Tullyaughnish, Ramelton, St. Paul

The Parish of Tullyaughnish, "the hill of the horse island", is situated on the west shore of Lough Swilly, with the town of Ramelton at its center. The survey of 1622 observed that the original church was on Aughnish Island in Lough Swilly. It was moved to Ramelton to which Sir William Stewart had come in the Plantation of Ulster, and had built a castle in the village. His descendants still live in Ramelton today. There was also in the parish, a Franciscan Friary at Killydonnell which had been founded by the O'Donnell clan in the 16th century. The neighboring ancient parish of Tullyfern near Kilmacrennan, was joined to Tullyaughnish about 1660.

  

The present church of St. Paul, Ramelton, dates from 1825. It cost £1,101, of which the rector, the Rev. Cornelius Ussher contributed £900. It is a large almost square building with a tower in the west end and a sanctuary at the east end.

The tower has louvers in the upper storey, and battlements at the top, with prominent corner finials. The nave walls are supported by buttresses, the easternmost of which are capped by finials. Inside there is a large gallery, underneath which, to the left of the entrance, is the baptistery. This was erected in in 1967 in memory of Forrest Mitchel. The sanctuary is approached up steps, through the choir, and the vestry room is to the left.

In the east wall is a magnificent window of three lights. It was installed in 1975, and depicts the Creation. Inscribed in it are the words from the canticle Benedictie, "All ye works of the Lord Praise him". The window is by Patrick Pollen, and commemorates Major Robert Wood Grove of Castlegrovw, who died in 1969. In the north wall are six opaque square paned windows. There are five similar windows in the south wall, and of the six there, the fifth commemorates Hamilton Verschoyle, Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh who died in 1870, and his wife who died in 1883. The window in the south wall of the sanctuary is in memory of James Grove who died in 1891.

The alatr is in memory of Charles Lord who died in 1917, and the prayer desk commemorates John  M. C. Grove and his wife Lucy and their daughter. It was presented by Eileen Grove in 1955. The lectern is in memory of Alex Mitchell who died in 1886, and the pulpit is on the right hand side of the nave. The organ, by Conacher, has two manuals and pedals, and was installed in 1900. It was restored in 1999.

On the west wall a plaque acknowledges the gift by the Jacob family of vestry furniture, bookshelves, the sound system and pulpit area refurbishment. On the north wall are memorials to Edith Anne Gibbon who died in 1880 aged six years, to Ann Mitchell who died in 1895, and to Alma. M. Mitchell who died in 1978. On the south wall, a monument commemorates Lt. Adrian Stewart of the Gloucestershire Regiment who died in the Great War, 1914. Another monument commemorates Lt. Col. Dan Webber of the West Yorkshire Regiment who died in 1993. There is a memorial to those who fell in the Great War, and a memorial to Lt. A. G. Hamon of the Royal Navy who was killed on HMS Eagle in 1958, and to his daughter who died in 1956.

View of Ramelton, from St. Pauls. Visible are Ramelton Presbyterian Church on the right and the ruins of Ramelton Old Church on the left.

On the north wall of the chancel is a memorial to two brothers, the Rev. John. T. Browne from Ramelton, who was rector of Haigh, Lancashire, who died in 1862, and William Browne who died in 1880. Opposite a plaque states that the east window is a gift of Eileen Grove in memory of her husband, Major Grove who died in 1969. Also in the south sanctuary wall is a monument to Samuel Sproule who was secretary to the Grand Jury of County Donegal, who died in 1866.

The old rectory, a fine house in spacious grounds, was built about 1875. This was replaced with the present rectory in 1995. The parochial hall was the Robertson School. It was renovated in 1999.

Killygarvan, Rathmullan, St. Columb

Kilygarvan, "the wood of the rough field"  is a a praish half way up the west coast of Lough Swilly. The Church is in Rathmullan, where there are the remains of an ancient priory. At the survey in 1622, the church was considered to be in such bad repair , that it would be better to worship in the old priory. By 1729, the church which had been consecrated in 1706, was in good repair. Another church was built in 1814.

The present church dates from 1887, when the chancel, organ chamber and vestry were added to the building of 1814. At the west end is a tower, with a window on either side, and the entrance to the porch in the west end. Inside is a gallery, under which to the left is the baptistery.

In the north wall, at the west end, are two small square windows, one below the other. There is also a large window with three lights, commemorating Thomas Batt of Rathmullan House who died in 1857.

It contains the Batt family crests. In the south wall are three windows, each with two lights. The first two are of clear lattice glass. The third window depicts Jesus with Martha, her sister Mary, and Lazarus  and is in memory of Letitia, daughter of the Rev. and Mrs C. Gayer. There is an opaque glass window in the south sanctuary wall.

The east window, dated 1883, is in memory of Elizabeth Otway, daughter of Thomas Batt, who died in 1878. The four lights depict, Jesus walking on the water, the miraculous draught of fishes, the woman caught in adultery, and the raising of Lazarus.

The prayer desk was presented by David Kelly in memory of his sons. The lectern is nicely carved. The pulpit is in memory of the Rev. Henry Stewart Cochrane, Rector of Killygarvan, 1835-1880. The organ and the altar, which is dated 1936, are in memory of the Rev. William Battersby Lloyd, Rector 1883-1907.

Three important families left their mark on the parish in the 18th and 19th centuries, and their monuments are in the church. One of these was the Knox family of Prehen, Lonodnderry, descendents of Andrew Know, Bishop of Raphoe 1611-1633. On the north wall are a roll of honour and a monument to those who fell in the Great War. Next is the monument of Andrew Know of Prehen, M.P. for Donegal who died in 1774, and his daughter Mariana who died in 1761. In the south wall, Dominick, son of Andrew Knox, who died in 1851, is commemorated  .

The Batt family of Purdysburn, Belfast arrived in Rathmullan. They had come up through County Wexford in the 18th century. They were bankers, founders of the Belfast Bank. Thomas Batt bought the Knox properties around Rathmullan, and rebuilt Rathmullan House, now a hotel. The east window, as has been said, commemorates his daughter.

