Saint John’s Church Donegore

I’m not a church goer, but I would be sorely tempted to attend the Sunday service at Donegore. I had such an amazing day here recently. On a little day of exploration excursions I happened across this beautiful old church on a sunny afternoon. I’ve talked before about how there’s something intriguing about graveyards, so it was to my delight there were some fascinating headstones here. I noticed a heartbreaking stone in memory of a young sailor (David Atcheson 914 – 382 fire man who died age 22 on 26^th March 1920 aboard the HMS Pembroke… I thought his memory should live on)
Continuing on, I climbed the steps of the impressive looking plot of Samuel Ferguson, who I discovered was ‘Keeper of Public Records’ — a very important role back in those days as well as President of the Royal Irish Academy. After my curiosity was satisfied, I descended down the steps and was surprised to see a group of four people standing on the path, one of the group; an elderly man, enquired if I was interested in Ferguson, I admitted I was only having a nosy but the gent seemed disheartened so I decided to pry a little further asking about the mysterious man. Well, I was informed of his history and influence, a short life story if you will. It transpired the group were in the middle of a poetry reading of Ferguson’s work (He was a poet/​author/​translator amongst other things) and I was invited to join their group. The gent briefly cleared his throat and began reciting one of Ferguson’s odes. As he was doing so the two ladies of the group began to sing ‘The Lark in the Air’ (which Ferguson wrote!) Now, maybe you had to be there, but it was one of the purest moments I’ve ever experienced. I will never forget standing there at this mans grave, being read one of his poems and simultaneously being sung one of his songs, which was carried by the gentle breeze through the churchyard over the breathtaking Irish countryside all the way down to Lough Neagh. It was truly beyond words.
After this amazing experience we carried on for a snoop around the grounds, as we did so we were greeted by the ‘watchman’ of the church who enquired if we would like a quick tour around. The whole place was so beautiful it was impossible to say no, so we were treated to our very own private tour of these ancient grounds. We learnt some incredible stories from this kind man; the site has been used as sacred ground since the 1300s! The current building has stood here since 1659 — that truly stands the test of time. The church features a number of stunning stained glass windows, which were utterly beautiful when the sunlight shone in from the Eastern window. The building has been kept exceptionally well, thanks partly to Lottery funding it received in 1996. We noticed an incredible hand painted and beautifully illustrated ‘Donegore Roll of Honour’ from WWI which featured a sadly long list of names. It was a very poignant moment. The whole building and grounds are a fascinating step back in time. It was a wonderful experience; thank heavens I was in the right place at the right time!