25 June 1997
One of Westport's most unique buildings, the former Methodist Church on the South Mall, has gone up for sale.
The property which dates from the early 1800's has been creating much interest among local and outside investors. Situated on a site of 1/8 acre, the building was last used as a church in the early 1950s. With an internal floor area of 1,000 square feet, it has not been in use for the last forty years.
Built from cut stone, the property is not in a derelict state and is structurally very sound. And because of its distinctive quality and its location in a unique spot, putting a value on the building is almost impossible.
Advertised locally, it also featured in the Irish Times newspaper which has created much interest nationally and overseas in the property.
The sale of the former church, which cost £1,000 to construct,is being handled by Joseph O'Donnell, M.I.P.A.V., Auctioneer and Valuer, Bridge Street, Westport.
The property has tremendous potential for development and an added attraction is its location within the Tax Incentive Area for Seaside Resorts.
One of Westport's oldest and well-known sites, the sale and development of the former church will be watched with keen interest by the Westport community.
A comprehensive article on the history of Westport Methodist Church was published in Cathair na Mart, the journal of the Westport Historical Society, last year.
The article by Donna Allen, who lives on Inishbiggle and in Westport with her husband John, has been reproduced below:
WESTPORT METHODIST CHURCH
The old grey stone Methodist Church, located on the South Mall, between Mill and Bridge Streets, is an important edifice in Westport. Closed for many years due to the decline in local membership, the property was sold in 1962 to a builder, and has since been used for storage. The attractive, Gothic-style, one-storey structure marks the Methodist movement here which dates back at least to the morning of May 25 1762.
The twenty-fourth had been a hot day when John Wesley, leading founder of that Protestant denomination at Oxford University, climbed Croagh Patrick, the sacred mountain of Saint Patrick in the fifth century. Later, he preached in Newport, where he made several visits by horse and chaise from Sligo and Castlebar. The following day in Westport at '10 o'clock I began reading prayers. After the sermon I had a little conversation with Lord Westport - an extremely sensible man'. He regretted that he could not have stayed longer but had promised to preach to the numerous congregation in Castlebar. This one call at Westport was on the ninth of his twenty-one journeys to Ireland.
A formal society was apparently not formed here until 1784. One of the first members was a Mrs Laurence, who attended services for fifty-six years, which were first probably held in private homes. The evangelist Adam Averell came for two visits, and in 1812 Gideon Ouseley had an unfriendly reception by locals while addressing the crowd at the market, and was hit in the face by a hard piece of turf.
According to early records, the Methodist Conference in Ireland gave permission in 1804 for the building of a chapel; however, it seems this was not done, possible due to lack of funds or other complications. The Methodist historian, Charles H. Crookshank, records in 1886-88 that in 1820 a school house was acquired and converted into a chapel. By 1831 the membership numbered seventy-eight. During the cholera epidemic the next year two members, James White and Samuel Larminie, visited patients in hospitals and homes. Special services were held in the chapel in 1834 with the congregation down to fifty-three souls. Ministers were involved in famine relief in 1847 at the height of the famine, which was such a disaster for County Mayo.
A dedicated members of the Wesleyan Methodist Society in the 1850s era was a young man from the Irish Constabulary in nearby Ayle, William Clay. In his diary he mentions the Rev. Mr Eccles, and in July, 1852, the newly-arrived Rev. Gibson Mc Millan. As most of the Clay family had emigrated to the United States during the bad famine times, he planned to go also. But he changed his mind, and decided upon Australia. In September he married the Mc Millan family's governess, Eliza Eglinton, and they shortly afterwards sailed from the Irish shores for Melbourne. Another loss for the Methodist Church on the Mall.
In 1875 the Methodist Conference granted permission for the construction of a new chapel on the site of the old one. The Rev. William Arthur, later prominent in England and India, contributed as did others. His mother had been postmistress in Newport and he is said to have been 'converted' in the first church at the time when the preacher was John Holmes, Superintendent of the Castlebar Circuit. The first field stone was laid on 16 January by William Brown, Esq. The building was completed on 28 July and the Rev. William Gorman gave two well-attended services. The cost was £1,000. It still stands.
Some years after the Second World War a Mr and Mrs Moore were among the last members of the church. Mr. Moore worked for the then Lord Altamont as rent collector, and Mrs. Moore took up his duties after he died. When she left town the church closed, as the other last few members had also gone or passed away.
Some local residents still recall walking past the church during services and listening to the stirring music. Around Christmas they may have heard 'Hark The Herald Angels Sing', or in the spring, 'Christ The Lord Is Ris'n Today'. 'Love Divine, All Loves Excelling' is still another Methodist favourite. Charles Wesley, John's younger brother and co-founder in 1738 along with George Whitefield, of the so-called 'Holy Club', composed over 6,000 hymns, a contribution still appreciated world wide.
