 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
CRAIGS PARISH CHURCH
On a corner which once was a barren, rocky area where cock fights took place on an Easter Monday and goats ran free sits the Craigs Parish Church opposite the Craigs Parochial School. Prior to the building of the parish church it was in the schoolhouse that the first recorded service was held at 2 o’clock in the afternoon on Sunday 14th December 1837. The Rev George Kirkpatrick, curate of Ahoghill, officiated. The preacher’s book records that it was a wet and stormy day and 55 adults and 20 children attended. Services were held once a month, then later once every Sunday.
Designed by Charles Lanyon, (later Sir) building commenced in the Spring of 1840 at a cost of £760.12s.5d. and consecrated just over a year later by Bishop Mant on Wednesday 14th July 1841. Built of black stone with ashlar trim the church consisted of a nave and a small chancel, with a porch and vestry. The Rev George Kirkpatrick, descended from a Scottish family and born in Dublin in 1798 was the first rector and served the parish until 1868 when he was succeeded by his son Rev Alexander Thomas Kirkpatrick.
In 1870 the church was further enhanced with the erection of two transepts and south aisle under the supervision of the architect Mr Thomas Drew (later Sir.) An organ was installed in 1879 and in 1888 the beautiful sanctuary with its apsidal ending was erected in memory of six infant children of Mr and Mrs Edmund McNeill of Craigdun.
Over the years other gifts have included a stained glass window in memory of Rev George Kirkpatrick, the handsome white marble reredos in memory of John William Frazer of Hillmount, the mosaic foot-pace, erected by the Patrick family of Dunminning and the carved Holy Table in memory of those from the parish who lost their lives in the First World War. A credence table in memory of Samuel Esler, the alms-dish in memory of Kenneth James Frazer and a stained glass window in memory of Mrs Haughton.
Time has mellowed the outward appearance and inward gracefulness of the Craigs Parish Church but still today it is one of the most picturesquely situated and attractive churches in our area.