The Montgomery family was prominent in military life in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Their residence was Fort Royal, also now a hotel. On the east wall of the nave , to the right of the sanctuary, and adjacent to them on the south wall, are several brass plaques to the family. On one, General George Samuel Montgomery who died in 1898, and his wife, Letitia, who died in 1894 are commemorated. His son, Major T. R. A. G. Montgomery who died in 1922, is commemorated on another brass plaque, and another son, Col. C. A. S. Montgomery is also commemorated. Brigadier Harold Matthews, C.B.E who died in 1947, and his wife Sybil, daughter of J. H. Jellet are commemorated on two plaques. J. H. Jellet was in the Royal Artillery. He died at Fort Royal in 1938, and is commemorated, as is his daughter, Salisbury Mable who died in 1950.

There are two brasses to Brigadier General Arthur B. Stopford, Royal Artillery, who died in 1902, and his wife Evelyn, who died at Fort Royal in 1949. In the south wall is a monument to Gardiner Trouter who took part in the Crimean War, and who died at Sevastopol in 1851.

In the north wall of the sanctuary is a monument dated 1887 to Henry S. Irwin, who died in 1823 aged eight years, and in the east wall of the nave, a brass memorial commemorates the Rev. Andrew Noblett, Rector of Killygarvan, 1924-1937, who died in 1948.

William Knox 1762-1831 : Bishop of Derry 1803-1831

William Knox was born in Dublin on the 14th June 1762 and was the fourth son of Thomas, Ist Viscount Northland (later Earl of Ranfurly). Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Knox graduated B.A. in 1781 and began his ecclesiastical career as a Curate in Limerick city. Shortly afterwards he was appointed Chaplain to the Irish House of Commons. His subsequent preferments included Rector of Kilmore (Diocese of Meath), 1784-6; Rector of Pomeroy (Diocese of Armagh), 1786-94; Rector of Callan (Diocese of Ossory), 1787-94. He distinguished himself in the last appointment by building a poor school in the parish. On the 21st September 1794 Knox became Bishop of Killaloe and Kilfenora. There he continued to pursue an interest in education and social welfare. In particular he was an active member of a society formed "for promoting the comforts of the poor" and published a paper on "the utility and management of Dispensaries, Poor Schools, and Schools of industry". His support for the government in voting for the Act of Union of 1800 earned Knox the promise of promotion to a more lucrative See. In September 1803 the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, The Earl of Hardwicke, honoured the promise by translating William Knox to the See of Derry.

Philip Yorke, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke KG, PC, FRS 

"As a bishop,he was very much beloved by his clergy, for though he never compromised the duties of his high office, he yet governed with a mild and paternal hand. He encouraged zeal- fostered piety- rewarded talent"

Although William Knox resided only four months of the year in Londonderry, while spending the rest mostly in London, his episcopate was far removed from the scandalous excesses of his predecessor. Knox had no wish to emulate the travelling habits of the Earl-Bishop, still less his eccentric behaviour. Instead, he adopted a much more consistent and conscientious approach to fulfilling his episcopal duties. Such a direction can in part be ascribed to the increasing influence of the evangelical movement which took root in the late eighteenth century, but which rose to prominence during the nineteenth. It's influence led to exactly the sort of activities which characterizes Knox's episcopate. The growing concern for higher standards of clerical conduct, the building of churches and glebe houses, the importance of education provision, and the support of various charitable causes were all exhibited in Knox's time in Derry.  

Among charities Knox was influential in the foundation of the Mendicity Association, and the establishment of a Charitable Loan which lent small sums of money to the city's poor enabling them to buy fuel during winter. Further afield, famine conditions in the south and west of Ireland in 1822 led the bishop to advocate at a town meeting that clothes made from linen "the staple manufacture of the north" be sent to relieve the destitute of those regions. Knox stated that clothes would help preserve them form infection while giving employment to the weaver and seamstress at home. The bishop contributed £500 as well as providing two hundred shirts and two hundred shifts.

Knox's interest in education provision could also be clearly seen. He liberally donated £100 to the building of Foyle College and a further £100 per annum for its endowment. Similarly, £400 was given to the building of a poor school with an endowment of £20 per annum. In these endeavours the bishop was merely continuing the work already begun in previous appointments only now they were on a greater scale.

Within the church, Knox sought to ensure that his clergy faithfully carried out their ministry. In his visitation of 1824, for example, the bishop told his clergy that he intended to enforce recent legislation attacking the problem of non-residency in the church.Rising criticism against the church's established position during the 1820s also led Knox to demand higher pastoral requirements. As a response to these attacks, he appealed to his clergy "to endeavour, by attention to the duties of their scared office, and by strict and exemplary lives, to refute the calumnies of their enemies". Raising the standard of pastoral service in parishes, however, was only part of the drive for greater ecclesiastical efficiency. The building of churches and glebe houses remained equally important. Helped financially by recent legislation, Knox was able to increase the number of ecclesiastical buildings in the diocese. In fact, he personally contributed not only to to the building of churches of his own denomination such as Christ Church, Londonderry, but also the erection of a number of Roman Catholic churches. However, it was his contribution to improving St. Columb's Cathedral which was most significant. On his arrival to the diocese the shock he expressed by it's state of disrepair had led him to immediately contribute £1000 towards its restitution. Yet further repair work to the building in the early 1820s caused heated controversy and ironically led to fierce criticism of the bishop.

In March 1822 an inspection of St. Columb's Cathedral reported that the roof timber was in so ruinous a state as to be totally incapable of repair. Against the opinion of Bishop Knox, a contract was issued by the parishioners to a local firm for it's repair, which according to Knox entailed much greater expense than was necessary. In 1823 the lead roof was replaced with a slate on, but the slating was found to be defective. It was therefore stripped again with the result that for some time the cathedral lay roofless before it was eventually re-slated. In the process, the interior of the building suffered considerable damage. During this period worship continued in the nearby Presbyterian church.

The dilapidated appearance of the cathedral and the time taken to restore it naturally gave rise to criticism of those who were responsible for its repairs. Traditionally repairs to the cathedral were financed out of an economy fund. In Derry's case, however, there did not appear to be any such fund as all previous repairs seemed to have been carried out by parochial assessment. As the sum needed to "repair" the cathedral on this occasion was more than the parishioners themselves could afford (approx. £4000), parliament was approached in May 1824 to help in financing the immediate work and establishing an economy fund for future repairs. The parliamentary bill to enable such a scheme was defeated, however, as it was alleged that such a fund already existed . Parliamentary scrutiny therefore turned the spotlight on Bishop Knox, criticizing him for allowing the cathedral to fall into such a state of  disrepair and accusing him of failing to expend money on its upkeep. Knox also came under attack from radicals in the press. The Dublin Evening Post of 1 May 1824, in particular, launched a stinging attack on the bishop under the title "The Rich Church and the Ruined Cathedral". However, the offending article, denigrating the bishop's character, produced an impressive and heartfelt display of local support for Knox. An address presented to the bishop, and later published, was signed by a cross-section of the community, that included the Roman Catholic bishop of Derry and the local Presbyterian minister. The address provided evidence of the bishop's financial contributions to numerous beneficial causes in the community.

