Drumcree Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Drumcree Parish Church |
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| The Church of the Ascension | |
Drumcree Parish Church
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| 54°26′25.6″N 06°27′34.2″W / 54.440444°N 6.459500°W | |
| Location | Drumcree Road, Portadown |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Denomination | Church of Ireland |
| Website | www.drumcree.org |
| History | |
| Consecrated | 28 October 1856 |
| Architecture | |
| Groundbreaking | 17 May 1855 |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Drumcree |
Drumcree Parish Church, also known as The Church of the Ascension, is a special church in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It belongs to the Church of Ireland. The church sits on a hill in a place called Drumcree, just outside Portadown. It is an important historical building.
There has been a church on this spot for a very long time, since the Middle Ages. Back then, it was a Roman Catholic church. The church building you see today was started in 1855 and finished in 1856. The current leader of the church is Reverend Gary Galway. The area covered by Drumcree Parish Church is the same as the Roman Catholic parish of Drumcree.
In the 1990s, Drumcree Church became famous around the world. This was because of events known as the Drumcree standoffs. Every year, a group called the Orange Order marches to and from a church service here. This march happens on the Sunday before July 12th. July 12th remembers a big Protestant victory in 1690 at the Battle of the Boyne.
However, people living in a nearby Catholic area did not want the march to go through their neighborhood. Thousands of Orange Order members and their supporters gathered at Drumcree. They tried to force their way through, but police and security forces stopped them. Large barriers of steel and barbed wire were put up. These yearly standoffs at Drumcree stopped in the early 2000s.
History of the Church Site
The church is located in a place called Drumcree. Its name comes from the Irish language. Droim Crí means "boundary ridge." This probably refers to the River Bann, which was a boundary between old areas.
A church has stood on this site since the Middle Ages. The Christian parish of Drumcree was created in 1110. It included many small areas called townlands. The first known vicar, David MacRalagen, died in 1414.
In 1563, a powerful Irish leader named Shane O'Neill met an English representative at Drumcree. They tried to make a peace agreement. This was called the 'Treaty of Drumcree'. However, the agreement never fully happened.
The church and parish were Catholic until the Protestant Reformation. After England took control of the area in the early 1600s, things changed. It is not clear what happened to the church during the Reformation. But a map from 1609 shows the church was in ruins.
After the Plantation of Ulster began in 1610, a new Protestant church was built here. This church was described as a simple stone building. In 1812, a tower was added, and a church bell was put in place in 1814.
Building the Current Church
In 1854, the people of the parish decided to build a brand new church. The first stone for this new church was laid on May 17, 1855. This is the church building that stands today. It was built on the same spot as the older church.
The new church was officially opened on October 28, 1856. The Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore, Robert Bent Knox, led the ceremony.
In 1871, the Church of Ireland was no longer the official state church. Because of this, Drumcree Church lost most of its land.
Over the years, more additions were made. In 1901, a new burial ground was created. The Parochial Hall was built the next year. A pipe organ was installed in the church in 1907. A memorial for those lost in World War I was built in 1921. Another burial ground was added in 1922. In 1989, a memorial for World War II was put up. Major repairs were done to the church building in 1992.
Drumcree and the Orange Order Marches
The Orange Order is a Protestant organization. It was started in 1795 near Portadown. The first Orange Order church service and parade at Drumcree happened on July 1, 1795. This parade was started by Protestant ministers in the area.
One minister, Reverend George Maunsell, gave a sermon in June 1795. He asked his church members to celebrate the Battle of the Boyne. He wanted them to attend a service at Drumcree on July 1st. This first Sunday church parade, like many since, led to conflict in the Drumcree area.
Historically, after some of these early parades, there were clashes between Protestants and Catholics. This caused more tension between the groups.
The Orange Order traditionally parades from the center of Portadown. They return after the church service. Since the late 20th century, the Orange Order often says these parades remember soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Division. These soldiers died during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
Portadown is a town where most people are Protestant. However, a small Catholic community lives near the Garvaghy Road. This community has faced unfair treatment for a long time. The Orange Order believes it has the right to march down the Garvaghy Road. They say it is a traditional route important to their community.
The people living on Garvaghy Road believe they have the right not to have marches that feel threatening or divisive. The disagreement between the Orange Order and the police became a symbol of the deep divisions in Northern Ireland. Some people argue that these parades can make old tensions worse.
In the early 1980s, when these parades sometimes led to violence, a group of local people gathered information. They documented many instances of conflict related to Orange parades since 1795. They shared this information with journalists in the 1990s.
In 1998, the Northern Ireland Parades Commission banned the Orange Order's parade from going down Garvaghy Road. Every year since then, the parade has been stopped from using that route.
To try and calm the situation, the Church of Ireland asked the church leader at Drumcree, Reverend John Pickering, not to hold the Orange Order service. The head of the Church of Ireland, Dr. Robin Eames, said that if people act badly after a religious service, it makes a mockery of the service. However, Reverend Pickering refused this request. He said that his church doors are open to everyone, including members of the Orange Order.
In 2007, after a power-sharing agreement in Northern Ireland, the Orange Order parade happened peacefully. However, the Order is still not allowed to march down the Garvaghy Road.
