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 In
1609 Stranorlar and Kilteevogue was one parish. The principal
church was situated in the present Catholic graveyard in Stranorlar,
which had no church land immediately attached to it, except
the cemetery ground. The parochial estates lay at least seven
miles away and comprised a wide area extending from Ballybotemple
to Letterbrick (Glenfin).
Pictured left is the remains of the
old Church, (Teampall Taobhóige) in Kilteevogue RC graveyard.
In 1608, one fifth of the lands in Donegal belonged to the
O' Donnells, one fifth to the Dohertys and Sweeneys, one fifth
to the Church and the rest belonged to smaller groups. At
a Plantation committee meeting in Lifford in September 1609,
the land was divided into proportions - great (2000),
middle (1500), and small (1000) English acres.
Each portion was regarded as a portion of the Established
Church. Churchlands or Erenagh's lands were given to the Bishops
of the Protestant Church. Areas described as Glebe Lands
were for the Minister of the Parish, and were an addition
to his stipend.
Prior to the Plantation, before English, Scottish and Welsh
were settled in the area, Catholicism was the sole religion
of the native Irish population. With the Plantation of Ulster
came radical change.
The perpetual curacy of Kilteevogue was formed out of the
ancient Parish of Stranorlar when, in 1773, the Bishop of
Raphoe granted: "To the Rev. Adam Barclay and his successors
of the Chapel of Kilteevogue, in the townland of Ballybotemple,
20 acres of Glebe Lands".
Then |
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Glebe
House, Ballybotemple, Glenfin
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In 1799, the Glebe House
in Ballybotemple was built by the Rev. Robert
Butt at a cost of £500.
Indeed it was in this
house that his son Isaac Butt - the Father of
Home Rule - was born on Septerber 6th 1813.
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Now |
 The
old church in the graveyard in Kilteevogue was in a poor state
of repair, and unfit to serve the new and growing community
of settlers. Although the Protestant religion held control
of the church, the Catholic population claimed and asserted
an exclusive right of burial in the adjoining graveyard, and
the Protestant Rector, Rev. Charles Lewis Morgan Jones, believed
that Catholics attending funerals allowed their horses to
disfigure the church. It was therefore decided to build a
new church.
Mr William H. M. Style donated a site in the townland of
Aughaveigh at Glenmore, and the new St. John's Church of
Kilteevogue was built there. The contractor was Mc Clays
of Strabane and the Architect was Mr Kennedy. The church was
built from local stone with free stone dressings. It should
be said that Mr. Samuel Donaldson of Glenafton contributed
generously towards the cost of providing this church. (Click
here to visit Ms Heather Hunter's Donegal Donaldson Family
page)
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Did You Know?
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The income for the clergyman at that time was £168.
The church population was about 600. Tradition says
that the old church in Kilteevogue was rebuilt by a
lady named Davis about 1690 and that she also presented
the minister with a silver communion service, which
is still in Glenmore Church.
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| Services Roster 2002.
Tel: 074 31081 |
The Church, regarded to be one of the finest in the diocese,
was consecrated in 1879 by the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe,
with twelve clergymen attending. Miss Style presided with
much ability at the harmonium, and a sum of £70 was
collected that day...a huge amount of money for the time.
Mr Style provided a sumptuous meal at his residence, the nearby
Glenmore House.
On
25th August 1879,
the first child to be baptised in St. John's Church was Annie
Cunningham, daughter of James and Mary Cunningham.
On December 2nd 1879 the marriage
of William Leeper (blacksmith), Welshtown to Eliza Patton,
Corlecky, was the first wedding in the church.
On October 24th 1879, the first
funeral in the Church was that of Susan Ann Griffith of Altnapaste.
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