The historic Parish of Drummaul

LAST week the Antrim Guardian examined the ecclesiastical treasures of Templepatrick, but now we look back at the riches in Randalstown.

Once again our guide is the formidable Margaret B Boyd, who cast her forensic eye for detail over the Parish records over 80-years-ago.

And she has untangled a remarkable tale - and one that spans right the way back to a certain Patron Saint...

‘The Tripartite Life of St Patrick’ relates that about the middle of the fifth century, when he was leaving Dalriada - the territory of which the Parish of Drummaul form a part - he began his journey through the Pass of Toome, in the adjacent Parish of Duneane.

Indeed, the crossing of Toome appears to have been the principal gate by which the tribes occupying the modern Counties of Derry and Tyrone effected an entrance into what was called Dalaradia and, later, Clannaboy.

It was the work and influence of St Patrick and St Brigid that made Dalaradia a Christian land. The great St Comgall, who was born in the early years of the sixth century, was a native of the area back it was the country of the Picts or Cruithne.

The capital of this territory was Rathmore, which was a great fort one and a half miles north of the Sixmile between Donegore and Antrim.

It was the royal residence of the Kings of Dalaradia and historians believe it remained inhabited until 1315 - the year Edward Bruce completely overthrew the forces of Richard de Burgo, Earl of Ulster, at Connor in the course of his invasion of Ireland.

The territory of Dalaradia was subsequently divided into a number of districts which correspond very closely to the more modern baronies. The Parish of Drummaul was on the sub-territory or district of Muntil Rividy.

The word Drummaul means ‘the bald or bare ridge’. and the Parish was anciently situated in the deanery of Turtrye, a region of Dalaradia that was under the rule of the O’Flynn. It has the distinction of being the only Parish in the diocese of Connor that is made up of three distinct parts.

The first, indeed the main part of the Parish, consists of no fewer than 47 townlands.

The second portion, which is situated south of the Parish of Duneane and which borders Lough Neagh, consists of four townlands.

And the third, which also borders the Lough, is situated south-west of Duneane and contains two townlands.

So the three sections are actually separated from one another by other parishes such as Duneane and Cranfield.

The first, or chief portion of Drummaul is bounded on the north by the Parishes of Ahoghill and Connor and by a small part of the Grange of Ballyscullion; on the south by Lough Neagh; on the east by the Parishes of Connor and Antrim and the Grange of Shilvodan; and on the west by the Parishes of Ahoghill and Duneane and the Grange of Ballyscullion. The River Maine, flowing due south after it enters the Parish, divides the area in two.

To make things even more confusing, the second portion is cut off from the first by the townland of Ballynacooley in the Parish of Duneane.

The townlands of Ballynamullan and a portion of Carlave - both again in the Parish of Duneane - come between the second and third units.

These detached units consist of the townlands of Killyfad, Ballynacraigy, Portlee and Ballynaleney which had formerly constituted a Parish of their own.

They were connected with a very ancient church which was situated on the ‘Middle Island’ on Lough Neagh. Apparently the isolated spot ‘became the abode of some holy man’ who selected its lonely solitude as the perfect spot for his ‘penitential exercises’.

So the entire Parish of Drummaul contains 51 townlands and is entirely situated in the barony of Upper Toome.

The ancient parish church of Drummaul was in the townlands of that name on the western side of the River Maine and was dedicated under the invocation of St Brigid.

During her travels to the area in the 1940s, Margaret Boyd noted that a portion of the eastern gable still stood in the churchyard.

From early times until the Dissolution of the religious houses during the tumultuous reign of King Henry VIII, the rectory of Drummaul was appropriate to the Abbey of Kells.

In the Middle Ages the church of St Brigid at Drummaul was valued for taxation purposes at 40s, of which one tenth was claimed by the Pope, nominally to assist in the crusades to delivr the Holy Land from the power and control of the ‘infidel’, but really to help him in a war against the King of Aragon.

The lands of this first church of Drummaul, which consisted of the townlands of Caddy, Coolsythe, Drummaul and Tamlaght, belonged to the Bishop of the diocese. They were subsequently held by Sir Thomas Phillips. They were finally purchased by Charles Henry St John, Earl O’Neill, in the early 19th century.

The rectorial, or large tithes, and the right of presentation belonged to the Abbot of Kells. The Lord Deputy, Sir Arthur Chichester, obtained a grant of all the possessions of this abbey and the rectorial tithes, together with the right of presentation to the vicarage - and they remained in the hands of the Chichester and Donegall family until the Disestablishment.

