A four-month old baby boy has become the fifth generation of his family to be baptised at a Belfast church.

However, the ceremony for little Daire Lyttle took place outside St Joseph's Catholic Church in Sailortown which was closed earlier this year.

The last service took place in February after the Catholic Church said it had to close because there was no longer a sustainable local community in the docks area of Belfast.

But the decision was criticised by some parishioners.

West Belfast priest Father Des Wilson performed the Christening ceremony on the steps of the closed church on Sunday after Mass at 1000 BST.

The chairman of the Sailortown Cultural & Historical Society, Pat Benson, said: "We welcome little Daire into our extended family at St Joseph's as we have welcomed dockland people and other friends of the chapel who have found comfort here.

"The tradition of the Mass on what people regard as a sacred site dates back to the 1870s.

"It is ironic and refreshing in these days of dwindling church attendances throughout the city, and threats of further closures in this diocese, that Daire joins a vibrant worshipping family."

The society said the congregation was the fastest growing in Belfast.

The 150-strong congregation has continued to gather for Mass outside its closed doors every Sunday since the closure.

Daire was the second child to be baptised in that time.

The society has been campaigning for the re-opening and restoration of the chapel and is in the process of setting up a feasibility study.

The church had said restoration work to the church would cost more than �2m.