Congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

High Street,
Donaghadee,
Co. Down

Sunday Service:
11.30am and 7pm

Minister: Rev. James Gordon, M.A., B.D.
Telephone: (028) 9188 3990

First Donaghadee

Donaghadee is a growing town on the coast of County Down, 6 miles from the historic monastic town of Bangor and approximately 20 miles from Belfast.

The town has had a long and chequered history. It would appear to have been first known as 'Domhnach Daoi' in Irish - 'The Church of St. Daoi'. In possible association with the founders of the great abbey in Bangor in the 6th Century, it has certainly been a centre for Christian worship for well over 1,000 years.

There has always been a natural 'coming and going' between the North East of Ireland and the South West of Scotland. After the Reformation therefore, 'it was only to be expected that Donaghadee, the nearest seaport in Ulster to the Scottish Mainland, should have one of the first Presbyterian congregations'. (A History of Congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland).

First Presbyterian, Donaghadee, traces its post-Reformation origins back to 1642 (the same year as the formation of the first Presbytery in Ireland at Carrickfergus). In the religious confusion and controversy of the 17th century the first two rectors named as incumbents in the local Church of Ireland are the same men recognised as the first two ministers in 1st Donaghadee. After the religious disruptions in 1661 a new 'Meeting House' was built at Killaughy (just outside the town), followed in the early 18th Century by a move by the congregation to another new building in what is still called Meeting House Street, in the town centre. The present building was erected in 1824.

Today the church has approximately 300 families (in 2004). We meet for worship at 11.30 am and 7.00 pm every Sunday from September to June, and at 11.00 am in July and August. Our organisations include Sunday School, Young Peoples' Bible Class, Children's Church, Creche, Girls' Brigade, Scouts, the Youth Club, Men's Fellowship, Presbyterian Women's Association, Prayer Meeting, Adult Bible Study, Church Choir, Indoor Bowls and Keep Fit. Our church halls are also used for other community groups not directly associated with the church, but which provide a service in the local community (eg Women's Institute, Chest, Heart and Stroke, craft class, Donaghadee History Society, etc), with which we endeavour to maintain close contacts.

For further information please visit the congregation website www.1stpresbyterian-donaghadee.com