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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Dublin => Topic started by: Cherrian on Tuesday 08 September 09 10:10 BST (UK)
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Does anyone know where I might find the church records (if they still exist) for two early Presybterian meeting houses in Dublin - Plunket street meeting house (whose congregation joined that of Usher’s Quay in 1773) and Usher’s Quay meeting house.
My interest arises out of an ancestor Samuel GOUGH merchant of Thomas Street who died 1770/1771. In his will he left £10 to the poor of the Plunket Street meeting house and the same sum to its minister Revd Ebenezar Kilburn from which I have assumed that he was probably a member of the Plunket Street Presbyterian congregation at the time of his death.
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The records should be here:
http://www.ireland.anglican.org/index.php?do=about&id=42
Brendan
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are you sure that the RCB library has Presbyterian records ?
I would think that they only hold Anglican / Church of Ireland details.
Shane
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The Church of Ireland was the established church at the time, I have found Free Episcopal Church records there.
Brendan
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Try reading this thread
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,393851.0.html
There is a lot there that would help you
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Thanks everyone. I've written to the RCB to see if they are holding any records for these meeting houses.
However, it has occured to me to wonder whether baptisms, marriages and burials might have had to be held in the Established Church at this time anyway. Does anyone happen to know whether that was the case or not?
Thanks again.
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Cherrian
Although legislation required compliance with the C of I requirements for many other Protestant Churches in the
18th Century most of this was generally Dead Letter. It could be enforced but seldom was and use was made of it to say protect rights to property at the time of marriage by registering that marriage in the C of I. All the circumstances including local conditions and how energetic the C of I minister was played a great part in registration so in reality a universal rule cannot be stated.
Regards Quaxer
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Plunkett St. Presbyterian Church comes under the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. See here for their website-
www.presbyterianireland.org
Rev. Ebenezer Kelburn was ordained 1749, Plunkett St. didn't flourish under his ministery and in 1773 it joined with the Usher's Quay congregation. Rev. Kelburn died 27 Oct.1776 and the Plunkett St. building was sold to Calvinist Independents (not sure of date).
I'm not sure what records from Plunkett St. survive but in general very few Presbyterian records pre-1800s do still exist.
Representative Church Body holds records for Church of Ireland (also known as Established Church) which is totally separate than PCI.
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Thanks Quaxer. What you say makes sense of why I have found a reference to a marriage licence bond for Samuel GOUGH (to Anne VICKERS in 1740). It might also explain why in 1765 his daughter Hannah GOUGH married Thomas SPARROW in a CoI church - St Catherine’s, Thomas Street. Samuel left her some property in his will.
And thanks Aghadowey. I wonder what made Ebenezer Kelburn so unpopular. I suspect you are right that no records remain from this period for Plunket Street and Usher’s Quay.
For anyone else interested in non conformist churches in Dublin at the time of Rocque, I found this article by Kenneth Ferguson in the Dublin Historical Record (Vol. 58, No. 2 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 129-165) - “Rocque's Map and the History of Nonconformity in Dublin: A Search for Meeting Houses”.
Thanks again to all who responded.
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I said the congregation didn't flourish, not that the minister was unpopular. Presbyterians are well-known for splits in their churches so it may just be tat the congregation wasn't large enough to sustain itself.
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Hi aghadowey
You’re right to pick me up on this.
My comment arose from a footnote in the article referred to in my earlier post which quotes from Aaron Crossley Hobart Seymour’s “The Life and Times of Selina Countess of Huntingdon. By a member of the Houses of Shirley and Hastings” (2 vols,1839), ii , 163 as follows:
“ ... with the sanction and advice of Mr. Shirley, the old Presbyterian meeting-house, in Plunket street, was rented. For several years before its dissolution the church was in a very low state: the sentiments and preaching of the ministers who officiated were extremely unpopular, and but ill adapted to preserve the church from a languishing condition. After some feeble attempts to revive the expiring interest, the society dissolved, and the meeting-house was disposed of to Lady Huntingdon.”
I have not followed up this reference but given that it was made by a biographer of Lady Huntingdon one perhaps needs to be cautious about how much weight to give to it - it is possible that there may be a particular religious bias to the assertions made about the Plunket Street ministers.