St Peter’s Church, ‘The Rock’ – Upon this Rock…
Location
The little church of St Peter’s known locally as ‘The Rock’, is situated in the townland of Ballymacward Upper, in County Antrim. Though small in size it has a ‘big’ history. The site has witnessed Christian worship for hundreds of years, often in times of persecution. The resilience and determination of its congregations both in past and modern times, is a portrait of dedication and faith.
The Penal Era
During the Penal Era, the English government imposed harsh restrictions on those not adhering to the Established Church. These ‘penalties’ fell mainly on the native Irish Catholic population.
Edmund Burke, the noted statesman and philosopher described the Penal Laws in a letter to Sir Hercules Langrishe in 1792 as
“(A) machine of wise and deliberate contrivance as well fitted for the oppression, impoverishment, and degradation of a people, and the debasement in them of human nature itself, as ever proceeded from the perverted ingenuity of man”
Edmund Burke, 1792
One rule was that Catholics were forbidden to attend Mass. In order to administer to their parishioners, priests had to celebrate the Mass at secret venues, at risk to their own lives (see post Hannahstown and its Church on the Hill).
News of a visiting priest and the location of the ceremony was passed clandestinely by ‘word of mouth’ from one neighbour to another. Often code names for locations were used to avoid detection and sentries were posted to warn of approaching soldiers and aid a priest’s escape.
“One can well imagine the intense fervour of the prayers of those kneeling, the earnest vigilance of the watchers during the mountain ceremony, and the tender care and anxiety for the safety of the brave priest after the Mass was said”
Cathal Bradley, Histories of the Parishes, 1900
Natural features, such as hidden glens and sheltered glades were chosen locations for the faithful to gather.
Rocks or boulders would serve as altars, many of these ‘Mass Rocks‘ or ‘Mass Stations‘, still survive. One such rock at Ballymacward served the local Catholics and is the site and namesake of St Peter’s, the Rock today.
Relaxation of the Penal Restrictions
With the relaxing of the Penal Laws in the 1780’s, one intrepid priest Fr Hugh O’Donnell was able to establish the first official Catholic Church in Belfast (see link to post St Mary’s Church Belfast – An Inspirational Story below). St Mary’s opened in Chapel Lane (formerly Crooked Lane) in 1784.
“…..Father O’Donnell secured a lease for seventy-one years of premises on Crooked Lane (now Chapel Lane), facing Bank Lane, at a yearly rent of £4 11s, the purpose, as stated, being ‘for the congregation of the Roman Catholics’. And so on 30th May 1784, Father Hugh O’Donnell saw the reward of his labours in the completion of the ‘Mother Church of Belfast, Old St Mary’s”
Cathal O’Byrne, As I Roved Out, 1946
The following year, the indomitable Fr O’Donnell was able to secure land near the village of Stoneyford in the sprawling parish of Derriaghy.
The little wooden church was built beside the Ballymacward Mass Rock as a reminder of the hardships endured by Catholic families in previous years. Hence the use of the name of St Peter – known as ‘the Rock‘ of the Christian Church.
Hugh O’Donnell
Early Background
Hugh O’Donnell was born in 1739 in Glore near the coastal village of Glenarm in north County Antrim. He was the eldest son of Roger O’Donnell and wife Eleanor, nee Magill. Roger was passionate about the importance of education and taught his children himself.
“He (Hugh) received his first education from his father, a man having much of the culture of the old Irish families”
F J Bigger, Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Vol 13 1907
Subsequently, young Hugh was sent to a ‘hedge school’ run by a Franciscan friar. At this time, due to the Penal Laws, Catholic children were not permitted to be taught by Catholic teachers.
As a result, ‘hedge schools’ that is, open-air classes operated secretly, hidden from the authorities, again at great personal danger for the teacher. If a Catholic teacher was found educating Catholic children he would be banished and if he returned to Ireland would “be hanged as a felon”.
Ordination as a Priest
In 1760, Hugh travelled to Spain to the Irish College at Salamanca.
This institution had been founded in the 16th century by Jesuit, Thomas White. Fr White was originally from County Tipperary and set up the Irish College to provide young Catholic men with the education denied them in their homeland. (If a Catholic child was found to have been educated by a Catholic teacher or went abroad for an education, he forfeited all his property or inheritance). While here, Hugh was ordained a priest and bravely returned to Ireland and his people.
Construction of Saint Mary’s Church, Belfast
In 1768, Hugh was appointed as curate to Fr John O’Mullan, in the parish of Derriaghy – the name comes from the Irish meaning ‘the valley of the oak trees’. At this time the parish covered a wide area. The ecclesiastical parish of Derriaghy consisted of the civil parishes of Tullyrusk and Derriaghy, as well as parts of Lambeg, Drumbeg and Shankill including the town of Belfast.
