St. Patrick's at Drumbeg is a well known landmark of rural Belfast, due to the unusual stylish inclusion of the Lych Gate. The site has been used by the Church of Ireland as a place of worship since the mid 1600s. This is the burial place of James Haddock, source of a well known local ghost story.	Gracehill Co.Antrim For Moravians, the burial ground was known as "Gods Acre" and had a strict layout. Men were buried to the left and women to the right of a central path. All headstones were the same shape and laid flat on the ground. - All become equal in death.	Creggan Co.Armagh The earliest headstone is dated 1685 but people were being buried here centuries before that. The Parish of Creggan was once one of the largest in Northern Ireland, which today adds further to its historic importance.
Shankill, Lurgan The site of Shankill graveyard itself and the old church has historic importance dating to pre-christian times. It is also known that there was a Mediaeval church here which was probably destroyed in the "Nine years War" at the end of the 16th Century.	Donaghadee Co.Down It is known for certain that a church existed on the site here at Donaghadee in 1622. Although it is highly likely that the site also had a mediaeval church going back several hundred years before, the date of the first church isn't known. The earliest dated gravestones to be found are from 1660	Pubble Co.Fermanagh Just a couple of miles from Tempo Co.Fermanagh. Pubble has been used as a burial ground for over 1000 years and many ancient graves lie outside the present boundary wall. Over the past 100 years or so some very curious and interesting headstones have been uncovered.
St. Aidan's, Magilligan The site at St. Aidan's near Magilligan goes back to prehistoric times and thus has great historic importance. Druids worshipped here. When early Christian missionaries like St. Patrick and St. Columbkille came in the 5th and 6th Centuries.	St.Mary's at Ardess The graveyard at St. Mary's at Ardess in Co. Fermanagh has the earliest known example of sculpted headstones in Ireland. Not surprisingly, it is here you will find the earliest sculpted headstone in N.I., fashioned in the form of a Celtic cross. You will also find here a "Famine Pit" where many bodies were buried.	St.Lurach's in Maghera This site was actually once home to a Cathedral which stood here from the middle of the 12th Century until the middle of the 13th. It’s believed that there was a church founded here in the 6th Century by Saint Lurach (or Lowry). It continued in use until 1819 when the new Church of Ireland was built just across the road.
Ballywillan near Portrush Situated a mile from Portrush, the name Ballywillin translates to ' town of the Mill' The old graveyard is unusually large compared to other churches of a similar period, it has several decorative crosses in differing styles which include Celtic. The graveyard also has a direct link to the English crown!	Leckpatrick near Strabane Leckpatrick means ‘Flat stone of Patrick’ and there’s a tradition that Saint Patrick himself founded the first church here. It can’t be verified but certainly there’s been a church here from a very early period, probably before the end of the first millennium A.D.” Some time ago a farmer accidentally unearthed some stones in nearby fields which display Celtic symbolic carvings.

Your Responses

Christina Flynn - Feb '08
From 1957 - June 1960 I attended Drumbeg Church and Sunday School, I have very fond memories of the wonderful stain glass windows, and the sound of the organ playing.
We lived inat 8 Quarterlands Road, and My Brother Bill and I went to Hilhall Primary School. In January 1989 my family and I visited the church, and surrounding area including Hillhall and Lisburn some things had changed, however somethings such as the Church were just as I remembered.

I look forward to visiting again in few years to visit family who still live in Drumbeg.

Chris Flynn nee Crookshanks
Geelong Victoria Australia

Kerrie O'Neill Johnson - Mar '07
What a wonderful site.So interesting, and will certainly be visited when at such time I visit my Ancestral places in Ireland.
Congratulations to the folk responsible for maintaining this wonderful place.
Kerrie O'Neill Johnson Tasmania Australia.