Heritage
The Friends of Ballyclog are a group of people - parishioners and others - who have a common interest in preserving Ballyclog, its history, its cultural heritage, St Patrick’s Church, and the Old Church and graveyard.
The Ballyclog Estate is located in Co. Tyrone, in Northern Ireland. We are near Curglassan, which is around two miles north of Stewartstown on the Coagh Road (B160). Our postcode is BT71 5LL. We have a page on Explore Churches as well.
We have a rich history to maintain, and a community to support. Please contact us if you would like a tour of our buildings and heritage.
One of our priorities is to promote ‘different events differently’, and make use of these beautiful buildings in different, interesting, and surprising ways.
Our Churches and Bells
The scribe Ferdomhnach, who died in 846, wrote of the travels of St. Patrick, including his founding of a church at Ballyclog. The Rectors of Ballyclog can be traced back, unbroken, to a Rev. Oculean in 1405, and the Old Church was built in the time of Rev. Bradley, in 1622.
By 1860, the Old Church was in poor condition. Rev. Greene donated a considerable area of land and reached an agreement to fund a replacement, designed to accommodate 250 people.
The New St. Patrick's Church was designed by Welland and Gillespie, joint architects to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners of the Church of Ireland. The building, built from local sandstone, limestone, and whinstone, was opened in 1868. It has elegant detailing, a small flying buttress, and most importantly, a spire and bell tower.
The Old Church was to be disassembled, but this never happened.
Ballyclog takes its name from its bell, or 'clog', in Gaelic.
This iron bell was discovered in St. Patrick's tomb in 522. Entrusted to the Mulholland family by St. Colmcille, the 'Bell of the Will of St. Patrick' was encased in a jewelled shrine by Cudulig O’Inmauien sometime in the 11th or 12th century. The Mulholland line came to an end in 1819, and the bell found its way to the Royal Irish Academy and then to the National Museum in Dublin. Silver replicas were given to the Queen, and the President of Ireland, at two events in 2008.
Almost 1500 years after the first discovery, the 'Ballyclog Bell' was found along with other religious artifacts. Cast in bronze, it dates to the 9th or 10th century. Along with the other items, it is now on display at the Ulster Museum in Belfast.
Ballyclog Stories
The Old Church graveyard has memorials in both the Catholic and Reformed traditions. The Rev. Greene, who worked so hard to build the new Church, is buried within the walls of the Old Church. Another famous Rector is the Rev. Charles Wolfe, who wrote the poem "The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna".
Our Old Church also holds the crypt of the Castle Stewart family, for whom nearby Stewartstown is named. Descended from the Scottish House of Stuart, the family were once the Kings and Queens of Great Britain and Ireland. Many of the sons of the family, as with other families, were killed in the First and Second World Wars.
The Friends' Approach
The Old Church is in need of preservation, and the New Church is a beautiful venue for events.
The Friends of Ballyclog organise events with speakers, entertainers, and activities. This creates a local buzz and raises the funds we need to support the entire Ballyclog Estate as a living asset to our community.
Different events, differently
The Friends of Ballyclog build on the heritage of our site, and we are mindful of the 19th Psalm: The Heavens Declare The Glory of God. This is the motto of Armagh Observatory, which was founded by Ballyclog's Archbishop, in 1789.
Many of our events are of a philosophical and scientific nature, and we remember especially Ernest Walton, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for splitting the atom, and who went to school only five miles from Ballyclog. He said that learning about our world, and our universe, was the best way to study the mind of God.
A typical Friends of Ballyclog event tries to follow this path. A recent event was entitled "The Heavens Declare..." and was an exploration of science and faith by highly esteemed scientists and clergy. Prof. Monica Grady CBE (a Christian, and a leading figure in international cometary and planetary exploration) was joined by Prof. Michael Burton, of Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, both Archbishops of Armagh, and the noted astronomer and humanist Terry Moseley, for an evening of debate and observation.
Please go to our Events page, to see what is coming next.
What we need to do today...
The Old Church needs some urgent repair. We are grateful to Mid Ulster Council for their work in clearing vegetation, but some stonework clearly needs stabilisation. We are investigating how this could be done, and are looking for funders to help pay for the work.