Until now, Mass for Belfast Catholics was held outdoors at an old thorn bush in Friar’s Bush graveyard (see link below to post Friar’s Bush graveyard – a Fascinating History). However, Fr O’Donnell managed ‘on the quiet’ to secure a 31-year lease to a property in the town, accessed by a narrow lane known as Squeeze Gut Entry.
“….of an old building at the rere of the houses opposite Marquis Street on the south side of Mill Street. The approach to this place, which was old and damp and dirty, was through a narrow entry, and, within living memory, this old building was used by Messrs. Crawford for the manufacturing of starch”
Cathal O’Byrne, As I Roved Out, 1946
These premises were used for 15 years, until with the spread of more liberal attitudes in the town, due to the influence of the French and American Revolutions, Fr O’Donnell was permitted to construct the first purpose- built Catholic Church in Belfast.
“…..mass having been celebrated in the open air at the old grave-yard in Malone, called Friars Bush, and afterwards in a small waste house in Castle Street. The Catholics, however, increasing with the general population, St Mary’s, or what is called the Old Chapel, was built in 1823”
George Benn, History of the Town of Belfast, 1823
A Man of Influence
Fr O’Donnell was not a shy man; he was proud of his heritage and religion. In 1772, on the passing of Fr O’Mullan, he had become parish priest of Derriaghy.
He publicly went about his pastoral duties and became a well-known figure in Belfast and the surrounding areas.
Fr O’Donnell attended social and cultural events in the town and refused to be viewed as a ‘second-class’ citizen. He gave sermons promoting friendship and respect between all Irishmen, regardless of creed.
O’Donnell recognised and praised those Protestants who spoke out against the Penal Laws and who sought to provide a fairer society by allowing Catholics the vote. Indeed, St Mary’s church was partially built with Protestant donations. Respect for Fr O’Donnell was demonstrated when the Protestant, 1st Belfast Volunteers, in full uniform, led by Captain Waddell Cunningham, formed a guard of honour at the inaugural Mass.
“It is no doubt owing to the high regard in which O’Donnell was held by the community that the Volunteers were induced to attend the service on this occasion. He was a man of broad and tolerant views…..”
D J Owen History of Belfast 1921
He was a prominent figure in literary circles and was among the early members of the Belfast Society for Promoting Knowledge, known today as the Linen Hall Library (see link below to the post The Linen Hall Library – A History of Education, Philanthropy and Rebellion). His contribution to the Society was such, that in 1795 he was elected to its Management Committee.
In 1792, at a political meeting of Belfast Catholics, O’Donnell spoke warmly of the recently formed Society of United Irishmen. He applauded their non-sectarian ideals and their wish to reform the political system in Ireland. However, when the Society turned to a more militant organisation, he could not support the use of violence.
Fr O’Donnell continued to serve his flock and even had a second Catholic Church commissioned and built in Belfast, St Patrick’s on Donegall Street (see link to post St Patrick’s Church – One of Belfast’s Landmark Churches).
The Death of Fr O’Donnell
By the turn of the century Fr O’Donnell was residing at 33 Hercules Lane (Smith & Lyons Belfast Directory 1808). However, in the summer of 1812, at the age of 73, and having served his congregation for 44 years, Hugh O’Donnell resigned from his parish.
He went to live with his sister, Mrs McQuillan at Springbank, near Hannahstown. On 1st January 1814 this “fiery wee priest” passed away.
His obituary in the Belfast Newsletter described Fr O’Donnell as
“Possessed of all the virtues which should naturally adorn the sacerdotal character, he exercised them with the information of a scholar, the manners of a gentleman and the enlightened zeal of a Christian pastor”
Belfast Newsletter Obituary
Fr O’Donnell’s Requiem Mass took place in St Mary’s, the church that he had founded.
“The funeral was very large; people of all persuasions paid honour by closing their shops, and the clergy of every denomination attended the funeral to the outside of the town”
Samuel Simms, Rev Hugh O’Donnell and his times, 1930s
Then the funeral cortege travelled to his home town of Glenarm. He was laid to rest in the family plot beside the ruins of the old Franciscan Friary not far from Glenarm Castle. The headstone bears the arms of the O’Donnell clan and the inscription
Closed is the hand that often gave relief,
And cold the heart that beat to each man’s grief.