Bishop Knox clearly felt that a section of opinion had been misinformed concerning his responsibilities over the cathedral's repairs. He was therefore forced to publish a pamphlet entitled "A statement and Refutation of the Charge against the Bishop of Derry" (1824). The bishop's defence rested on a point of principle by denying himself of his successors legally responsible for the cathedral's repairs. In no instance argued Knox had the law required that cathedrals should be repaired from the private purses of bishops, deans or chapters. the pamphlet aimed to show that the bishop had not been at fault concerning the repairs to the cathedral roof. At the same time time, his argument did not preclude him from contributing to improvements on the building. The cathedral reopened in January 1826.

Bishop Knox died in London on the 10th July 1831.  

Frederick Hervey 1730-1803 : Bishop of Derry 1768-1803 (The Earl Bishop)

One of the most eccentric and colourful prelates to have been made Bishop of Derry was Frederick Hervey. Born 1st August 1730, the third son of eight children from the marriage of Lord Hervey and Molly Lepel (of Ickworth, near Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk), his penchant for building palatial country houses rather than for engaging in any moral crusade earned him the title of the "Edifying Bishop". Educated at Westminster School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, he first showed leanings towards the Bar. But a change of heart on the part of his brother, William, from choosing a career in the church to one in the army appears to have made Frederick reconsider his future and plumb for an ecclesiastical career.

It was some time, however before Frederick acquired a "suitable" benefice as his only real chance for advancement lay through the patronage of his brother George, Lord Bristol, who became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1766. The bishopric of Cloyne was the first to become available, and Hervey was duly consecrated on the 31st May 1767. Yet the new bishop was not satisfied for long as his real ambition had centred on the rich bishopric of Derry. Fortuitously for Hervey, the death of William Barnard of Derry came swiftly thereby fulfilling his aspiration and signalling in February 1768 the beginning of his remarkable thirty-five years episcopate in the northern diocese. Legend records that Hervey, reflecting his ever present sense of fun, was engaged in a game of leap-frog amongst friends (either at Cloyne or Dublin Castle) when news came of his translation. The bishop no doubt to great effect, halted proceedings by declaring, "I will jump no more. I have beaten you all, for Ihave jumped from Cloyne to Derry"

Hervey's playful antics and cosmopolitan image undoubtedly marked a break with tradition in the See of Derry. His skilful management of Derry's episcopal finances allowed him heavily to indulge his appetite for building grand country houses, acquiring Italian works of art and realizing an insatiable desire for a life of travel. Yet while such financial resources undoubtedly led to extravagance, the bishop nevertheless showed through his actions that a sense of duty and purpose also existed. On his arrival, for example, he conducted a diocesan visitation in an effort to ensure that care was taken for the welfare of his clergy. He established a superannuation fund, was keen to encourage the building of glebe houses and discountenanced the idea of appointing clergy to benefices from outside the diocese. The bishop also used his income for the building of roads, the development of agriculture, mining exploration, churches in the diocese, the building of a new bridge across the Foyle and in the erection of a new spire for St. Columb's Cathedral. Admittedly his greatest efforts went into the building of palatial houses to house his art treasures:

 
Downhill (with the Mussenden Temple)

    
the episcopal place and the "Casino" in Londonderry, Ballyscullion and at the ancestral home of Ickworth in Suffolk. Yet such artistic excesses had welcome economic consequences: Hervey became an important source of employment in each locality. Appreciation for the bishop in the diocese was not lacking either. He gained the freedom of the City of Londonderry, and after his death an obelisk to his memory was erected at Ickworth by all sections of the city's community. He was also remembered in the Siege Memorial Window in St. Columb's Cathedral alongside the Roman Catholic Bishop of Derry.

It was not only his flamboyant lifestyle and public acts of generosity which marked Hervey out from most of his Anglican peers, it was also his striking opposition to the penal laws, and his calls for religious toleration for Presbyterians and Roman Catholics. His popularity amongst these two groups was due in no small part to his efforts to incorporate them into the political nation. At a local level his enlightened thinking led him to help financially with the building of a number of Roman Catholic churches, notably the impressive St. Columb's (The Long Tower Church) in Londonderry to which he subscribed £200. The impetus behind the measure can be seen in a letter from  Rome (19th September 1778) and reflects a philosophy based on his knowledge of European affairs: "I have seen myself destined £1000 for our chapels in the diocese of Derry, having seen the excellent effect of a reciprocal toleration through all the great towns in Germany, and the bad effects of intolerance through all the great towns of Italy"

While Hervey consistently expressed his support for the rights of humanity, his efforts were also designed to secure political stability within Ireland. His suggestion, for example, that the Crown should endow the Roman Catholic and Presbyterian churches and appoint their clergy was a naive attempt at political control:

"The Crown should be the patron of all dissenters, seceders and schismatics whatever, and the Crown should either pay them or be the cause of their being paid, and then the Government would be certain that the people they appoint and the doctrines they would teach ... This would effectively tear up rebellion by the roots, for where the preacher would be appointed by the proper authority, and then be paid for preaching loyalty instead of disaffection; where the treasure is there would be the heart likewise"  

In a similar frame of mind, Hervey took the initiative in the search for a legal formula whereby Roman Catholics could swear allegiance to the Crown in the hope of binding them loyally to the state. Eventually in 1774 such an act was passed, but to Hervey's disappointment it failed to gain approval from Rome. Further efforts were made at the end of the 1770s. The bishop was particularly anxious about the latter. Writing in September 1779, he lobbied for a repeal of the Sacramental Test Act of 1704 (a measure which had been designed to ensure that members of the established church were appointed to public office) to offset their possible disaffection if such an invasion occurred:

"While all the regard I have for the Presbyterians, many of whom I know to be excellent men, yet I deem them much more dangerous at this crisis than the Papists. Their principles are truly republican amongst them and the pro-offer of independence, which will be instantly exhibited by the French, cannot fail to success amongst them ... The rights of humanity demand a general and unlimited toleration at all times. Policy peculiarly demands it at present. A reasonable indulgence to the Presbyterian and the Papist may save the Kingdom."

