No one can wax enthusiastic over the architecture of St. Finians, Greencastle. So far as I can learn, no church had been erected in that neighbourhood since the building of Kilmoyle (or perhaps Temple Moyle) in the 14th century, until Lord Bristol, Bishop of Derry, built the present church in 1783. There is a legend that, living as he did in his enormous house at Downhill, he wanted a tower to diversify the landscape in front of him in Donegal and placed the tower of our church exactly where it is for that purpose - namely at the east end of the church, the chancel facing west.

THE FIRST RECORDS

The parish records beginning with the year 1783 will interest many. I suppose the Bishop of Derry consecrated the church, but the minutes do not refer to this.

The first Easter vestry was held on April 22, 1783, and their first act was to pay Hugh Dougherty for the use of his house for services for four months. Can it be the same Hugh Dougherty who first rented the farm, where Moville now stands, in 1780? Then the churchwardens received their salaries! Churchwardens, £1 20s each clerk, £1 2s 9d; "elements." £1; sexton, £1 2s 9d. The first wardens were Henry Cary and Hugh Dougherty, for the whole parish, of course. Mr. Cary evidently was of Carrowtrasna, into whose family my great-grandfather had married.

No trace of the house remains, only the trees. Nothing is so surprising to me as the complete disappearance in the course of time not only of one house but of a whole group of them. The ground is generally needed for a crop, and all the stones are removed.

At this first vestry meeting two men were appointed "applotters," Messrs. Dougherty and M'Kinney. The Oxford Dictionary of the English language explains applotments as "division into plots." These parochial applotters had to see that money voted by the vestry throughout the year was received by the right persons.

The first rector of Lower Moville was the Rev. Gardner Young. When Greencastle Church was built the old parish of Moville was divided into Upper and Lower. In 1784, a stable was built and the wall round the church. In 1785, the rector was the Rev. Monsey Alexander. In 1791, the Rev. Thomas Hamilton is rector.

In 1793 a remarkable resolution was passed - "It is also agreed that if the above-mentioned officers (just elected) do not strictly discharge their duty in every respect their salaries respectively will be stopped or mulcted according to the nature of the offence." In this year the appointment of a parish constable was also considered. In 1795, the sum of £24 was voted for the raising of four men to augment the Donegal Militia. In 1811 the sum of £8 is paid to Edward Kelly "for his trouble as constable." '

1812- The subject of "travelling poor" comes up. They were not to be helped "unless they belonged to the parish and had badges accordingly." These were beggars and respectable people who would otherwise be in a workhouse. Most of them were honest and wandered about accepting hospitality anywhere. The badges had the name of the parish upon them. (I would give much to see one of such badges.) They were of all denominations. The parish at that time extended from Shrove Head to Greenbank.

The Dean of Derry has furnished me with the following details: - In the reign of George III, every parish was required to elect applotters. They determined the amount payable by every inhabitant in the parish for such purposes as repairs to the church, fencing of graveyard, burial of paupers, sending foundlings to Dublin, communion elements, rewards for killing foxes, maintenance of the parish fire engine, etc. It was also in George III's time that badges were ordered for beggars. The Dean also says that in those days the Cathedral wardens had medals awarded them.

There is a gap in the parish records from 1838 to 1853, and it is during this interval that an event happened worthy of notice. Somewhere about the year 1840, the tower of St. Finians was struck by lightning and had to be rebuilt. This was carried out by Mr. MacAlister of Moneymore. He and his family became devoted to Greencastle, and called the church their Fathers Church. They have kept up the connection ever since in the persons of members of the family well known in Belfast in the learned professions. In 1858, a printed paper is put out begging for money in order to add a spire to the Moville Church. The paper says that passengers in the American liners complain that Moville has an unfinished appearance, and nothing will remedy that but a spire! In 1867, Greencastle Church was reopened after extensive improvements. It is stated that the chancel chair and the alms dishes were made out of the wood of the old Derry Bridge.

In 1870, the first election for synodsmen for the General Synod was held (the church being disestablished). The two thus elected were Major Pechell Irvine and Colonel Dysart.

In 1872 the beloved name of the Rev. Thomas Swanzy appears. The paid clerkship was abolished. In that same year, Sir Robert Montgomery proposed that "Hazelbank" should be bought as the rectory at a cost of £850.

In 1882, a great renovation of Greencastle Church was taken in hand. Indeed, the interior was transformed. The chancel lengthened, a new ceiling, new windows, new Lord's Table and rails, by the Rev. Thomas Scott; new seats, gallery shortened, a new font by the Rev. Thomas M'Clellan; prayer desk and chair by the Rev. Thomas Swanzy; lectern by Mrs. Crosbie and Miss M'Clellan.