And this explains why the succession of clergy in the Parish has been regarded as a succession of vicars rather than of rectors.

In 1622, at the time of the Ulster Visitation, the Parish church of St Brigid at Drummaul lay in ruins, as indeed were the greater number of churches throughout the diocese at that unsettled time when the history of modern Ulster really began.

The church was rebuilt and continued as the place of worship for the Established Church in Drummaul until the early years of the 18th century.

In 1703 an Act was passed by the Irish Parliament called for the construction of churches in more convenient places in different parts of Ireland.

As a consequence of this four new churches were erected in the Diocese of Connor, at Finvoy, Killead, Drummaul and Kilconriola.

It was in this ‘new’ church of Drummaul that, according to a return made to the House of Lords concerning the state of the Diocese of Connor in January 1768, that the first mention is made of an organ.

This is believed to be the first recorded instance in the diocese of any church being in the possession of such an instrument.

The decision to move the church to a more convenient centre was undoubtedly informed by the increasing importance of the River Maine.

Towards the end of the 17th century Rose, Marchioness of Antrim and heiress of the O’Neills changed the name of the town to Randalstown - as a gift to her husband Randal, the first Marquis of Antrim.

In 1683 the new town received a Charter from King Charles II, by which it was constituted a Borough with the right to return two Members of the Irish Parliament. This right it enjoyed until the Union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1800 when it was disenfranchised.

Another reason for the removal of the church was that iron works were then in operation, but were subsequently discontinued in consequence either of a want of fuel or a deficiency in the supply of ore.

The first parish church in Randalstown was succeeded by the present building, erected in 1831 in the churchyard of the former church.

It was consecrated in 1832 and originally cost £1,800 of which Charles Henry St John, second Earl O’Neill subscribed £300. He also presented a fine toned organ. His Lordship is commemorated by a mural tablet over the O’Neill pew.

His kinsman, the Right Honourable Rev William Lord O’Neill was a gifted musician and several of his chants were frequently used in the musical services of the Irish Church.

The parish church of Randalstown was designed in the early English style of architecture, with a graceful octagonal spire of freestone.

In 1868 a side aisle was added, and seven years later a new chancel was built by Rev Lord O’Neill in memory of his son Arthur and his daughter-in-law Henrietta.

In the 1880s it underwent extensive renovation and improvements.

The chancel was restored and enriched by the Dowager Lady ‘Neill, in memory of her husband Rev William, Baron O’Neill.

The body of the church was decorated by Robert Torrens O’Neill and the baptistry tiled and decorated by his sister, Anne O’Neill.

Rev Lord O’Neill ‘whose munificence and liberality to the Church of Ireland will ever gratefully be remembered’ died in 1883.

From the Disestablishment in 1870 until his passing, his Lordship had subscribed the huge sum of £700 a year to the General Sustentation Fund for the Church of Ireland.

He had read the lessons and occasionally ministered in Drummaul from 1855 when as Rev William Chichester he succeeded as heir general to the estates of the third Viscount O’Neill.

For a time he was Prebendary of St Michael’s Cathedral in Dublin, and he was the fifth successive generation of his family to be Holy Orders.

His two surviving brothers - Robert and George - were incumbents of Draperstown (1874-78) and Randalstown (1861-72) respectively, while his father, paternal grandfather, great grandfather and great great grandfather were all clergymen who served the Church of Ireland.

“This is a record which may be equalled, but hardly surpassed by any other family in the land,” said Margaret Boyd.

As interesting side note, one of Rev Lord O’Neill’s school mates at Foyle College was Robert Montgomery, who was grandfather of General Montgomery ‘of Middle East fame’.

Other notable figures at Drummaul must include Rev TJ Forsyth. He was instituted in April 1901 - and four decades on he was still there.

Mrs Boyd was clearly impressed by the town during her visit, and penned a very favourable portrait of life there 80-odd years ago.

“A bleach green existed at Randalstown at a very early period. Indeed, within the premises of the Old Bleach Linen Co one of the first mills in the North of Ireland was erected.

“This factory is beautifully situated in the vally of the Maine.

“The town rises at the opposite side of the river, on the slope of a gentle hill and the viaduct of seven arches, which carries the railway over the Maine at a height of 70 feet, is a strikingly effective feature of the view.

“The barbican gate entrance to Shane’s Castle demesne is also a distinct addition to the appearance of the town, the streets of which are well built and favourably impress the stranger as being well above the average of what would be found in towns of a similar size in the North of Ireland.”

Just imagine she would think of those same award-winning streets today!