Portaferry Methodist Church

History

John Wesley's Journals record that he first visited the Ards Peninsula in 1778, preaching at Kircubbin on 11 June in a barn fitted up for him, and that on his last visit to Ireland in June 1789 he preached in a large meeting house at Portaferry. Portaferry was among the places given permission to build a church in the minutes of the 1786 Methodist Conference.

The Ordnance Survey memoirs for 1834 record that the church was erected in 1788 and paid for by the members and other subscribers, and that it was reroofed in 1810. The memoirs note six seats and a number of movable forms, which made the seating hard to count, perhaps 200. A school was held in the church during the week from about 1830 to 1870, attended by pupils of all denominations.

The church was improved in 1864 and renewed inside and out in 1904. In 2006 the garages next door were acquired and Cuan Mews was built.

The building

The renewal of 1904 replaced the ceiling with pine and wainscoted the walls in the same wood. Twenty-two new pews were designed and six new windows with leaded lights were installed, and a hall was built. The work was carried out by the Beck family of Portaferry for £299.5.0.

Notable features

A date of 1780 is carried on the gable of the church. Framed copies of the original bills and specifications for the 1904 work are held in Cuan Mews.

The church's own history describes it as the oldest Methodist church in Ireland still in regular use.