First Presbyterian Church, Belfast, and and was the preferred style for many new churches majority of Presbyterian ministers received their Rev. Dr John Edgar in Belfast and Anne Jane Rev. James Woodside of Dunboe. In 1764 Rev. Presbyterian migrants succeeded to the presidency to the internal discipline of members. They can denominations in the province of Ulster. Usually Foundation’s mission is to tell the story of the the of story the tell to is mission Foundation’s

founded in 1907. The Society’s aims are to preserve preserve to are aims Society’s The 1907. in founded in the Irish Free State, the forerunner of the the Old Congregation, Randalstown, County Antrim, built in the second half of the 1800s, e.g. Fitzroy and university education in Scotland, for the most Carlile, the subject of a blue plaque at Thomas Clark of Cahans, County Monaghan, of the , among them Andrew Jackson, also refer to the issuing of transfer certificates to these records are available on microfilm, though Established in 1956, the Ulster Historical Historical Ulster the 1956, in Established The Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland was was Ireland of Society Historical Presbyterian The Today the Presbyterian Church continues to maintain

Republic of Ireland. which are elliptical in plan. Fortwilliam in Belfast. In recent decades a variety of led 300 Presbyterians to America, while in 1772 James Buchanan and Woodrow Wilson. One of the members leaving a congregation, often because there are some originals.

a witness and carry on a tradition that began in part in Glasgow. However, the opening in 1815 of Presbyterian Church, Bailieborough, County Cavan. FOUNDATION

SOCIETY OF IRELAND OF SOCIETY modern styles have been employed on new church Rev. William Martin led a major exodus most highly regarded presidents, Wilson was born they were emigrating overseas.

Ireland four centuries ago. At present there are some Belfast Academical Institution with its collegiate Organisations founded by Presbyterians, or with The Presbyterian Historical Society HISTORICAL ULSTER PRESBYTERIAN HISTORICAL PRESBYTERIAN of Covenanter in the Presbyterian manse in Staunton, Virginia, buildings, many of which were built in response to new department meant that it was now possible which they became actively involved, included the (www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com) also 560 congregations and around 230,000 members families, mainly and grew up very conscious of his heritage. He works starting in post-war housing developments. for Presbyterians to receive a higher education Presbyterian Orphan Society (now the Children’s has microfilm copies of registers as well as of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. While its from County once said, ‘The stern Covenanter tradition that is without having to travel to Scotland. Later in the Society) and the Belfast Town (later City) Mission. some congregational records that are not presence is mainly to be found in Northern Ireland, Antrim, to behind me sends many an echo down the years.’ available elsewhere. In addition, it holds many there are significant numbers of congregations in South Carolina. other parts of the island, especially Hutcheson blue plaque, Saintfield administrative records and publications relating to Irish Presbyterianism. The records of a few counties Donegal and Monaghan as President well as the city of Dublin. Woodrow congregations are still held locally. Thanks to the Wilson internet an increasing number of Presbyterian Left: Memorial to Thomas Sinclair, records can now be accessed online. author of the Ulster Covenant, Assembly Buildings, Belfast Below: St Enoch’s Presbyterian Church, Carlisle Circus, Belfast (now demolished) Portaferry Presbyterian Wellington Presbyterian Statue of Rev. Church (1841) Church, Ballymena (2009) Francis Makemie, Rev. Francis

Philadelphia Alison

Howard Street, Belfast Street, Howard

Great War Memorial building, building, Memorial War Great Extract from the family record book kept by Burning Bush on the Presbyterian Presbyterian the on Bush Burning Rev. Robert Magill of First Antrim Old Congregation, Late 18th-century Psalm tune-book created by a Randalstown (1790) Anne Jane Carlile Royal Belfast Academical Institution member of Bready Reformed Presbyterian Church

Presb Trail Map AW.indd 1 25/05/2016 16:19