First Presbyterian Church
Ballynahinch
1751 - 2001
Reverence My Sanctuary
Strong’s Meeting House
A Short History
“Strong’s Meeting House”
(Written in 2001)
This year we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the opening of our church
building in 1751. Built just around fifty years after their congregational foundation,
the Rev John Strong and his congregation of Presbyterians in Ballynahinch must
have been well satisfied with their fine new church building built on marshy
ground beside a small lake. The exact site of the original church is uncertain but
it’s probable that the location is unchanged.
Ballynahinch was a fast growing market town nestling on the edge of Montalto
estate, living through times of relative peace and prosperity after the upheaval of
the Williamite wars.
The population of the Parish area of Ballynahinch was a mixture of
denominations and little changed by 1803 when John Moore Johnston Esquire
reports in his ‘Hetrogenea or Medley for the Benefit of the Poor’ that “the bulk of
the inhabitants of his Parish are Presbyterian and Roman Catholicks, and
experience proves that there are good and bad of all denominations.” !
The local population though becoming more prosperous was not a very wealthy
one and in light of this it was a significant undertaking by a small congregation,
who must have had great vision, in order to construct the largest ecclesiastical
building in the town at that time and continued to be so for almost two hundred
years. As it stands the present church is the oldest ecclesiastical building in
Ballynahinch and probably the only building in the town of such an age existing in
anything approaching its original form.
There is no known record of the Architects design for the church but it was built
in a style very popular at that time - a cross-shaped design with three aisles
focusing the attention of all to the centre piece - The Holy Bible - placed in front
of the pulpit.
The Ulster Architectural Heritage Society for Mid Down have a noteworthy
description of the building:
“First Presbyterian Church - Ballynahinch; A
Architectural Heritage Society Mid Down (page 41)
Description From
Ulster
A T-shaped building, extremely rendered. There is a raked gallery in each arm of
the T to which access is obtained by a door, surmounted by a rounded headed
window, at the top of each internal staircase paved with granite slabs. The
ceilings are low and rather roughly coved; the apex of the vault masks the top of
the gallery window in each case; the galleries are carried on cast iron columns,
and the pewing throughout is of early Victorian detail; so that it would seem that
the ceilings (apart from the central featured rosette) are
original, but the three galleries and their outside staircases were early 19 th
century additions. There is a clock conveniently placed in the gallery opposite the
pulpit.
The north gable contains an incised plaque “Reverence my Sanctuary. This
House was built Anno Domini 1751. The Rev John Strong, Minister”.”
So what of the people who built it? Well, little is known of the congregation other
than for the main part they were farmers, labourers and merchants in the town,
and the district of the church Parish encompassed a wide area including
Magheratimpany and Creevytenant, Ballymacarn and out to Kinelarty.
We do, however, know a little more about the Rev John Strong.
John Strong was born in 1720. He was installed in First in 1744 at the age of 24
and he married a local girl, Anne White from Ballymaglave and she was born in
1724.
When the present church building was erected John was 31 years of age. They
had three children, David and Grace who died in infancy, and Margaret who
survived. Margaret was born in 1750, just about the time her father was engaged
in building the church. She married John Armstrong of Ballynahinch, a significant
character in the history of Ballynahinch at the time of the ’98 rebellion. Rev John
Strong died on 10th day of August 1780 in the 60th year of his age and the 36th of
his ministry in the Presbyterian Congregation of Ballynahinch.
The Rev Strong must have been a notable character as he not only oversaw the
building of the church but almost thirty years after his death First Ballynahinch
Church building was known as “Strong’s Meeting House” and we know this from
the writing of William Drenan.
Dr William Drenan was a medical doctor, a political activist, the architect of the
United Irishmen movement and founding father of Belfast Academical Institution
and he visited Ballynahinch to drink the waters. He wrote to his sister, Martha
McTier who lived at Cabin Hill, Belfast, “I went to Strong’s Meeting House, where
there is still a worse preacher (possible Rev John McClelland), but I love the
devotional hum or chant of the old psalm-singing, where everyone of the
congregation from the grey beard to the child, are self satisfied performers. I
intend going to the Seceders next Sunday.”
The Seceders was the old Second Ballynahinch who broke away from First in
1770 and was situated at Dickson’s Corner, which at that time was the northern
edge of the town since Main Street did not exist.
First Ballynahinch even gets a mention in the contemporary travel guide ‘Seward
W W Topograhica Hibernica’ in 1795, recording
“at Ballynahinch is a church, residenciary house, charter school and
Presbyterian meeting house”.
There was certainly great activity and energy in the congregation during the
ministry of Rev Strong. The construction of our church building is testament to
that.