A new book has been published about St Patrick’s Church in Derriaghy,
between Belfast and Lisburn, the oldest working church in the diocese
of Down and Connor.
St Patrick’s and the Meadow of Colman is written by Jim O’Hagan, a
Belfast historian and former teacher, who has previously written three
books on the history of St Malachy’s parish in Belfast.
Mr O’Hagan said he got the idea for the book arose from last year’s
restoration of the Gothic building, because “it was how great it looks
that prompted the thought of writing about it.”
The church dates from
1733 - although Mr O’Hagan said the precise date is not even known- and
is well known for having a reputed relic of St Patrick himself.
“It is said his jawbone resides there and there is a chapter in my book that deals exhaustively with the subject.”
His research involved discussions with a wide cross-section of people
in the parish and local community organisations about the rich
socio-religious heritage of the area.
“The book has chapters on the
social history of Derriaghy itself, from the big houses to the local
schools and the history of the Lagan canal.”
St Patrick’s is not however, the start of religious activity in the
parish, as the oldest Christian site in the area is the current Church
of Ireland Christ Church which goes back to 1204.
“We have a letter from Pope Innocent III verifying its existence and
it’s a fascinating study to discover these things,” said Mr O’Hagan.
“I
was very encouraged by the amount of co-operation the other Christian
congregations in the area gave me and I put a special section in the
book devoted to the links St Patrick’s has with other churches.”
Mr O’Hagan also revealed that he does not make money from his
research and “either churches or charities get the profits.
The
restoration of St Patrick’s cost the church around €200,000 so hopefully
if the book sells a few copies it can make a bit of a dent in that.”
SIC: CIN/IE