Ballyrashane today is a protestant community. The population attend both the Presbyterian Church and St. John's which is the Church of Ireland. In addition some people attend Ballywatt and others Ballyclabber Reformed Churches.

There has been a church here since 1100. This was on the ground which is still occupied by St. John's. This church was possibly founded by the Normans who brought over many religious orders. St. John's of Jerusalem were connected with the Augustinian ordr and their duties were to attend to the sick and to police the country. At some time there may have previously been a Roman Catholic church in Gorticloughan since urns and bones were found. Information is not available now on this church.

St. John's church was in the hands of the Catholic Church at least until 1524 when the last known Catholic priest (O'Hale) officiated here. It is probable that the number of catholics decreased sufficiently to remove the need for a resident priest. This may be because the people migrated or because they ceased to be sufficiently faithful to their religion. In the fifteenth and sixteenth century it would seem that the organisation of the church broke down and that people did not follow the doctrine and instruction of the church in Rome. Henry II had continually tried to bring the Irish church into line with England but although this was successful for a time, the church at the level of priests and bishops soon reverted to the former Irish practises. It may be that this caused the people to stop attending or the authorities may have punished the Ballyrashane congregation in some way for misdemeanours.(Concubinage and divorce etc. were widespread). It is to be noted that in the Presbyterian church in the 19th century the congregation were punished for not looking after their minister properly. They were then refused a resident minister for a time. It is not known when the church of Ireland took over but it was in their hands in 1609.

At this stage Ballyrashane must have been a poor parish since the minister was responsible also for Ballywilland and Agherton. He was paid on a tithe basis.

Presbyterianism

This branch of protestantism was brought to Ulster by the Scots forces who helped to quash the rebellion of 1641. They brought their ministers with them. The church at Ballyrashane must have either had not church of Ireland minister at the time, 1644 or else he must have converted to Presbyterianism since the parish became part of the Presbyterian system. The church which was built in the middle of the present graveyard became Presbyterian and the first minister was Robert Hogsyard.

In 1661 the Church of Ireland was re-established but Hogsyard would not conform to this and was ejected by a company of government dragoons.

1641 rebellion

The rebel camp was in north Ballyversal on the hill. William Loggan, a Scots settler was hung here by the rebels. The loyal Scottish forces marched towards Coleraine and some were detached to deal with a rebel fort at Ballybogey belonging to McNaughtens. The fort surrendered and 90 prisoners were taken to Dunmull to the camp of the other branch of settlers under the command of the Campbells. All but 15 priosners (who were Campbell relations) were shot. There is some doubt as to which side the McNaughten fort supported. They claimed to be protecting themselves by staying in the fort but Lord Massareene chose not to believe them and in effect had them slaughtered. Yet they were relations of Sir Randal McDonnell who is reputed to have changed his allegiance depending on which side his advantage lay. Evidence was given to the government that McNaughtens had in their fort, uniforms and flags which had been plundered from government troops at Coleraine, [see Calendar of State Papers 1660 - 1662}

The area in which the massacre happened is just outside the parish and remains a place of waste ground today. The outline of the fort can be traced by walking along the edge of the mound. From the top of the fort there is a fine view of the countryside and it is easy to imagine why a government camp would be set up here. The place where the hanging of William Loggan took place was known as Lowry's Brae in the last century but today is remembered as Mary Bess's hill. No-one knows anything about the hanging and surprisingly enough there are no tales of ghosts haunting the place.

The Presbyterians built a new church at Knockinkeeragh about 1668. The Church of Ireland minister had not been replaced by a resident minister but by one from another parish at this time. It must be assumed that there were few in the congregation and that they were served by Ballywillan.

The next Presbyterian church was built at Nancy's Knowe which is a piece of waste land behind Brookhall. This road was a 'right of way' until this century when mrs Jamison had trees planted along it and so closed it off. Inthe last year it was thought evidence of the site of the church was uncovered when the present owner was clearing the debris from his yard. He found an area which was paved underneath weeds and rough grass but there is some doubt over this since earlier work undertaken by local people uncovered corner posts and similar building materials in a position further back from the present find. The paving is more likely to apply to a later building of some sort since indications from history suggest that the floor of the church was earthen.

During 1700 to 1704 frequent complaints were made about the lack of duty shown to the minister by the congregation amd eventually the authorities allowed the minister to leave without replacement. It was 1709 before another full-time minister was appointed. It is not known whether it was lack of commitment or lack of money which caused the population not to properly support its minister.

Henry Neill became Presbyterian minister in 1709 and died in 1745. he was succeeded by Samuel Boyce.

The population must have recovered its faith or grown in prosperity because they manage to provide a house for Reverend Neill. This was at the Glebe since there was no Church of Ireland minister at the time. After his death the house was repaired in 1747 and Dr Mullin gives a list of costs. It was vacated by Mrs Neill to provide for Reverend Boyce.

Church in 18th century

People were illiterate so the minister read a line, followed by the people singing it. They had a break between sermon and lecture during which time they ate their lunch of oatcake, cheese and spring water.

According to a List of Protestant Householders printed in Dr Mullin's book there were 129 Protestant householders in Ballyrashane in 1740. A report sent by the minister showed that in Ballywillan and Ballyrashane in 1766 there were 5 Roman Catholic families and 261 Protestant families.

