{"id":509723,"date":"2026-06-20T14:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T14:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/509723\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T14:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T14:34:10","slug":"donegal-church-closes-after-four-centuries-of-worship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/509723\/","title":{"rendered":"Donegal church closes after four centuries of worship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The doors have closed at Taughboyne Parish Church near St Johnston due to falling congregation numbers.<\/p>\n<p>The final closing service was held at the Church of Ireland&#8217;s historic St Baithin\u2019s Church on Sunday 7th June.<\/p>\n<p>The decision to close was made by the parish\u2019s Select Vestry, following consultation with the Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Rt Rev Andrew Forster.<\/p>\n<p>Regular services stopped at the church two years ago and since then the small congregation have been worshipping at other churches within the Taughboyne Group of Parishes.<\/p>\n<p>No decision has yet been made on the future of the building. The communal graveyard at Taughboyne Parish Church will continue to be maintained by the Church of Ireland.<\/p>\n<p>The site has witnessed four centuries of worship, with heritage records detailing that the building was originally erected around 1627 and renovated around 1830.<\/p>\n<p>Bishop Forster has paid tribute to the clergy and church officers who served the parish over many generations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a sad time for those who worshipped at St Baithin\u2019s Church and for those who served there,&#8221; Bishop Forster said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-sans font-semibold text-xl md:text-[30px] leading-9 text-primary w-full\">\n        You may also be interested in\n    <\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.donegaldaily.com\/sport\/donegal-ladies-out-of-all-ireland-championship-despite-battling-comeback-638884\" class=\"block w-2\/5 shrink-0\" aria-label=\"Donegal Ladies out of All-Ireland Championship despite battling comeback\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/donegal-ladies-out-of-all-ireland-championship-despite-battling-comeback.jpg\" class=\"max-w-full w-full h-full object-contain relative z-10\" width=\"150\" height=\"84\"  alt=\"Donegal Ladies out of All-Ireland Championship despite battling comeback\" \/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.donegaldaily.com\/news\/donegal-rally-organisers-make-urgent-appeal-as-fans-park-dangerously-on-stage-638880\" class=\"block w-2\/5 shrink-0\" aria-label=\"Donegal Rally organisers make urgent appeal as fans park dangerously on stage\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/donegal-rally-organisers-make-urgent-appeal-as-fans-park-dangerously-on-stage.jpg\" class=\"max-w-full w-full h-full object-contain relative z-10\" width=\"150\" height=\"84\"  alt=\"Donegal Rally organisers make urgent appeal as fans park dangerously on stage\" \/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Unfortunately, though, the cost of maintaining the church had become prohibitive for its dwindling congregation. The Select Vestry\u2019s decision was a difficult one to make but the right one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI pray that those who worshipped in St Baithin\u2019s and felt deep love for it feel equally at home elsewhere in the grouped churches \u2013 at Craigadooish Chapel of Ease, St Fiach\u2019s in Killea or All Saints\u2019 Newtowncunningham \u2013 and that they will continue to build God\u2019s Kingdom in east Donegal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are thankful for the faithful witness of so many parishioners and clergy down through the centuries in Taughboyne.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are thankful, too, for the leadership shown by the Ordained Local Minister in Taughboyne, Rev Sean McClafferty, during this recent challenging period and for Canon David Crooks\u2019 40 years of service as Rector until his retirement almost two years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>St Baithin\u2019s Church is owned by the Church of Ireland\u2019s Representative Church Body, which holds it in trust for the parish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The doors have closed at Taughboyne Parish Church near St Johnston due to falling congregation numbers. The final&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-509723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}