In 1780 the Test Act was finally removed from the statute book. Hervey's opposition to religious discrimination took on a more coherent and committed form, albeit for a limited period, when he became involved in the Volunteer Movement in the early 1780's. Ostensibly to defend from French invasion, the movement quickly became an important political pressure group influenced by events in America. Hervey was no doubt attracted to the whole idea of display and revelry but he was also genuine in his demand for reform of parliamentary representations and, in particular, his wish to extend the franchise to Roman Catholics. Becoming colonel of the Londonderry Corps of Volunteers, his contribution was to reach it's height at the Grand General Convention of Volunteers of all Ireland held firstly at the Royal Exchange and then at the Rotunda, Dublin in November 1783. Hervey's arrival in Dublin could hardly have been more ostentatious. His love of display was given full rein in an effort to influence the other delegates.

But in a tussle for the presidency of the convention Hervey lost out to the conservative Lord Charlemont.

James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of  Charlemont 1728-1799

He then hoped for an alliance with the great parliamentary orator Henry Flood in order to guide through what was hoped would be substantive reform. Yet again he was disappointed. Flood was to be no different from Charlemont. Both men saw what Hervey was espousing as a direct threat to the Protestant Ascendency of which they were a part. Moreover, the bishop's excitable nature did little to further any confidence they had in him. When an emasculated reform package was put together, Flood carried it for debate to the House of Commons in full Volunteer uniform only to have it contemptuously rejected. Reform of the kind which Hervey had in mind did not come until well into the nineteenth century. In the meantime, at attempted rebellion was to take place in 1798, an event which Hervey might well have foreseen. Having witnessed the demise of the noble principles of the French Revolution, he was convinced of the need to stern anarchy. After this brief fling of volunteering, the bishop never regained his interest in Irish politics. In 1800 he decided to vote by proxy for the Act of Union.

   

As the years passed the Earl-Bishop (created Earl on the death of his brother, Augustus, in December 1779) spent more time touring the continent (a number of Bristol Hotels were established after his name). Indeed, he spent the remainder of his life, from 1791 onwards, outside Ireland. Unsurprisingly, such a lengthy leave of absence eventually incurred the justified criticism of his episcopal brothers. Yet time spent abroad could hardly ever have been dull. In his world he mixed  with such internationally renowned luminaries as Voltaire, Goethe and Benjamin Franklin. While equally significant were his flirtatious associations with notorious courtesans of the period as Lady Hamilton (Nelson's mistress and married to Hervey's school friend and later Ambassador at Naples, Sir William Hamilton) and Countess Lichtenau (mistress of Frederick William II of Prussia). In this respect, the Earl-Bishop's singularity led one historian to remark:

"Although there is no proof that impropriety of his conduct went beyond a highly unepiscopal freedom of language and heedlessness of decorum, the character of the ladies with whom his name was chiefly connected was of kind which gave probability to the grossest suggestions as to the nature of his liaisons"

Hervey's family life also suggests a rather unflattering picture. Having married at a young age against the wishes of both sets of families, his relationship with his wife steadily deteriorated until, in 1782, he finally left her. Furthermore, attempts to force his own son Frederick (the marriage produced four sons and three daughters), into an unsuitable marriage took little account of his wishes on the subject. Consequently, the general view concerning his Christian faith has understandably been somewhat sceptical, Countess Lichtenau stated that Hervey "professed no religion although he had strong innate principles" Yet John Wesley was generous enough to write "The Bishop is entirely easy and unaffected in his whole behaviour, exemplary in all parts of worship, plenteous in good works".

Frederick Hervey died from an attack of gout on a road outside Albano, Italy on the 8th of July 1803.

William Nicolson 1655-1727 : Bishop of Derry 1718-27

William Nicolson, son of a clergyman, was born in Great Orton, Cumberland on the 3rd June 1655. He was educated at Queen's College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1676. After a spell abroad in 1678, Nicolson returned to his alma mater to take up the post of fellow in the following year. In the same year he became chaplain to the them Bishop of Carlise, Edward Rainbow.

Bishop Edward Rainbow.

Under Rainbow's patronage, Nicolson was able to advance his ecclesiastical career in his native Cumberland. In 1681 he was appointed vicar of Torpenhow while a year later he became Rector of Great Salkeld and Archdeacon of Carlisle. Sixteen years later (April 1718) he was translated to the See of Derry.

The ascension of George I in 1714 and the emergence of the Whigs as the dominant party in eighteenth century British politics led to a desire to establish an episcopal bench of similar political complexion both in England and Ireland. William Nicolson's translation to Derry can therfore be seen as an example of this policy in action. For taken as a whole, Nicolson's Whig credentials were unquestioned. He had supported without demur the Glorious Revolution of 1688, had taken an active role in advancing Whig politics at a local level in his diocese, and equally important, was favourably disposed to the new Hanoverian rule. However, the bishop, while genuinely attached to his native diocese, had hoped to have received further preferment within the English church. Yet the prospect of a financially lucrative bishopric in Ireland was enough to overcome any lingering doubts. This he candidly admitted was his reason for moving to Derry. The bishop was now a widower and provision for his family of two sons and five daughters had therefore to be made. In short, his translation to Derry solved these financial concerns. Not only was he to benefit from a significant rise in episcopate income, but he was also to control most of the clerical patronage of the diocese. Thus it was hardly surprising that Nicolson would grant a number of benefices to his immediate family. His younger son John, for example, was given the profitable rectory of Donnaghmore and other benefices were given to his nephews, Joseph Rothery and James Nicolson, and son-in-laws, Mr Mauleverer and Thomas Benson. The bishop, however was unsuccessful in his attempt to procure the deanery of Derry for Benson which went to the Irish philosopher  George Berkeley. 

Bishop George Berkley (Bishop of Cloyne)

A predictable response came from Archbishop King who ruefully attacked Nicolson's nepotistic conduct and (the real purpose of his criticism) the policy of rewarding Englishmen with Irish sees:

"The bishops sent to us from England follow the same track in many instances. The Bishop of Derry (Nicolson) since his translation to that see, has given about £2000 in benefices to English friends and relations."