In 1911, Carrowbeg district was transferred to the parish of Gleneely. Under a will of 1904 the Church Houses were made over to the parish for letting or for sale, whichever was considered best. But I must fill up a few gaps in my story of Greencastle before I go on to the larger subjects, such as pilots and lifeboats. On the upper road everyone will notice a single "standing stone," and doubtless will have been informed that "it turns round whenever it hears the cock crow." Again, beyond the crossroads on the way to Shrove, there is a holy well on the left, with a stone cross above it. Now come down to the ...

HARBOUR & THE HOUSES ADJOINING

About a century ago, there were two or three cottages near the present Post Office, and a public house near the lower Kilmoyle Gate. Beside the stream, which flows into the harbour, there were some thatched cottages for Revenue men and Customs men. These houses were burnt when the Coastguard Houses were built, and not a trace of them is left. A garage stands on the site. The field is still known, I believe, by the name of the Burnt Barrack Field.

Now ascend the path beside the stream. You will come to a field in which there used to be four cottages. These have disappeared. Go a step further and you will come to the ruins of two water mills. The one on the right has also the relics of a dam for its water; but, above all things, look at the deep chasm there and the waterfall. Few visitors know that on that spot there is the biggest chasm and biggest waterfall in the parish.

Now return to the harbour. I used to imagine that it had been silted up by the stream, but I am told this is not the case. The old people say there is no difference in the condition of the harbour between what it was in their youth and today. There was never any depth of water inside. Outside there are some 14 fathoms.

The Pier was begun in 1813, soon after the Fort was built and gradually lengthened. In 1856, a sum of £3,000 was spent on it. In 1845, a Parliamentary grant of £1,590 was given for it. But also some 80 years ago the Harbour Commissioners built a wooden wharf, the signs of which are still visible, along the front of the flat ground behind the Post Office, and sheds were built there. The stones which compose the Pier were cut from two quarries up the hill, and were feet long, and immensely heavy.

The Ferry in old days was of vital importance to the people. It was the general means of conveyance for all farm purposes, for cattle, sheep and horses, to the Coleraine market. And there are stories of the way in which cattle, and more rarely horses, swam home again after being landed at MacGilligan. Mr. Philip M'Kinney is a storehouse of information on all such subjects.

The present Post Office was built as a Police Barrack some eighty years ago, and Mr. M'Kinney's house opposite was provided for an overflow from the Barrack. Castle House was then a cottage. Earlier still, there was a cottage where Manor House stands, called "Crows Nest" Where Port-a-Vila now stands there was a cottage called "Wild Cat Cottage." It has probably been a puzzle to visitors to know why, what looks like a good road, passing down the right beyond the Fort, between Manor House and Port-a-Vila, should suddenly end in nothing. The fact is, this is the old road to Shrove.

Continue along it and you will see traces of it along the shore; a very pretty walk it is. It continues up to the Golf Links, and used to go on, crossing a shallow bay where, at times, water somewhat interfered. Just before the Golf Links are reached there used to be, in the memory of some still living, quite a group of cottages called "The Little Warren" beside Buckleys Port. These have entirely disappeared. The landlord gave the people equivalent land higher up the hill, and took possession of the land himself.

In due time you will reach the beacon placed upon a dangerous rock. It is called "The Metal Man," and was made by blacksmiths on the Upper Shrove road. There is a report that in old days smugglers were wont to fill the stomach of this "man" with tobacco and spirits.

Close by is the house built by Sir Newman Chambers, called Carrig-nog. I am tempted here to tell the story, believed in by many as authentic, about a strange occurrence some 80 years ago. The dwellers in Wild Cat Cottage (Lowry's) one very foggy night heard the sound of a bell approaching them from above. Nothing could be seen, the fog was too dense, the sound came nearer, passed overhead and went on. They followed. Presently a bell fell down as if from the sky; it was like a dinner bell. They picked it up and took it home. Some still living say they have seen the bell. One solution that has been suggested is that a balloon was drifting in the fog and had lost its bearings, and was ringing a bell in order to get some notion where they were. The bell in due time was sold to some visitors.

The "Manor House" was built in 1853, and Port-a-Vila a few years afterwards, by the M'Clellan family, and Carrick-a-Man, near the Post Office, was built as a hotel by the same family. Castle House, when a cottage, was inhabited by Mrs. Chichester, the mother of Lord O'Neill.

I ought not to omit an extract from the travels of Dr. Pocock in 1752 to this neighbourhood:- "I passed, and going eastward three miles came to the Lough of Derry, near the Moville Parish, where Mr. O'Neal has a house pleasantly situated and I went two miles along the shore to Greencastle where I dined.

I went to see the fine old Castle, built on a rock, the entrance to which is defended by two towers, and it is a strong and delightful situation. This castle may have its name from the green freestone it is built.