Headstone Inscription – Fr Hugh O’Donnell
St Peter’s, the Rock
However, the little thatched church of St Peter’s, the Rock, did not have a peaceful existence. It was subject to sectarian attacks on numerous occasions. In 1795 and 1798 it was to fall foul of the anti-Catholic ‘Wreckers’, who were often local yeomen (government militia).
Although the revolutionary movement led by the United Irishmen were mainly Presbyterian, they advocated for Catholic emancipation. This provoked retaliation against Catholics in many areas, particularly in the north of the island. As a result, St Peter’s, the Rock and St Patrick’s at Derriaghy were razed to the ground. St Joseph’s at Hannahstown was under a similar threat and only the intervention of the local Protestant landlord saved it from destruction.
“It (the Mass-house at Ballymacrickett) stood there until 1798 when seven or eight locals who called themselves ‘the Wreckers’ lived up to their name. There seems to have been an organised plan of destruction as around the same time the old churches or ‘Mass-houses’ of the Rock, Derriaghy, Aghagallon and Ballinderry were also destroyed”
Rev Patrick J Kavanagh, Glenavy 1968
For the next 4 years religious services were conducted in an old thatched house. However, the local folk were determined to build another church. Parishioners, James Magee and Patrick McLarnon, are credited with collecting and raising funds for a new church.
Not all of The Rock’s Protestant neighbours were hostile, the local Church of Ireland minister, Rev Philip Johnson, raised £59 13s 10d towards rebuilding costs. Hence, a single-storey thatched building was erected on the same site, this also acted as a schoolhouse.
Rebuilding ‘the Rock’
In the 19th century this thatched chapel was replaced with a stone and lime-built church, described as “a substantial and commodious edifice”. Under the direction of parish priest, the Rev Hugh McCartan, it was completed in 1829.
It was described as a rectangular building 60ft by 30ft with a slated roof. The walls were 2ft thick and the floors of compacted clay. The church featured two entrances and six Gothic style windows. The raised altar was to the south side of the building. The 34 pews were made of dark wood. A stone-built vestry measuring 15.5 ft by 7ft was attached to the north side. In total the church cost £300. The Marquis of Hertford contributed £20 and local linen manufacturer, John McCance of Suffolk House, £5.
On the day of consecration, 11th July 1830, the collection raised £35. It was noted that generous donations were given by Protestant landowners James Watson of Brookhill and Alexander Hunter of Dunmurry. The Right Rev Dr Crolly preached the sermon, in which he denounced sectarian party politics
“…..he deprecated, in the most forcible language, party spirit and party processions, and clearly pointed out, that from them resulted the various evils which, from time to time, have befallen our ill-fated country”
Belfast Newsletter 20th July 1830
The church was designed to hold 265 folk but even from the 1830’s the congregation averaged between 200 and 400 persons. Mass was held at 10am and noon on alternate Sundays.
Subsequent Renovation
The Rock underwent renovations during the stewardship of the Rev George Conway. Fr Conway was a native of the parish of Dunsford. He was ordained in Dublin in October 1852. He served as parish priest of St Peters from 1869 till 1889. He passed away at the age of 80 at Nazareth Lodge in Belfast on 30th November 1909.
The Church Today
In 1977, the old 19th century church was replaced by the current building. This is a single storey, hexagonal-shaped building. The ceiling is covered with wooden slats perhaps a nod to the old thatched chapels. Its modern interior is calming and restful.
Unfortunately, the new church too has suffered from sectarian attacks and was completely gutted. However, today it offers religious solace and comfort, though without completely forgetting previous trials and the endurance of former parishioners.
The Graveyard
The graveyard for St Peter’s, the Rock is about a mile away and is known as Tullyrusk. It originally was an area of trees
“The yard is tolerably large, partly enclosed by a stone and lime wall and partly by a quickset fence, and the greater part of it under a plantation of forest trees”
Thomas Fagan, Ordnance Survey Memoirs, 1832
Today The Rock has a small, neat graveyard adjacent to the church.
Parish Records
Parish records on the National Library of Ireland website come under the heading Hannahstown, Rock and Derriaghy
- Baptisms 07.10.1877 – 30.12.1880
- Marriages 13.10.1877 – 18.04.1881
Interestingly [?] there are also baptism and marriage records (April 1845-February 1848) for Hannahstown, Rock and Derriaghy to be found at the start of the Dunsford and Ardglass Registry Book.
Address: 18 Rock Road, Stoneyford, Lisburn BT28 3SU
Related Posts
Hannahstown & it’s Church on the Hill – A Turbulent History
Saint Mary’s Church, Belfast – An inspirational story
The Linen Hall Library-A History of Education, Philanthropy & Rebellion
Saint Patrick’s Church – One of Belfast’s Landmark Churches
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