There can be little doubt that on his arrival in his diocese, Nicolson was shocked by the poverty of the Irish countryside and its people. It was a sharp contrast to the relative prosperity of his former diocese:

I saw no danger of loosing the little money I had, but was under the apprehension of being starv'd, having never beheld (even in Picardy, Westphalia, or Scotland) such dismal marks of hunger as appeared in the countenances of most of the poor creatures that I have met with on the road. The wretches ly in reeky sod-hovels, and have generally no more than a rag of coarse blanket to cover a small part of their nakedness.... These sorry slaves plow the ground to the very tops of their mountains, for the service of their lords: who spend (truly rack-rent) at London. A ridge or two of potatoes is all the poor tenant has for the support of himself, a wife and (commonly) ten or twelve bare leg'd children. To complete their misery, these animals are bigotted papists: and we frequently met them trudging to some ruin'd church or chapel, either to mass, a funeral or a wedding, with a priest in the same habit with themselves.

Poverty, however, was not the only aspect that made Nicolson regard his Irish diocese as different. He was also made quickly aware of the large nonconformist population within his jurisdiction. Indeed, the bishop had now to accustom himself to the fact that Anglicans were in the minority. Writing in the month after his arrival (July 1718), Nicolson estimated that Londonderry and its hinterland were inhabited by approximately 1600 families, half of whom were Presbyterian, while the other half were equally divided between Roman Catholics and Anglicans. The bishop recognised the strength of Presbyterianism and their as yet unofficial position in the state: "that their worship is only conniv'd at, but not legally tolerated". While he backed a limited act of toleration (similar to one in England) in 1719, much to the chagrin of Archbishop King, he was nevertheless implacably hostile to any move which would threaten Anglican hegemony of public office. In 1724 he had combined to defeat a proposal to legalize marriages conducted by dissenting ministers. Similarly, but with greater emphasis, he was antipathetic to any Roman Catholics whom he thought were corrupt and inherently disloyal.

Archbishop William Wake

Such a view was articulated to Archbishop Wake of Canterbury in relation to one,

most barbarous Rapparee; who is under sentence of condemnation for one of the most hellish Murders that I have ever heard of. This crime, in men of his possession, is High Treason by a late law in this Kingdome. Upon Saturday next, he is to be executed. His head will be placed (as great numbers are in every one of our Northern Counties) on the Roof of the Jayl; and his Quarters Gibbetted in several parts of the county. This fellow is, as of these Villains are, a papist; And several circumstances of his bloody fate are a Demonstration that he had been brought to believe that there was no more sin in killing an Heretick, than in knocking a Wolf on the head. Notwithstanding all our late Acts of Parliament, unlicensed priests swarm amongst us.

The English government's choice of Nicolson as bishop of Derry was indicated early in his episcopate when the issue of independence of the Irish legislature became a heated and pressing issue. The question arose in 1719 over the jurisdiction of the Irish House of Lords in regard to the now famous land case, Sherlock versus Annesley. Colonial nationalist sensitivities were upset when English Lords became involved in the dispute by over-turning the decisions already reached in Ireland. As a member of the Irish House of Lords and a proponent of the supremacy of their English counterparts, Nicolson was active against the moves of Archbishop King and others who were forcing the issue of independence of the Irish legislature. Yet despite their efforts to proclaim the rights of the Irish Parliament as they saw them, the British Government was in no mood for compromise. King's colonial nationalism was answered by the British Parliament's 1720 Act declaring its full power and authority to make laws for Ireland. Nicolson's opposition to Irish interests on this particular point did nothing to endear him to his adopted country. Yet by May 1720 the bishop sensed that most of the native criticism of his conduct and those of his fellow English Bishops had begun to abate: "We are happily growing into one band of Good Fellowship, not withstanding the little Ruffle that has happen'd from your Dependency-Act (British Parliament's 1720 Act); which is somewhat hard of Digestion, and occasions many a squirting look at us poor Foreigners"

George  By the Grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Archtreasurer and Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg

 Outside the parliamentary arena, Nicolson proved faithful to the duties which were required of him. In particular, the bishop took to heart the express wish of  George I that he should reside in Derry. With the exception of one visit to England together with the discharge of his parliamentary duties (he was a leading exponent of an act to encourage clerical residency and acted predictably against a bill to reduce episcopal revenues), he made a point of concentrating on diocesan affairs. The spiritual and material well-being of the diocese (at least in Nicolson's opinion) appears to have shown a marked improvement from the previous century. The bishop proudly reported during his annual visitation in June 1719 he had witnessed the "Appearance of fifty of the best and richest clergy, clergy that are in anyone diocese in this Kingdome". Two months later Nicolson's own concern to see that the church was fulfilling it's mission led him to conduct a parochial visitation to the more inaccessible regions of his diocese "where no Bishop has been since the year 1693 (William King's time of vitiation). Encouraging signs of progress could also be seen in the numbers of those receiving communion in St. Columb's Cathedral. At Easter 1724 there had been over three hundred communicants when, according to Nicolson "five years ago 74 was reckon'd a vast number". Similarly, the following Christmas, the bishop related, had attracted approximately four hundred communicants compared to William King's average Christmas estimate of one hundred when he was bishop. As an Englishman who had been castigated by Archbishop King for receiving an Irish bishopric when native clergymen  where ignored, Nicolson's activities supplied a suitable riposte.

An intellectually industrious man, particularly at the beginning of his career, Nicolson was best known for his work on The English, Scottish, and Irish Historical Libraries, which consisted of a critical bibliography of each of their histories. According to Sir James Ware, however, "he fell into many errors in his last work (Irish), for want of sufficient acquaintance with the Irish manuscripts and language". His interest as an antiquarian led him to build manuscript rooms near his palace in Londonderry for the preservation of diocesan records. In January 1727 he was translated to the archbishopric of Cashel, but died at Derry on the 14th February of the same year and was buried in the Cathedral.       

William King 1650-1729 : Bishop of Derry 1691-1703

William King was born in the town of Antrim on the 1st May 1650, the son of James King who migrated from Aberdeenshire to escape adhering to the Solemn League and Covenant in the period 1639-49. After a somewhat slow start his formal education began at the age of twelve when he attended a Latin school in Dungannon, County Tyrone (now known as the Royal School, Dungannon). At the age of sixteen he entered Trinity College, Dublin and, reflecting the poverty of his background, was admitted as a sizar (a student receiving an allowance from the college). Trinity, as King noted in his autobiography, was to have a powerful effect on him for it was here that the future Bishop of Derry began to receive serious religious instruction. In particular he singled out his tutor, John Christian, as having imparted unto him "a true sense of religion". This influence undoubtedly moulded King into following a career in the Church. He had been chosen to be a servant of Christ and was ordained Deacon by Bishop Robert Mossom of Derry 1671.

