KILDARTON CHURCH OF IRELAND CHURCH

On 14th February 1840, townlands from the parishes of Armagh, Loughgall, Lisnadill and Mullabrack were joined to establish the Perpetual Curacy of Kildarton Parish. The new parish was created to accommodate the extensive Church of Ireland population in the area.

The construction of a church was begun almost immediately and the church was consecrated on April 3rd 1841. Since then, the church has undergone numerous alterations, including the adding of a porch, replacing the original lectern, pulpit and communion rail and the building of a new vestry in 1982.

The Church also contains a memorial window to the memory of Reverend Crossle Irvine, who died in 1885 as he was returning from a Sunday School Excursion. The window bears the inscription,

"Erected by bequest of the Rev.Henry Crossle Irvine, B.A., for thirty-one years minister in the Church of Ireland and fourteen years the Incumbent of this Parish. Born November 7th 1829, died June 26th 1885".

In 1900, a Parish Hall was built at the entrance to the churchyard. A new hall costing £150,000 replaced this. Archbishop Eames dedicated the hall on December 1st 2000.

In 1936 the parishes of Lisnadill and Kildarton were united, with the Rector of Lisnadill having a dual role as Curate of Kildarton. Following this, the Glebe house, which had been built in 1860, was rented to a tenant.

THE CLERGY - KILDARTON PARISH CHURCH

1840-1847 Henry Purdon Disney (Resigned 1847).
1847-1857 James Hardy (Resigned to become Perpetual Curate of Moylary).
1857-1868 John Robert Greer (Removed from parish for non-residence).
1868-1870 Alexander Staples Irwin (Resigned to become Rector of Tamlaght).
1871-1885 Henry Crossle Irvine (Died 1885, returning from a Sunday School Excursion).
1885-1888 Herbert Aemilius Sandford (Resigned to become Rector of Drogheda).
1888-1921 Thomas Kingsborough (Retired 1921).
1921-1936 William Frederick Ellision (Appointed Prebendary of Ballymore in Armagh Cathedral, 1936).

Following the death of Reverend Ellison in 1936, the parish was joined with Lisnadill Parish. Since then, the Rector of Lisnadill has also been Curate in charge of Kildarton.

In the accompanying recording, the Reverend Kennedy describes Kildarton Parish Church.

Use the audio controller to listen to this talk, given in 2003.