National Churches Trust - Northern Ireland

05/09/2025

🚨We’re here to help churches stay open and in use – that’s what we do. Thanks to our Friends, donors, and partner organisations together we have helped keep the doors open at over 80 churches, chapels and meeting houses with our latest round of grants. That is almost £1 million given to local places of worship through grants that are designed to protect important heritage, repair urgent issues and help the church better serve the needs of their community.

Here are some of the brilliant things that your generosity is enabling:

⛪Fixing a rotting tower so that the bells can ring out again at a South Wales church
⛪Helping an 800+ year old church in Barnsley get a permanent roof 15 years after a devastating lead theft
⛪Stopping a chancel roof from collapsing in a 1000+ year old church
⛪Supporting the only Quaker Meeting House in Coventry to make their building more accessible
⛪Helping to fix the leaking roof at a striking Brutalist church in East Renfrewshire
⛪Supporting the repairs to a listed chapel that a new church congregation is taking on in West Yorkshire
⛪Repointing a Gothic church in County Tyrone, so that it can be dried out properly for the first time in many years.

Read more about the churches we've saved for the future: https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/news/how-did-we-keep-another-80-churches-chapels-and-meeting-houses-open-and-use

📸 © Nigel Francis
📸 © Michael Garlick
📸 © Revd Andrew Holliday
📸 © Iain Soden Heritage Project

03/08/2025

Dear Friends,
A final farewell from us, as the National Churches Trust Northern Ireland page is now closed.

We want to sincerely thank you for your likes, comments, participation, and encouragement over the years. Without you, none of this would have been possible. Your enthusiasm for church heritage, your commitment to your places of worship, and your involvement in our training sessions have made this project so much fun. Thank you for being such wonderful custodians of church heritage.

Thank you to all our facilitators, partners, and church heritage enthusiasts for your passion, support, and dedication throughout the project.

A huge thank you to our funders: The National Lottery Heritage Fund Northern Ireland We are also grateful to the Historic Environment Division at the Department for Communities Love Heritage NI for their support, and to The Pilgrim Trust, who generously supported the first three years of the project.

Treasure Ireland is made possible thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund and thanks to National Lottery players.

We warmly invite you to stay connected by following the main National Churches Trust page where the celebration of church heritage continues: https://www.facebook.com/nationalchurchestrust
Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nationalchurchestrust
Or X (formerly Twitter), https://x.com/NatChurchTrust

We hope you've enjoyed being part of Treasure Ireland as much as we’ve enjoyed working on it. ❤

With heartfelt thanks and very best wishes,
The Treasure Ireland Team
National Churches Trust Northern Ireland

27/07/2025

Yesterday marked a special moment for the Treasure Ireland project from the National Churches Trust. A remarkable gathering of academics, artists, and heritage enthusiasts came together to explore and celebrate the rich artistic legacy of Ulster and Belfast churches.

At Stephen's Church, Millfield our speakers Dr. David Caron, Dr. Joseph McBrinn, and Finola Finlay shared insights into Ulster’s stained-glass traditions, deepening understanding and sparking new connections between art and community.

There could have been no more fitting venue than St Stephen’s Church, Millfield home to the largest collection of Daniel Braniff stained glass, whose studio was just a few streets away. St Stephen's has an exceptional team of volunteers who always go above and beyond.

We were honoured by the presence of artist George W. Walsh, who travelled from Dublin with his wife Janet and son Stephen. George’s work in Holy Family Church, Limestone Road, includes his design of the stained-glass windows and the Stations of the Cross. The vibrant mosaics within this remarkable church were created by artist Laura O’Hagan. Hearing George, Laura, and Finola (who is currently writing a book on the Walsh family legacy) speak together in this space was truly unforgettable.

It was always an amazing moment to witness George meet a descendant of the Clokey family, whose renowned stained glass studio his father, George Stephen Walsh, once worked in.

At Sinclair Seamen's Presbyterian Church, artist Ann Smyth revisited her own stained-glass work and offered reflections on the living practice of stained glass as a contemporary craft.

Across one day, we visited three wonderful churches: Holy Family Parish, Sinclair Seamen’s Presbyterian and St John’s Malone. Volunteers warmly welcomed us and proudly shared the stories behind their churches’ artistic treasures. Thank you.

Treasure Ireland is delighted to share that Dr. David Caron is now undertaking research for a forthcoming book on the stained glass of Ulster. A timely and much-needed resource that will shine a light on this often-overlooked aspect of artistic heritage.

Thank You
Treasure Ireland would not have been possible without the support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund with thanks to national Lottery players. Your funding made these training sessions FREE and most importantly accessible to all.

Thanks also to Historic Environment Division at the Department for Communities for funding and support.

We’re Moving!
Thank you so much for liking, following, and interacting with the National Churches Trust’s Northern Ireland page over the last five years. It’s been a privilege to explore, discover, and share your treasured church heritage with you. To bring you even more inspiring content in one place, we’re migrating this page to our main National Churches Trust Facebook account.

Follow us here: https://www.facebook.com/nationalchurchestrust
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nationalchurchestrust/
X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/NatChurchTrust

This page will remain active until the end of July 2025, there's still time to join us on our main channels!

📷NMcNeary

18/07/2025

17/07/2025

The talented Ann Smyth will be joining us at our stained glass day on 26 July to talk about her stunning window in Sinclair Seamen's Presbyterian Church. Very excited!

Thank you so much for all your lovely messages and support after the airing of the new series of Oul Treasures on BBC Northern Ireland on Monday evening.

If you missed it, it is now available on BBC iPlayer 🎬
https://bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002fy5k/oul-treasures-series-2-episode-1
You can catch me about 17mins in chatting to lovely presenter Lolly Spence about all things stained glass.

A huge thank you to Lolly and the entire crew at Below the Radar TV for making it such a joyful, and pain free, experience 🙏🏻 You are all amazing! 🤩

11/07/2025

We’re Moving!
Thank you so much for liking, following, and interacting with the National Churches Trust’s Northern Ireland page over the last 5 years. It’s been a privilege to explore, discover, and share your treasured church heritage with you.

Over the last five years, we’ve discovered amazing stories, architecture, and community spirit; and we’re not stopping! To bring you even more inspiring content in one place, we’re migrating this page to our main National Churches Trust Facebook account. ️

👉 If you love church heritage, please follow us on our main page here: https://www.facebook.com/nationalchurchestrust

For even more inspiration, follow us on:

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/nationalchurchestrust/

X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/NatChurchTrust

This page will remain active until the end of July 2025, so you have plenty of time to join us on our main channels.

Here’s our inspiring church heritage video, created through the Treasure Ireland project by the National Churches Trust! This video was made possible thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund with thanks to National Lottery players.

We’re also grateful for the support of the Historic Environment Division at the Department for Communities.

A huge thank you to all the churches who opened their doors and shared their stories. You’ve helped shine a light on the beauty and history of amazing church heritage.