After failing to win a fellowship, King fortunately came to the attention of John Parker, Archbishop of Tuam. Under his patronage, the young cleric, after obtaining a prebend, became Provost of Tuam in October 1676. Although he later regretted neglecting his studies in this intellectual backwater., it was not long before he enjoyed a more favourable appointment. It was Parker's translation to the See of Dublin in 1678 that transformed King's career and introduced him to the centre of church government in Ireland. At Dublin, he collated the chancellorship of St. Patrick's with the annexed Parish of St. Werburgh's. It appears that shortly after becoming chancellor he became involved in a curious dispute with Dean Worth over the right of the Dean to visit independently of the chapter. In a controversy that smacks of a personality clash or a difference of opinion on church policy, King,

"Protested against the visitation of the Dean, and asserted that he had no right to hold any such, without the consent of the Chapter"

The Chancellor, however, was to loose in the judgement of the case (1681) and was punished by being required to build a number of stalls in the chapter house.

Controversy was a defining feature of King's career as he proved to be a staunch defender of the Church of Ireland against its critics. In 1687, for example, King was moved to attack the actions of another Dean. Peter Manby, formerly Dean of Derry, had converted to the Roman Church in 1686. In outlining his own decisions for the change, Manby published The Considerations which obliged Peter Manby to embrace the Catholic Religion. The former Dean argued that the Reformation had been imposed on the nation by a handful of people and singled out Archbishop Cranmer for particular criticism. His aim was to "show the unwarrantableness of all the changes that they (the Protestant Reformers) made in religion. This drew a reply from King in his Answer to the Considerations which, by contarst, argued that Manby's desertion was based on more ulterior motives. In King's opinion, his defection had been the result of his failure to procure a bishopric from the Primate. Given the pro-Catholic policies of James II and his Lord Deputy in Ireland, the Earl of Tyrconnell, Manby (so the argument went) had therby sought advancement in the Roman Tradition. In addition, King cited Manby's temporal interest in keeping the profits of the deanery after his desertion and furthermore, he collected the views of those who knew Manby:

"the most conclude, that it was little grain of worldly advantage that turned the scale for your new church" The debate continued and developed into an intense pamphlet war between the contending sides over a wide ranging topics such as the Reformation in England, defining the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and the validity of the Anglican order. As each side maintained its uncompromising position, the end result inevitably proved inconclusive. However the controversy was not solely confined to the two parties. The line of argument adopted by King was also to sour relations with the Presbyterian community, for, in defending his own faith, he was to exclude dissenters from the Catholic church.

The church which King defended did not only come under attack from an isolated and disaffected cleric. Shortly afterwards, the very political and religious settlement which King upheld was to be shaken to its foundations. The political upheavals of the 1680s placed the Church of Ireland in an unenviable position. Catholic resurgence under James II and the Earl of Tyrconnell, were clearly unwelcome by churchman and Protestant layman alike. To support the King and his policies meant the undermining of their own position yet to oppose him meant ignoring the 1660 Restoration Settlement of Divine Kingship with its doctrine of non-resistance. The dilemma of supporting King James was brought into sharper focus when, after the Glorious Revolution of 1688, he began his fight back in Ireland as the way to reclaim his throne. Undoubtley King shared the same moral apprehension as the rest of his co-religionists. Yet by mid 1689 he appears, after many anxious meditations, to have thrown in his lot with the House of Orange. King pointed to James' Patriot Parliament (the Roman Catholic Assembly which aimed to overturn Protestant hegemony in Ireland, May-July 1689) as the defining moment in transferring his allegiance  to William. In view of his previous support for the doctrine of non-resistance, King gave a scrupulously worded explanation:

"I doubted no longer but that it was lawful for me and others to accept that deliverance, which providence brought by the Prince of Orange, now the acknowledged King of England and Scotland, and to submit myself to him as King and liberator, epically since neither by action, nor writing had I contributed anything to depose King James, or to promote him, Prince of Orange to the crown"

During this turbulent period, King had assumed jurisdiction in the diocese of Dublin following the withdrawal of Archbishop Marsh in February 1688. A year later he became Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin (February 1689). His position as leader of the Protestant community in the capital led to his imprisonment at the hands of the Jacobites on two separate occasions. However, he used his incarceration to good effect as it was in prison where he pieced together his best-seller: The state of the Protestants of Ireland under the late King Jame's Government (published in 1691). Although giving a systematic account of the recent past its real purpose was to vindicate the transference of loyalty from James to William by Irish Protestants. The change of allegiance, King argued, was not an act of rebellion as the decision reached had been one based purely on self-preservation: "it is lawful for one Prince to interpose between another Prince and his subjects when he uses them cruelly, or endeavours to enslave or destroy them"

William's victory at the Battle of the Boyne put an end to King's suffering and, as Dean of St. Patrick's, he was given the opportunity to preach at the thanksgiving service 16th November 1690. Using as the text, Psalm 107.2. Let them give thanks whom the Lord hath redeemed, and Delivered from the hand of the enemy, the sermon suggested that a providential role had been played by Irish Protestants in the recent crisis similar in experience to the Israelites escaping from their Babylonian captivity. Thus a European conspiracy aimed at their destruction had been thwarted by the "over-ruling Providence of God"

The Williamite victory not only secured King's liberty, however. His role in maintaining the Protestant influence in Dublin as well as supporting the new political order inevitably led to further ecclesiastical preferment. In December 1690, after some lobbying, he was appointed to the bishopric of Derry and consecrated in the following January. The appointment  provided a challenge to his reforming instincts as the diocese had suffered greatly from the ravages of war.

In the month of March following I went to Derry, and applied myself with the greatest possible industry to regulating the See, then much  disordered and neglected. I found the land almost desolate, country houses and dwellings burnt: on an inquiry being made I ascertained that there were in the Diocese of Derry, before the troubles, about 250,000 head of cattle, there were left after the siege was raised, about 300; out of 460,000 horses 2 horses remained lame and wounded, with 7 sheep, and 2 pigs, but no fowl, whence the miserable state of that province was sufficiently manifest.

