Dunnalong Parish
Church
The Church of Ireland Church of St John’s, Dunnalong, is situated in the village
of Bready, County Tyrone, on the A5 midway between the historical walled city of
Londonderry and the market town of Strabane.
The Church, now a listed building, was built just before Disestablishment and
together with the churchyard was consecrated on All Saints Day, 1st
November 1866. Built in the Gothic Style following the Gothic revival of 1834
its simple design and distinctive high pitched roof is a fine example of the
architecture of the period.
Built with stone acquired locally it follows very closely the architectural
thoughts of A.W.N. Pugin (1812-1852) not only by its simple but distinctive
design, but also by its visual attraction. Pugin is quoted as saying “Gothic was
the only true style of Christian Architecture” and as one travels the A5 and
views St John’s by the roadside, one would be compelled to agree.
Designed (the plans agreed on 25th May 1895 are still extant) by
Welland and Gillespie, Architects for the Church Commissioners based in Dublin,
the Church of St John’s Dunnalong, was built after the parish of Donagheady was
divided. It was built to service a large rural community stretching along the
banks of the River Foyle. Since then three new housing estates at Magheramason,
Newbuildings and Cullion have been built and added to the parish. The Church
today is used not only for worship, but for parish meetings, Sunday School and
has in the past been used by other denominations.
Dunnalong Church is a distinctive building. It is built of stone with a coloured
black trim, and it has a steeply pitched roof. There is a bellcote at the west
end. At the east end of the south wall, a transept is now used as a porch with a
vestry room and other rooms above it. The transept has a double lattice window
with a trefoil light overhead. There is a porch in the south-west corner. In the
west wall, there are two windows with opaque lattice glass, and four coloured
panes, with geometric tracery above. The first of two windows in the south wall
of the nave, has two lights of similar design. The second window has Psalm 150:6
“Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord”, and is in memory of Warren
Wallace. The three windows in the north wall has lattice panes and four coloured
panes each. The east window has three lights and geometric tracery, and the
text, “follow me and I will make you fishers of men”. Jesus is depicted
alongside ships and fishing nets. The window commemorates Samuel and Isabel
Sherrin, 1989. At the west porch entrance, inside the nave a wooded partition is
surmounted by four glass sections. These from right to left are engraved with
illustrations and texts, showing the Manger, Golgotha, the Empty tomb and
Christ’s promise to be present until the end of age. In the north-west corner,
is the baptistery. The font bowl was given in memory of George and Mary Fulton.
The pulpit is on the left of the nave, and the prayer desk is to the right. Both
are in the chancel, and below the prayer desk is the Lectern.
St
John’s Dunnalong underwent extensive renovations in 1998.
The Parish
The parish at the moment comprises of over one hundred and fifty family units.
There is also a large Presbyterian community and a much smaller Roman Catholic
community within the parish boundary.
History of Dunnalong Church of Ireland
In the early 1830s there was
some agitation to have a church built in the lower part of the parish of
Donagheady and a deed of 20 June 1832 survives by which the Marquis of Abercorn
conveyed to Andrew Dunn of Glennagoorland and James McElhenny of Lisdivin,
churchwardens of the parish of Donagheady, an acre of ground in the townland of
Drumgauty for a church. Nothing more is known about this proposal. In the early
1860s there were renewed requests for a church to be built in the lower part of
the parish of Donagheady. Finally a decision was made to create the perpetual
curacy of Dunnalong. The bounds of the perpetual curacy corresponded very
closely to the bounds of the manor of Dunnalong. It was also agreed that the
perpetual curate of Dunnalong was to be paid a salary of £80 per annum. The
Church of St John was built in 1865 in Drumgauty at the junction of the main
road and the Dunnalong Road on a plot of land formerly leased by James
McGettigan. The cost of building the church was covered by a grant from the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners and by public subscription. It was designed by
Welland and Gillespie, architects for the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The
church is remarkable for its steeply pitched roof and is one of the landmarks on
the main road between Londonderry and Strabane. The first perpetual curate was
Frederick James Clark who had previously been curate of Donagheady.
The union of Leckpatrick and Dunnalong
Following the retirement of
the Reverend Thomas Sutcliffe in 1921 the perpetual curacy of Dunnalong was
cared for by the incumbent of the parish of Camus-juxta-Mourne, Thomas Baird,
until 1926. In that year the
Reverend William Rennison of Leckpatrick retired and the parishes of Leckpatrick
and Dunnalong were united. The
first rector of the united parishes was Thomas Alexander Hickson Moriarty who
was instituted on the 7 December 1926.
He was born at Blennerville, near Tralee in Co. Kerry on 31 January 1880,
the youngest son of the Reverend Thomas Moriarty.
He served as curate in a parish in Yorkshire before becoming rector of
Learmount in 1909. He also served
as rector of Glendermott (1914-21) and Drumachose (1921-26).
Moriarty retired as rector of the united parishes in 1944 and was
succeeded by Ernest Harley Hadden.
The Reverend Hadden was born in Altar Rectory, Co. Cork, the son of the Reverend
Robert William Hadden. In 1956 he
was appointed Archdeacon of the Diocese of Derry.
He died on 15 November 1978 and was buried in Leckpatrick.
His successor, Alan Ernest Tilson, served the united parishes for ten
years before moving to Bermuda to become the incumbent of the parish of
Hamilton. The Rev David Ferry
succeeded the Rev Tilson until his move to Donagheady. His successor was the Rev
Garth Bunting, who served the parishes until 2006 when he moved to Belfast. The
current rector of Leckpatrick and Dunnalong is the Reverend Irene Lyttle, a
native of Londonderry.