Parish of Creggan Ballymascanlan Union & Rathcor.
Creggan Church, Crossmaglen, Co. Armagh. belongs to the Church of Ireland Diocese of Armagh and is part of the Anglican Communion. While the list of clergy goes back to 1433, all trace of the Pre-reformation Church has disappeared. The present building dates from c.1731 while the tower was added in 1799 during the incumbency of the Hon. and Rev. Percy Jocelyn. Ten households worship in Creggan. Services are held at 9.30am every Sunday.
We
are developing an ecumenical welcome ministry to visitors to
south Armagh through local history and cultural tourism. We aim
to encourage appreciation of diversity and a shared heritage
through a programme of lectures and concerts. Ecumenical services
are held at Creggan in September, Harvest and St. Patrick's Tide.
This year we also welcomed the Presbyterian Irish language
group from Belfast for a special service.
The 1998 Annual Ecumenical Service for
Creggan Local History Society and friends took place on Sunday
6 December 1998. The speaker was Rt. Hon. David Bleakley former
Minister of Community Relations in the old Stormont Parliament.
David talked about C.S. Lewis, the centenary of whose birth
occurred on 29 November 1998. Afterwards he officially opened
Creggan Visitors Centre and Historical Exhibition. A joint Annual Carol Service is held in St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church,
Crossmaglen. A Community Carol Service was held at Creggan Church in 1997 for the first time,
at the request of Forkhill Feis Committee. The choir of Newry Bunscoil sang three pieces in the
Irish language. Local musicians (three accordians and a harp) also took part in this special event.
The collection was £100 for the Bishops' Appeal for world hunger. 127 people
were present of which 122 were our catholic neighbours. The
Parish spans the land border between Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland. This particular location provides a special
opportunity for cross-community ministry in both jurisdictions. THE
FOLLOWING CHURCHES ARE CLOSED FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP. Forkill
(1767), closed 23 September 1990. De-consecrated 12 November
1991. It is now a private house. One Forkill window was presented
to the new Roman Catholic Church in the village. Jonesborough
(1732), closed 10 September 1978. De-consecrated 12 November
1991. It is to be made into self catering flats. One Jonesborough
window has been placed in Creggan. St.
Luke's Killeavy (Meigh) (1831), closed 06 August 1972.
De-consecrated 01 February 1973. Meigh church was transferred to Newry and
Mourne District Council, and will be made into a "decent
ruin". The stained glass windows went to St. Luke's Mullaglass.
