Last Saturday, May 21, was the 158th anniversary of the opening of the Presbyterian Church on Lower Charles Street, Castlebar. Henry Todd of the firm Todd, Burns and Co of Henry Street Dublin laid the foundation stone on 31 July 1863. He performed a similar service at Roscommon earlier that day. Todd was a generous patron of the Presbyterian Church.
The rain came down in torrents all that July day. Consequently, the ceremony was poorly attended and had to be curtailed. Part of the ceremony was moved to a room in the Manse House. The congregation opened the ceremony singing the hymn ‘Up Israel, to the temple haste and keep thy festive day'. The Castlebar correspondent of the Irish Times was present, and his account of the proceedings was published on 8 August.
When the hymn concluded, the Reverend William Patterson of the Ulster Presbytery addressed the gathering. He congratulated the Castlebar Presbyterian congregation and commended Dr John Edgar for his work on the church project. Edgar was a professor at the Theological College Belfast. Tribute was also paid to former pastor the Reverend Andrew Brown and the then-current pastor, the Reverend John Cairns. Patterson concluded by reading a section of the scripture in which Solomon dedicated the temple to the living and true God.
Edgar then delivered a lengthy speech in which he recounted the long history of Presbyterianism in Castlebar. He took the congregation back to the days of George Robert Fitzgerald of Turlough House. Fitzgerald had established a colony of Presbyterians at Turlough as ‘a bodyguard to himself in those perilous times.’ The Fitzgeralds were the first to build a Presbyterian meeting house in the locality and a further one at Turlough. Edgar also remembered members of the Fitzgerald family buried ‘under the shadow of the old tower’ (Turlough Round Tower ).
Edgar reminded the congregation of the terrible fate of Lady Sarah Fitzgerald. The Reverend Thomas Scott, the author of ‘Commentary On The Whole Bible’, delivered a eulogy at her funeral. Lady Fitzgerald had completed her devotions on a Sunday evening and was turning out the embers of the drawing-room fire when her dress ignited. She ran in terror to the head of the stairs, where she was seen in a blaze of fire that consumed her.
Edgar told the congregation that a new house of worship was required at Castlebar due to the growth in the Presbyterian congregation in the town. He stressed that it was not the intention of the community to interfere with the religious teaching of any other sect or body. He listed the advantages of the new edifice and assured those gathered that the work would ‘last throughout eternity’.
When the address concluded, the congregation went outside. Castlebar architect William Glanville gave Todd a trowel to fix the foundation stone. The proceedings were concluded by the Reverend Browne offering up a prayer.
The church opened on a Saturday morning. Dr Edgar led the service. The congregation was plentiful, and a significant financial contribution was collected. The money was used to repay the large debt incurred in building the church. On 24 May, the Dublin Daily Express noted that the church was a beautiful edifice and reflected much credit on William Glanville (Image: www.buildingsofireland.ie ).
The church was frequently used for community gatherings and events. On the evening of 12 February 1869, the first meeting of the Castlebar branch of the Young Men’s Christian and Literary Association was held there under the direction of Captain Ward. The object of the association was to ‘improve the intellectual capacity of the young men of Castlebar’. Talks delivered at a musical soiree in 1875 included one on ‘Science and Religion’ by the Reverend Browne of Hollymount, and another titled ‘The Journey of Life’ by the Reverend Cairns. A hymn from the choir followed each talk. Tea was served, and fruit was distributed. On 19 May 1881, the Reverend Thomas Armstrong of Ballina delivered a lecture on Ancient Egypt. The Reverend F. De Burgh Sidley and Davis R. Young led the praise for Armstrong’s ‘rich intellectual treat’. The evening closed when the chairman, the Reverend James Steen, pronounced the benediction.
