Northern Ireland has an exceptionally rich heritage of church and chapel buildings. This includes 939 listed places of worship, of which 45 churches and chapels are designated as Category A, recognising them as buildings of the highest heritage significance. However, many places of worship in Northern Ireland were facing significant challenges with those responsible for their care unsure where to turn for advice or funding to help keep their buildings open and in good repair. This is where our innovative Treasure Ireland project was able to help.
The National Churches Trust has a long history of supporting churches, chapels and meeting houses, of every Christian denomination, in every UK nation. The creation of the Treasure Ireland programme enabled us to go one step further by providing assistance which focuses on the specific challenges facing churches in Northern Ireland.
How Treasure Ireland started
Thanks to the investment of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, The Pilgrim Trust and the Historic Environment Division at the Department for Communities, the National Churches Trust was able to create a bespoke programme to help keep churches open and good repair. Treasure Ireland ran from 2020-2026 and helped hundreds of churches.
At the core of the programme was a Northern Ireland Support Officer, who was able to work directly with churches on the ground, providing vital advice and assistance. There was also an impactful grant programme that awarded £422, 679 in grants to 80 places of worship of different denominations.
The programme also included training and support to address skills gaps. Themes included supporting churches to take a conservation approach to the care of their building, managing a capital project, and developing ways to generate income through heritage promotion.
The project has been hugely successful. Through an independent evaluation of the project, here are some of the brilliant outcomes of Treasure Ireland:
- Increase in churches being open for people outside of the congregation
- Increase in churches being open for more days outside of worship
- Increase in visitors at churches
- Heritage was kept in better condition, thanks to the grants and advice at hand
- Helped churches improve how their buildings were cared for and managed
Help for churches needing urgent repairs
Ballintoy Parish Church was one of the churches helped by Treasure Ireland. The church has striking tower – it a local landmark and can be seen for miles around. Its location on the Causeway Coast makes it popular with visitors. There’s a local volunteer who opens and shuts the church every day, so that people can enjoy the tranquillity and beauty.
When the church needed urgent tower repairs, it was initially daunting.
“Building materials going up all the time, every month it seems lately, and we are a small congregation,” shared Rev Patrick Barton, who looks after the grouped parishes of Ballintoy and Dunseverick, with Rathlin Island.
But, through regular contact with the National Churches Trust’s Northern Ireland Support Officer, the church team felt encouraged. The officer came down to Ballintoy church several times and met with the architect too, as well as providing support over the phone and via email.
Church repairs are paid for by local people – the congregation and the local community – a big responsibility for small congregations. The team at Ballintoy hosted a wide range of fundraising activities, from musical events and history evenings to community breakfasts. They also applied for grant funding too. It took time, but the church did not give up.
The tower – the oldest part of the building – is now free of scaffolding. Through the National Churches Trust Treasure Ireland programme, the team visited the Church of the Immaculate Conception, a Roman Catholic Church in Strabane to find out more about how the museum they have created in their church has helped boost local tourism. That interdenominational learning has inspired them to look at how they can tell their story better to both visitors and churches.
Increasing visitors to places of worship
St Macartan’s (Forth Chapel) just outside Augher in County Tyrone has turned itself into a tourist destination. People come from all over the world, as far away as New Zealand, to see the heritage inside this small rural church. And it all began from the church commissioning an architectural survey and making the necessary repairs – made possible by local fundraising and grant applications – to their mid-19th century building to protect the stained glass windows.
Through this process the church came into contact with the National Churches Trust’ Northern Ireland Support Officer who gave them advice on the repair project and which funders could help them.
The church is home to four stunning Clarke Studio windows. Following their restoration, the church now works with local tourism bodies to promote tours around St Macartan’s. They also continue to work with nearby schools to share the local heritage and history. They even ran a stained glass art competition with a local school and held an exhibition of the artwork for the children and their families to attend.
Canon McGahan, Parish Priest at St Macartan’s, shares why this is so important: “It was a tremendous opportunity in relation to the whole Harry Clarke stained glass windows, creating an awareness of the history attached to those windows, the history attached to the local church and the history attached to the local community.
“And when we reflected on the church, when we think that the people in the past gave us a tremendous legacy – they worked so hard to give us a building, a church which is so much part of the community.
“And bringing the present into the future – this was the vision, this was the hope, and this is what we continue to do.
“That is why we involved so many young people from our local primary schools in the art exhibition competition... we want these windows to be in good condition to pass them on, not only to the present generation but the generations to come."
St Macartan’s went on to win the prestigious ‘Church of the Year’ award at National Church Awards in 2022 and has seen a huge increase in visitors following the win and the publicity gained from this achievement.
As well as 116 churches in Northern Ireland being added to the ‘Explore a Church’ section of the National Churches Trust’s website, encouraging people to visit them, six new trails were created. These routes have enabled more people to find out about the wonderful heritage Northern Ireland has to offer and gives them practical advice for planning their visits. An increase in visitors is beneficial to churches as it can provide an opportunity for donations and engagement.
What’s next for Northern Ireland?
“Treasure Ireland has been an outstanding success, helping to support churches as both historical buildings and vital community assets,” says Claire Walker, Chief Executive of the National Churches Trust.
“Volunteers have gained invaluable skills in caring for and maintaining their places of worship, and many churches and chapels have extended their opening hours, allowing local communities and visitors alike to experience Northern Ireland’s rich ecclesiastical heritage.
“The programme has also been transformative for the National Churches Trust. Our vision is to see open churches thriving at the heart of their communities, and the achievements and learning from Treasure Ireland have provided a compelling model for delivering tailored, localised support to places of worship – an approach we are committed to building on in the years ahead.
“Our work in Northern Ireland will continue, and we are excited about the next chapter as we strive to ensure that places of worship across the country remain open, sustainable and in use.”
