If you are not interested in history, you will probably not get much out of what follows. But for those of you who are, I am sharing a bit of history about where Nancy and I currently live. As you read it you might see in it, and between the lines, some of the challenges and opportunities which this church faces. In many ways, obvious and not so obvious, history creates the context for ministry. In the United States that is not always clear and our relatively short existence as a nation may mute it, but it is still true for us. But it is particularly and powerfully true for people with deep roots in history, such as the Irish. As foreigners and short-termers Nancy and I are clearly limited as to what we understand, what we can do and what is appropriate for us to do, but God has given us a chance to minister here, it is a blessing to us, and we want it to be to the people here as well.



County Carlow, one of Ireland’s smallest counties, is bordered by the scenic Blackstairs Mountains to the east, the fertile limestone land of the Barrow Valley and the Killeshin Hills to the west. Carlow town, the most important town in the county, is about 60 miles south of Dublin. It was once a market town, a center where surrounding farmers would come to sell their produce at the central Haymarket or the surrounding Potato Market and Butter Market . During the 1798 Rising (against the British) Carlow was the scene of an infamous massacre of 600 rebels and citizens, an event memorialized in the Liberty Tree sculpture which stands in the center of the town. Also in the center of the town rises Carlow Castle, built between 1207 and 1213, and on the outskirts of the town the significant ancient Browneshill Dolmen,
erected sometime between 4,000 and 3,000 BC. While not an exceptionally beautiful town nor one on the regular tourist circle, it is a center for visiting gardens and villages in the county, has summer festivals around the river which flows through its middle, and is a nice place for Nancy and me to spend June and July.





An Independent Protestant congregation existed in Carlow as early as 1655, and in time it formally joined the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, but ceased to exist around 1750. Sometime between 1813 and 1816 Thomas Cox, from Hampshire in England, came to Carlow and, in the words of one historian, “Soon after coming to Carlow, finding the service in the Episcopal Church not to his taste, and the need of gospel preaching much felt in town, he with some associates, made application to various Societies to have this want remedied. His application to the Presbyterian body was successful.” In the beginning the congregation worshipped in the Methodist church, but decided in 1818 to erect a church of their own. Land was rented for £15 per year, approximately £100 was given, and on September, 12, 1819, the church held its first service.


While the name of the church properly is Carlow Presbyterian Church, over the entry door large concrete words (which I assume date back to 1819) read Scots’ Church, and, while over the past several years it has periodically been covered over by welcoming banners, it is by that name that it is known in the town and labeled in tourist information. This name comes from the Scottish roots of Presbyterianism in Ireland and from the Scottish garrison which was housed in Carlow and controlled the surrounding area during much of the period of British domination. In fact the church for many years was primarily made up of garrison Scots and their families, which meant that when independence was achieved in Ireland and the garrison left, the church declined until it was nearly non-existent, with services only once a month in a rented facility. On the verge of being closed, a minister and church worker were assigned to the church, and it is now a viable congregation with some wonderfully committed people in it and with good prospects for the future. As I noted last time, the people have welcomed us warmly and we feel privileged to be here and share in their ministry, to be, in the words of Paul to the Philippians, Partners in the gospel....