Newtownards Priory

NEWTOWNARDS PRIORY was a medieval Dominican priory founded by the Savage family around 1244 in Newtownards, County Down.

Only the lower parts of the nave and two blocked doors in the south wall (leading to a demolished cloister) survive from the period of the priory's foundation.

The upper parts of the nave date from a 14th-century rebuilding.

The western extension and the north aisle arcade were undertaken by the de Burgh family.

The priory was dissolved in 1541, and was sacked and burned.

It was granted to HUGH MONTGOMERY, who built a house within the ruins, rebuilding the north aisle and adding a tower at the entrance.

The Priory was subsequently consecrated for use as a parish church.

The STEWART family vault lies within the Priory, as does the large tomb of Frederick William Robert, 4th Marquess of Londonderry, KP.

The Colville vault also exists within the ruins.

The Colvilles, about whom I have written, were landlords of Newtownards from 1675 until 1744.

The Colville family traces its origins to Scotland in the 1100s, when Philip de Colville settled there following the Norman Conquest.

The first member of the family to settle in Ulster was  Dr Alexander Colville. He had been a professor of divinity at St Andrews University before coming to the Province in 1630.

Dr Colville may have been invited to Ulster by Bishop Robert Echlin, whose mother was Grissel Colville. He was appointed rector of Skerry in 1634 and built Galgorm Castle near Ballymena.

His son, Sir Robert, joined the army and in 1651 was a Captain. He married four times. He was knighted at some period between 1675 and 1679, and bought the Montgomery estates at Newtownards and Comber.

Sir Robert  rebuilt the ruined Montgomery home, Newtown House, which had been accidentally burned down in 1664. He also built a private chapel at Movilla cemetery.

A relative, Alexander Colville, was brought from Scotland to become Minister at the Presbyterian Church in Newtownards in 1696.

Sir Robert Colville died in 1697, with a memorial at the Priory in Newtownards. His third wife, Rose, died in 1693 and was buried at the Priory.

Their son Hugh died in 1701 aged 25, with a similar memorial.

By 1744, the memorial inscriptions had been removed from the family tomb, described as “...A large Tomb of the Colville Family (to a descendant of which the town now belongs), stands in the North Isle, raised five or six feet above the Floor, but naked of any inscription...”

Hugh Colville's daughter, Alicia Colville (1700-62), sold the estates to Alexander Stewart in 1744 for £42,000.

First published in September, 2013. 

Old Court Chapel

Photo Credit: Colin Boyle

BALLYCULTER, a parish in the barony of LECALE, County Down, is situated on Strangford Lough.

It is a rectory in the diocese of Down and Dromore.

There is a little chapel standing within the grounds of OLD COURT, the seat of LORD DE ROS, of which the Rector is chaplain.

This chapel of ease was built in 1629 by Valentine Payne (or Paine), agent to the 16th Earl of Kildare.

The chapel and adjacent stables can now be hired for wedding receptions and functions.

Seemingly it has been considerably altered down the years, as successive Barons de Ros have deemed it their duty to "make their mark".

It is thought that this little chapel, which can accommodate 110 worshippers, has remained open for worship during its 380-year history.

Photo Credit: Colin Boyle

In the 1830s, and since the chapel was outside the jurisdiction of the Lord Bishop of Down, the chaplain received a salary of £20 per annum (ca £2,400 today) from Lord de Ros.

The clerk received five pounds annually.

There was an attendance of one hundred worshippers, the congregation being separate from Ballyculter Parish Church.

The bell's whereabouts remain unknown to this very day, though it may have been destroyed when the original Old Court House was burnt in 1922.

Photo Credit: Colin Boyle

There was a period when the little chapel was attended by all denominations, since it was the only place of worship in the vicinity, Ballyculter and Kilclief both being ruinous.

THE PRESENT Old Court chapel is believed to have been constructed around a considerably smaller plainer structure, built in 1629 by Valentine Payne, the agent of George, 16th Earl of Kildare, the then owner of Strangford.

Little is known about the early history of the building, the next notable date being 1740-44, when Walter Harris remarked that it was "repaired and beautified" by Robert, the 19th Earl; and in 1814, when Lord Henry FitzGerald was said to have repaired the roof and paving.

The chapel is shown as a small rectangular structure on a map of 1833-34 and described as "a very small church of the plainest construction" with a congregation of "generally 100".

The memoir also describes a church bell which was inscribed

Valentine Payne Esquire, who hath to wife Elizabeth L.F. [shape of the cross], who builded this chapel and gave this bell in anno domini 1629.

Underneath there is a drawing representing a coat of arms, viz. three scallop shells, three crosses, and a half-moon; three beasts and three birds below; a kind of cup with a half-moon therein.

In 1835, the chapel was repaired throughout by Henry, 22nd Baron de Ros.

His successor William, 23rd Baron, appears to have taken considerable interest in the building.

Repairs to the walls and roof were undertaken in 1840; general repairs to the roof and interior in 1847; raising the walls; replacing the roof; adding the tower and chimney in 1848; and replacing the pews in 1849.

In 1855, Lord de Ros altered the pulpit, adding the chancel; and the west window was enlarged in 1857.

