Methodist Church in Ireland
Photo by Wiggy
Methodists feature quite prominently in my family history in Ireland, both as members of the congregation and as ordained and lay preachers. This picture is of a lovely little Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Clonegal, Co. Carlow which was built in 1854 and was where my great great grandfather, John Perrin Hopkins married his 1st cousin, Sarah Hopkins in the same year - I wonder if the plaster was dry! It's now a private home called "Wesleyan Lodge" but there are still several graves with headstones for members of the Webster family in the tiny little publicly accessible graveyard attached.
I've roamed the internet in search of resources to either help me find them mentioned or find out where to look for them next. Here are a few of the places I found useful;
Methodist Historical Society of Ireland - Their Family History and Genealogy page gives some useful information on the history of the movement in Ireland. Explore the various tabs to find out more about what is available in their library in Belfast and some limited material and finding aids on line. Unfortunately, it does not look as if the on line material has not been updated in some time but there is an email address to make contact if you have a specific question - the archivist is very helpful. One of the most useful pages is an Index of Irish Methodist Churches, Chapels and Preaching Houses as this will tell you when the church was built and what may have happened to it in later years.
The other place to look for Methodist records is the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). They have records on microfilm for a large number of the Methodist churches of the 6 counties of modern Northern Ireland. They also have records for many Methodist churches and circuits further afield in the rest of Ireland, including as far away as Cos., Cork, Kerry and Wexford. Search their "Guide to Church Records" for Methodist and see if there is a circuit or church that corresponds to an area of interest in your own research. Also take the time to read their very good introduction to the Methodist records on pages 36-37 of the Guide as it's important to understand how the organisation of Methodist records have changed over time. One other good point to highlight is the paucity of burial records - most Methodist churches did not have their own graveyards, so check nearby Church of Ireland burials registers or municipal cemeteries.
Image cropped from free resource previously published online via ExLibris Rosetta now available via FamilySearch
Where there was no fixed church, Methodists came together for worship in private homes in what they called "Classes". I was luckily enough to find The Methodist Class Book - Newtownbarry Circuit 1819-1846 online a few years ago. Very specific I know, but this turned out to be a great resource for doing some family reconstruction on a single surname (Hopkins) in this corner of Ireland where Counties Wexford, Wicklow and Carlow meet. Basically, if your name wasn't Hopkins, I'm not sure they let you in!
If you have ancestors who were Methodists elsewhere, try using some combination of the terms "Methodist", "Class Book" and "Circuit" in a search engine to see what might crop up elsewhere.
If you have ancestors who were Methodists elsewhere, try using some combination of the terms "Methodist", "Class Book" and "Circuit" in a search engine to see what might crop up elsewhere.
John Grenham has also published a short video on Methodist Church Records, which usefully highlights the importance of knowing the name of the preacher when hunting for records. To that end, be sure to follow the link to Hill's book on his Methodist Records page.
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2021
