Our History

While we do not live in the past, we are thankful for our history. Looking to Jesus, we walk into the future surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses
(Hebrews 12:1-2)

Clare Presbyterian Church was established in 1633 and is one of the oldest in Ireland.

Presbyterianism came to our area over four hundred years ago through the Plantation of Ulster.

The Rev T. Lyttle wrote of the history of Clare in 1880 that Clare “literally means a plank and it gives the name, either alone or in composition, to a great many places in Ireland where there was a wooden bridge or footstick over a river.  Over the river Cusher, there is now a stone bridge; and there is no doubt that the plank or wooden crossing, which was here in olden times, gave the name to the little village.”  Rev Lyttle continues, “Scotch settlers were planted and a Church erected, but in the rebellion of 1641 … was burned, along with all else.”

  • Clare Presbyterian Church

The congregation in the 1700s numbered between 300–400 families.  Even into the early years of the 19th century, the records of seatholders show members of the congregation travelling from as far away as Poyntzpass, Marlacoo, Cornascriebe and Ballynewry.

However, the rise of other congregations such as Ahorey, Cremore and Tandragee would, understandably, prove to be much more convenient for families travelling the long distances to Clare on foot.

The present meeting house is the fourth building in Clare’s long history.  The first meeting house was burnt down in the violence of 1641.  The second building lasted somewhere between thirty and forty years and the third stood for a century and a half.  It was a three-isled building – a popular design of its time as it was relatively inexpensive to construct.  It is clear from the church records that in its final years, it was in a very poor state of repair and the estimated cost of the new building would be £750.  The present building was built in 1828, and the interior was extensively renovated in 2013.

Ministers of Clare

Rev Harris

Rev John McBride

Rev Moses Cherry

Rev George Cherry

Rev Samuel Livingstone

Rev Robert Adams

Rev James Gardner

Rev John Bell

Rev David Wilson

Rev Robert James Whan

Dr R J Porter

Rev Marshall McCreery

Rev James Malcolm

Rev Francis J McMorran

Rev Stanley Williamson

Rev Cecil O Weir

The Very Rev Dr S Hutchinson

Rev Colin Harris

Rev Philip McClelland

History of Claire

A hardback history book of Clare numbering over 600 pages was written by Jennifer McClelland in 2018. Entitled The History of Clare: The People, the Place, and the Presbyterians, it is available to purchase.

All monies received will go to Clare Presbyterian Church funds.