Diocesan News
Dungiven’s history–makers
The parishioners of Dungiven became “history–makers” on Saturday afternoon, as they gathered for the launch of a new history of their parish and to bury a time capsule for future generations to open.
The book, A History of Dungiven Church of Ireland Parish and Church, was written by the Secretary of the Vestry, Alan Keys, and spans more than four centuries of local history, from the Plantation up to the present.
Speaking at the book launch, Mr Keys said he had been surprised by some of the things he had discovered during his research. “You think you’re a small parish and fairly isolated in rural Ireland but, in a lot of things at that time, Dungiven was nearly at the centre of things.
“There were petitions to parliament and to the King,” he said, “it was caught up in other issues that were surrounding the Plantation at the time”. One Dungiven minister, the Revd Charles Vaughan, had “agitated” over the issue of tithes, raising the matter with King Charles I a decade before the monarch’s execution. “Hopefully,” Mr Keys said, “it is a record that will stand the test of time”.
The Rector of Dungiven, the Revd Mark Loney, began Satutrday afternoon’s proceedings with a reading from Psalm 90, which he said, dealt with God’s presence with us through the generations. He told the parishioners – including members of the Sunday School – that the God they worshipped was the same God as their ancestors had worshipped.
Pointing to old photographs displayed around the hall, he said they worshipped the same God as the people in those photos.
Referring to the time capsule, Mr Loney said, “We’re looking at history and we’re making history today, because the children of the Sunday School and others who have contributed to it are making history for somebody else to look at. So, we’re playing our part in God’s big story, looking at the past and preserving some of today for the future.”
After the book launch, parishioners young and old signed the time capsule before carrying it the short distance to the churchyard where a hole had been dug. The capsule was buried there and will hopefully remain covered and unopened for a future generation to unearth in 100 years’ time.
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Mr Paul McFadden
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