Seceders

This brand of Presbyterianism came to the area in 1747 and attracted enough support for the congregation to split in 1751. A further split was to occur later when the reformed Presbyterian Church started in Ballyclabber.

In the 19th century there was a growing interest in education and religion and a rising population. A Sabbath school was established at Ballyrashane in 1820 and attendance at church began to rise. Interestingly marriage did not have to happen in church then as long as the minister knew the couples it could happen in the manse.

By 1824 the congregation became too large for the existing church and Samuel Boyce (grandson of the Reverend) gave the congregation land for a new church at the corner. It was built the opposite way to the present one which we can see today.

By 1829 the congregation had risen to 270 Presbyterian families.

The Church of Ireland had recovered enough of its congregation and so their present church was built in 1825. With the building went also a rectory. A hearse, harness and shed were provided for the poor inhabitants. These were the recognised poor who lived in the parish and were entitled to wear a badge which showed that they could be given charity from householders.

By the time of the 1831 census there were 290 families, a total of 1637 people. 61 belonged to the Church of Ireland, 67 Roman Catholic and 1489 Presbyterians. The Catholic people went to mass at Coleraine, Bushmills or Portrush according to the Ordnance Survey Memoirs.

In 1832 Mr Alexander became Presbyterian minister and the number of families were still rising. It must be assumed, therefore, that the population was still rising too at this period. It continued at least until 1837 when the Presbyterian congregation consisted of 330 families. Again in 1845 the Presbyterian church moved but only its position on the same site. It is the one which is used today. It is interesting to compare the old Ordnance Survey Maps to see how the position of the Presbyterian church changed.

In 1859 when religion was undergoing a revival people from Ballyrashane and surrounding areas gathered in their hundreds to hear Reverend Simpson preaching. Reverend Alexander said in a report in the Chronicle that in nearly every house in Ballyrashane someone had been 'visited.' People are reported to have fainted in the church on one Sunday.

The next figures which are available are from the census of 1871 and show that in the population there were 15 Roman Catholics, 205 Church of Ireland and 789 Presbyterians with 7 othres (most likely Covenanters and Seceders). At this stage it can be seen which groups have deteriorated most during the famine years and the two decades following it. The Catholic population, always a minority, have been reduced to a handful, and the Presbyterian numbers too have declined by a large number. Interestingly, the Church of Ireland has doubled its congregation. It is not particularly surprising that numbers of Catholics have dropped since they were usually among the poorest sections of the community, and it was here that the famine had the greatest impact. The only possible explanation for the rise of the Church of Ireland can be that some of the community converted from Presbyterianism.

The 1911 census shows the religious breakdown of the parish population as 29 Roman Catholics, 213 Church of Ireland, 412 Presbyterians and 35 others. The number of Roman Catholics has grown but possibly only because some of the previous families have now grown up, married and had children of their own. It is unlikely that new families were moving into the area although it has been suggested that Roman Catholic families from Donegal may have settled here, their menfolk being employed as farm labourers. At this time their labour was cheaper than that in the north of Ireland.

There has been a growth in the number of people attending other forms of Presbyterian churches which is still the position today. Most of the member families today would have been attending in 1911. There has been virtually no change in the numbers belonging to the Church of Ireland but once again the people leaving the community appear to be from the Presbyterian church.

From this period onwards there has been a steadily declining population, made up of members of the two main churches and a number of people who attend Ballywatt and Ballyclabber churches. The number of Catholic families has remained at less than two. Today there is only one remaining Roman Catholic inhabitant. The numbers attending the two churches today are as follows; Church of Ireland 100 families and Presbyterian 158 families (520 people). Of these one third of the congregation of the Church of Ireland are from outside the parish boundary and half of those attending the Presbyterian Church are not from Ballyrashane parish itself.

RELIGION AND TOWNLAND

In the following study of religion and townland and religion and occupation, I have used only the marriage records in which the male is resident in the parish.

It is stated by L.M. Cullen in The Emergence of Modern Ireland that there was often a contrast between areas kept by Church of Ireland members and those of the Protestant churches.

Once again if we take the marriage records as an indication of religion and townland, there is no evidence that there was a religious split in the parish of Ballyrashane. This is true for the period before 1911 and also for the years between 1911 and 1969 and would remain so today.

RELIGION AND OCCUPATION

L M Cullen states that members of the Church of Ireland often held menial wages-paid employment or occupied inferior lands. Presbyterians had more resources.

The following is a table showing the breakdown of male members of the parish from the marriage records.

It is obvious that there definitely is a relationship between occupation and religious denominations. Cullen's statement would seem to be true for this parish. Farmers did not belong to the Church of Ireland and this is true throughout the period under study. This would also hold true even today. Modern day farmers in this parish are split between the Presbyterian Church in the parish and that of the Seceders at Ballywatt and also the Convenanter branch at Ballyclabber.

Labourers would seem to be fairly split between both denominations but if we take the figures as a percentage of the total marriages the difference is greater. 37.8% of Presbyterians and 65.3% are Church of Ireland. It is important to note that in 7 of the records where the occupation of the groom is given as a labourer his father is a farmer. This may mean that the man concerned is labouring on another farm until he inherits his father's farm. This was a common practice in the late 19th century.