Conwal Parish Church is a

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

church located in

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the R ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is located opposite the

Cathedral of St Eunan and St Columba St Eunan's Cathedral ( ), or the Cathedral of St Eunan and St Columba as it is also known, is a cathedral in the parish of Conwal and Leck, part of the Diocese of Raphoe. Built between the years of 1890 and 1900, the cathedral is found in Let ...

at the top of ''Church Street''. The church dates back to the 17th century.

Building

The building is believed to have been constructed when a church located at Conwal, not far from

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

, fell into ruins. The church is rubble built with an ashlar spire. The interior retains its early 19th century cast-iron circular roof, trusses and a short gallery and twisted brass

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

Graveyard

A niece of

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

(daughter of her brother

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

), is buried in the graveyard there, alongside her husband

Lord George Hill Lord George Augusta Hill (9 December 1801 – 6 April 1879) was an Anglo-Irish military officer, politician and landowner. Hill was the posthumous son of Arthur Hill, 2nd Marquess of Downshire and his wife Mary Hill, Marchioness of Downshire, ...

. Vandals "smashed to smithereens" the tombstone of the Wray vault, dating from 1750 and the oldest in the graveyard, in 1971.

History

The Civil Survey of 1652-56 gives an interesting image into what the town was like in the 17th century: ''"There is a town called Letterkenny which hath a market every Friday and two fairs in the year with a fair Church and a bridge at the east end over the

River Swilly The River Swilly ( ga, An tSúileach) is a river in County Donegal, Ireland, which flows in an eastern direction through Letterkenny. Letterkenny, the largest town in County Donegal, is built on the river and became the first crossing point o ...

"''. It is stated that the church is in good repair and that in 1733 it was slated and one side seated. All of these changes took place while the Rev. William Spann, a rector who did a lot for the parish, was in Letterkenny. The chalice and paten dated 1744 are still in use to this day. These were given to the church by Dr. Spann. Dr. Spann died in 1752 and is buried under the Church.

People

There is a popular myth that the remains of

Redmond O'Hanlon Redmond O'Hanlon, FRGS, FRSL (born 5 June 1947) is an English writer and scholar. Life O'Hanlon was born in 1947 in Dorset, England. He was educated at Marlborough College and then Oxford University. After taking his M.Phil. in nineteenth-c ...

are also located on the church grounds. A large flat stone in the graveyard opposite the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

door marks a Hanlon family grave several decades younger than the rapparee's death. An obelisk stands at the East side of the church to commemorate Rev. Dr. John Kinnear, a Presbyterian minister in Letterkenny, who was M.P. for County Donegal and carried the banner for Tenants Rights in the 1880s. Joseph Stopford, grandfather of Stopford Augustus Brooke, is a former rector of the church. As of July 2018, the Parish is served by their Rector - Reverend David Houlton who currently resides in the Conwal Rectory in Letterkenny. He also serves the Church of Ireland Church of Saint Columba in Gartan, which is around 15 miles outside of Letterkenny. Sunday Services held in Conwal Parish Church are Early Morning Eucharist at 8.00am. Sunday Worship in the form of the Holy Eucharist is held at 10.30am on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month, with Morning Prayer held on the other Sundays. In Saint Columba's, Gartan, Sunday Worship is held at 12.30pm in the form of the Holy Eucharist on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month, with Morning Prayer held on all other Sundays.

References

External links

Destination LetterkennyDonegal HeritageLetterkenny Guide
{{coord missing, County Donegal Buildings and structures in Letterkenny Churches in County Donegal Church of Ireland church buildings in the Republic of Ireland Church of Ireland parishes in the Republic of Ireland Religion in Letterkenny Places associated with Jane Austen