Churches

The principal documentary source on the provision of church buildings in the early seventeenth century is the ‘Royal Visitation’ of 1622. From this it is possible to discover which parishes had a Protestant church in use at that time. A study of church provision in the northern dioceses – Armagh, Clogher, Connor, Derry, Down, Dromore and Raphoe – found that there were some 85 places of public worship in use or in the process of being brought into use in 1622. Proportionately speaking, church provision was best in Armagh and worst in Connor.