King's description was clearly an exaggeration but there was no denying that the region had suffered severe hardship. However it was the standard of his clergy which preoccupied him most. In 1691 for example, he found only ten clergy in the diocese were resident in their benefices and of these nine were pluralists:

But the clergy were badly off; little or nothing was returned by benefices to their possessors; many were non-resident, beneficed elsewhere, who served their parishes by curates; those warned to provide curates replied that the incomes did not suffice to support a curate, and permitted me, if I wished, to sequestrate their benefices for the curate's use.

In an effort to alleviate the problems of non-residency and pluralism the bishop demanded that his clergy should either resign their benefices or else provide for a curate. Such a strict enforcement of ecclesiastical discipline won him few clerical friends: "This business indeed", King was to write "excited no little odium against me amongst the clergy" Many of the reforms called for by King and other reform minded bishops of the period came up against similar opposition. It was not only those clerics guilty of holding pluralities who were against such initiatives, but also those within parliament itself who had a vested interest in maintaining such irregularities as lay impropriations. The predominance of the use of patronage and private interest in the appointment of the church's personnel also hampered the reformers from realizing their ideals. Consequently, King was forced to rely ultimately on his own efforts in seeking to improve spiritual standards within his jurisdiction.

Despite the magnitude of the task, there appeared to be some evidence of progress. In the bishop's visitation of 1693 twenty-eight beneficed clergy were now recorded in his diocese. King also suggested that headway had been made in the reconstruction of churches, helped in part by financial support from the crown:

In ecclesiastical visitations, I exhorted the parishioners not to allow those that were falling into decay to go to utter ruin, as that would be the cause some time of great expense to themselves, which a small expenditure could now prevent; and partly by persuasions, partly by bearing some portion of the expense, I got all the churches repaired and seven which....... I took care should be rebuilt.

Educational matters came within episcopal reach too. For example he endeavoured to ensure, albeit for a limited period, that the school in Londonderry was adequately funded by The Irish Society. Furthermore he promoted the teaching of Irish at Trinity College, Dublin and provided Irish speaking clergymen to a group of Scottish Highlanders who had settled in Donegal.

While the bishop obviously placed a high priority on internally reforming the established church, he was concious that it faced external problems as well. During his episcopate, King was confronted by a large nonconformist population in his diocese. Their sheer numbers and the confident assertion of their faith

provided a direct challenge to the established church. To a reform minded bishop such as king this nonconformity could not be ignored. In the beginning he had urged his clergy to hold discourses with Presbyterians in an effort to win them over. In practise, however, such persuasive action appears to have been mainly carried out by King himself during parish visitations.

By 1693 the bishop's views on the subject seem to have been sufficiently distilled to adopt another approach. IN that year King was moved to write a pamphlet entitled A Discourse concerning the inventions of Men in the Worship of God in which he argued "that only the Anglican mode of worshipping God was conformable to Scripture, but theirs (Presbyterian) not only was to the contrary thereto".  What the bishop was aiming for was to show Presbyterians the error of their ways and in the process hoped his reasoning would pave the way to their eventual conformity. Its main effect was to unleash a polemical debate between himself and Joseph Boyse on behalf of the Presbyterians. Boyse, who had written Some Impartial Reflections on D.Manby's Considerations, and Mr. King's Answer in 1687, replied in his Remarks on the Discourse following up with a Vindication of his Remarks. A Robert Craghead, Presbyterian minister in Londonderry also contributed to the nonconformist cause. In return, King was to continue with two Admonitions to the Dissenting Inhabitants of Derry. The debate centred predictably over differences between the two denominations in the use of music during services, forms of prayer, bodily worship, use of scripture, and the place of communion in the service. King believed that by forcing Presbyterians to defend the validity of their faith, he had undermined their confidence in debate and had successfully driven some to doubt their previously held convictions. Joseph Boyse, on the other hand, though differently: "Tis rare to find these publick debates so manag'd, as not to widen differences rather then compose'em and heighten rather than allay the animosities of the contending parties.

Bishop King also came into conflict with the Presbyterian dominated Londonderry Corporation who were to support the Irish Society's claim over certain lands and fishing rights which the bishop contented. This lengthy legal dispute, the origin of which went back to the episcopates of Bishop Montgomery and Bishop Bramhall, brought into focus the question of were the right of appeal actually rested. In 1697 the Irish House of Lords had found in favour of King, but in the following year the Irish Society appealed to the English Lords who declared that their Irish counterparts had not been entitled to make a judgement on the case. A compromise was later found in 1704, but the implications of the English ruling were not to be lost on those Irish Patriots who supported parliamentary independence, least of all King. Thereafter he continued to espouse colonial nationalist sentiment by leading the agitation against other cases involving similar questions of jurisdiction. For example, the constitutional dispute provoked by another land case, Sherlock v Annesley as well the controversy over "Wood's Halfpence". In March 1703 King became Archbishop of Dublin where he also campaigned with characteristic gusto to improve the material and spiritual well-being of the Church. He continued to keep a close interest in the internal affairs of his former diocese by comparing his successors' activities with the high standards that he had set. King, like Swift, opposed the practice of giving English clerics benefices within the Irish church. His claim to the primacy on two occasions, 1713 and 1724, was ignored in favour of English appointees. He gained a European reputation as a philosopher with his Die Origine Mali in 1702 which was to centre on the problem of reconciling the existence of evil with the presence of a benign God. He died, unmarried, on the 8th of May 1729 and left his property to charity. 

George Walker 1645-1690 : Bishop of Derry Designate 1690

George Walker's early years are obscure, but he is thought to have been born around 1645. He matriculated at Trinity College, Dublin in 1662 and later took Holy Orders. In 1669 he was appointed to the parishes of Lissan and Desertlyn, diocese of Armagh. Five years later he became Rector of Donoughmore, near Dungannon, County Tyrone. It was here he was to remain until the outbreak of political unrest caused by the contending Williamite and Jacobite forces. With the shutting of the gates of Londonderry against the approaching Catholic regiment in December 1688, Walker raised a regiment in defence of a possible massacre of Protestants. Its first engagement in combat was around Clady and Lifford in mid-April, about 15 miles upstream from Derry. The Williamite forces suffered a rout and so anxious were the inhabitants of Derry to safeguard their own position that Walker found himself locked out of the city for a period of time in the ensuing retreat. The Governor of the city, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Lunday, was heavily criticized for his lack of leadership in the debacle. In his judgement the Jacobite forces against them, he had decided on the futility of holding out, opting instead for a negotiated surrender. His defeatism, in the face of rising internal opposition to his command, made his position untenable. He was deposed and forced to flee. In his place the soldiers and citizens elected Major Henry Baker and Walker as joint Governors.