The 23rd Baron's final significant alterations were executed in 1866, when a cornice and bracket were added to the chancel and further work carried out to the tower.

In 1874, the present reading desk and lectern were installed and the transept was built.

New seating was installed in 1882; the east window enlarged in 1891; the pulpit removed and choir seats added in 1894.

In 1908, the chapel took on the its current form when the north aisle was constructed, the interior lined with dressed stone and stained glass added to the transept and east windows.

All of these new alterations were dedicated in 1909 by the Lord Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore, the Rt Rev John Crozier.

Apart from the addition of some memorial panels, no major changes have taken place since then.

However, in 1940 many of the older headstones within the surrounding graveyard were placed against the boundary wall.

The graveyard, which lies to the south side of the church, is rarely used now and in 1940 almost all the stones were arranged round the sides.

These gravestones have been numbered consecutively, clockwise, from the east end of the church.

There are six stones still left in the body of the graveyard and one standing alone on the north of the church (de Ros).

All the gravestones have been copied, including three built into the west end of the church.

Modern memorial tablets in the church have not been copied.

The oldest stone dates from 1714 and almost all are in good condition.

Old Court Chapel features in Death In Holy Orders in the 2024 detective series, Dalgliesh, starring Bertie Carvel.

First published in December, 2012.

St Anne's Church, Belfast

The old parish church of Saint Anne, so named after the wife of the 5th Earl and 1st Marquess of Donegall, once stood on the site of the present Cathedral in Donegall Street, Belfast.

The Brown Linen Hall, of 1754, originally stood on this site.

The linen hall was demolished only twenty years later to make way for St Anne's parish church.

The Belfast News Letter reported at the time that,

On Saturday last, the Church of this town [in High Street] was thrown down, and on the Monday following the foundations of a new one were begun to be sunk.

The said Church was the old Corporation Church in High Street, where St George's now stands.

The new parish church, in Donegall Street, was funded by the town's landlord, Lord Donegall.

The architect was Francis Hiorne, of Warwick, assisted by the Belfast architect, Roger Mulholland.

St Anne's stood in a recess on the east side of Donegall Street.

Nave of St Anne's Parish Church looking towards the Apse (Image: Robert John Welch, 1899)

It was constructed of brick, with a wooden tower and a cupola made of copper.

Its front was adorned with a handsome Doric portico and attic balustrade.

The tower was of two stages, and in the Ionic order; and its cupola had Corinthian ornaments, surmounted by a spiral termination.

While the church was being built the congregation had the use of the Second Presbyterian Church in Rosemary Street.

The Rights and parish silver of the old Corporation church were duly transferred to St Anne's.

In 1775, the bell of St Anne’s Church was donated by the Charitable Society for the church it had intended to build in High Street in conjunction with its proposed poorhouse and infirmary.

St Anne's Church: Nave & Pulpit from the Apse (Image: Robert John Welch)

In the event, the church was not built, but the bell was placed prominently in the new premises and used into the 20th century.

In 1776, St Anne’s Church was consecrated.

An entry in the Henry Joy: Historical Collection for Sunday, October 27th, reported that,

The elegant new Church erected here by the Earl of Donegall was consecrated by the Bishop of Down and Connor - Dr Traill.

In 1778, John Wesley preached in St Anne’s.

The old parish church of St Anne continued in use until the 31st December, 1903, while the nave of the new cathedral was built around it.

The old church was thereafter demolished.

First published in July, 2013.

St Cuthbert's Church, Dunluce

North-east Elevation (Image: Timothy Ferres,  2015)

ST CUTHBERT'S CHURCH, Dunluce, County Antrim, now ruinous and of considerable antiquity, stands across the main road from Dunluce Castle.

The Ecclesiastical Roll of 1306 describes Dunluce parish as distinct and separate from that of Bushmills.

However, under the influence of the MacDonnells, St Cuthbert’s church at Dunluce Castle became more prominent.

By the time of the Regal Visitation of 1633 both parishes had grown into a union entitled Portcaman-cum-Dunluce, served by one vicar.

West Front and Porch (Image: Timothy Ferres, 2015)

Renovations were undertaken in the 1630s to St Cuthbert’s by KATHERINE, DUCHESS OF BUCKINGHAM (c1603-49), wife of Randal, 2nd Earl and 1st Marquess of Antrim (1609-83).

St Cuthbert’s Church was in all probability the only place of worship in the vicinity from 1633 until 1820.

South-east Elevation (Image: Timothy Ferres, 2015)

At a vestry meeting held in October, 1820, it was determined that, due to the expense of carrying out repairs to St Cuthbert’s and its inconvenient location, a new church be built on the ruins of the old church at Portcaman (Bushmills).

St Cuthbert's was originally thatched.

Mural Monument on the Interior North Wall (Image: Timothy Ferres, 2015)

Its ceiling was described in memoirs as being painted white, with the signs of the zodiac.

Wisely enough, the window apertures are all on the south side; the north wall of the church is solid.

The church is surrounded by its graveyard and several prominent graves beside its south wall.

The oldest grave dates from about 1630.

St Cuthbert's served  the parish of Dunluce from ca 1620 until 1820, when the new church of St John the Baptist was built in Bushmills.

First published in July, 2015.