The Siege of Derry, which was to last for 105 days, gave George Walker as Governor a central role in the city's defence. His stirring sermons based on a wholehearted trust in God's ultimate providence undoubtedly kept spirits from sinking within the city walls. In its aftermath he rose to fame and was feted in England and Scotland. Oxford and Cambridge awarded him honorary degrees, he was given the thanks of the House of Commons, and the Irish Society gave a banquet in his honour. Most significant was William III's promise of the bishopric of Derry when it became vacant. In June 1690 the absentee Bishop Hopkins died leaving the path clear for Walker's appointment. Fate, however, decided otherwise as he was to be killed in action the following July during the Battle of the Boyne. He was buried where he fell, but thirteen years later  his supposed body was removed, at the request of his widow, to the parish of Donoughmore. In 1862 a window was erected in his memory in St Columb's Cathedral. In addition, a memorial pillar crowned with a statue of him was erected on the city walls in 1826. In 1973 it was blown up by Republican terrorists.

Walker was also to publish A True Account of the Siege of Londonderry (1689) in which he was to portray himself as a heroic figure in the whole affair. It was thus criticized for its egotistical tone. In particular, it provoked sustained criticism from Presbyterians who felt that he had underplayed their part during the siege. In his defence, Walker was quickly forced to follow up with A Vindication. The Revd John Mackenzie, who was Walker's regimental chaplain, carried the Presbyterian argument to the militant cleric in his Narrative. Despite taking issue on a number of valid points, his critiqued suffered from an overtly personal attack on Walker's character.

St. Augustine's Church, Londonderry

St. Augustine's Church is situated on the historic walls of Derry. It stands upon the site of an ancient Augustinian abbey which dated from the end of the 13th century. This abbey was used by the planters at the beginning of the 17th century until the completion of the cathedral in 1633. The church was rebuilt by Bishop Barnard about 1768, and named, "ye chapel of ease".

The present church was consecrated on 11th June 1872. It is a benefice in the Parish of Templemore. At the west end, there is a lean-to porch with a gabled door and a bellcote.

The window above the entrance contains four circular lights and geometric tracery. 

Inside the porch are the steps to the gallery, beneath which is the baptistry. A plaque in it states that the font was presented by the Mother's Union, and that it was dedicated on the Ascension Day, 6th May 1948. A lectern in the baptistry was presented by Samuel Heatley in memory of his wife, Margaret, who died in 1996.

The choir stalls are on either side of the chancel. They were presented in 1961 by members of the Junior Girl's Friendly Society in memory of Scott Gallagher who died in 1955. The prayer desk on the left was presented by the G.F.S. in 1935, and the prayer desk on the right was presented by the family of Cecil Allen who died in 1996. The brass eagle lectern and the Holy Table were presented in 1931, and the pulpit was dedicated in 1934.

These furnishings were provided at the time of the renovations which were carried out from 1931 to 1934. The original Holy Table was presented to Killowen Church, Coleraine. There are three chairs in the sanctuary, one of which was given in memory of Meta Armstrong who died in 1967. There are also two small prayer desks in the sanctuary.

The organ by Conacher, has two manuals and pedals. The organ chamber is to the left of the chancel, and the vestry room is to the right of the sanctuary. The sanctuary walls are lined with lovely Minton tiles which depict wheat sheaves, and above them, running round the three sides, the tiled frieze depicts grapes.

St. Augustine's has some very fine windows. The two in the porch, as well as the first window in the south wall, have opaque lattice glass. The nave windows each have two lights and small sections above.

The second window in the south wall shows Jesus calling the little children, with a Bible in the tracery, and it commemorates Violet Roulston, her husband Christopher and their son Maurice, 1999.

The third window contains the War memorial, and the names of those who fell in the second World War. It depicts Elisha encouraging his servant on the walls of Dothan, (2 Kings 6:17). The fourth window was dedicated in 1989, and it commemorates Canon Herbert McKegney, Rector of St. Augustine's, 1930-1972. Canon McKegney was a keen Scouter, so the window shows the world badge of Scouting in the tracery, and it also illustrates the lamb in the midst of the Throne and the mulitudes in white, from the Book of Revelation.

In the north wall of the nave, the window by the baptistry depicts the Baptism of Jesus in it's two lights. The Lamb of God appears in the tracery above. The window was dedicated in 2001 in memory of Mrs Annie (Nan) Heatley and her daughter, Joy. It also commemorates Samuel and Margaret Heatley, and was donated by the family. The second window has opaque lattice glass. The third window depicts Ruth and Naomi, and commemorates Elizabeth Frances Algeo who died in 1944.

  

The east window has three lights and geometric tracery. The upper sections depict the Good Shepherd, and the lower sections depict The Prodigal Son. Noah's Ark appears in the tracery above. The window commemorates Thomas Scott of Willsborough who died in 1872.

There is a small window in the north wall of the sanctuary, the gift of the Rev. Thomas Scott, Incumbent, 1870-1877, during whose incumbency, the present church was built. It depicts Simeon receiving the Child Jesus in the Temple (the Nunc Dimittis)

In the porch, a monument commemorates Lt. Robert Boyd of the Bengal Army who was killed at Malaga in Spain in 1831. Robert Boyd's sister married Lt. Col. Colby who was involved in the production of the first Ordnance Survey of Ireland in 1836. There is also a stone with the Red Hand of Ulster, which has the inscription, "to the memory of John McCombe who departed 1689)".

The Roll of Honour commemorates those who served and fell in the two world wars. There is an old stone tablet of unknown origin on the window still in the porch.

On the north nave wall is a monument to William Algeo, ship's surgeon on S.S. California, who died when the ship was torpedoed in 1917. There is a memorial to Charles Alego who died in 1926, and on the arch adjacent to the organ, a brass plaque commemorates David and Ruby Holmes, by whose bequest the organ was rebuilt in 1983. The Great War memorial is on the south wall, and there is a memorial to Mary Caroline Maguinness, who died in 1986, on the west wall.

The grave of Rev. John McArthur, father of Sir William McArthur who was once Lord Mayor of London.

The grave of Rev. William McClure, Minister of First Presbyterian Church, Londonderry for 49 years. The remains of the Walker Monument  in the background.