"Where in Northern Ireland will you find a church to commemorate St. Patrick?"
The answer is "lots of places"
I want to take you to County Down where there is a small place called Saul and there you will find not one of the Cathedral's named after the Irish Patron Saint but a beautiful small church.
As you approach the church up the long narrow driveway
you will see the sign introducing you to St. Patrick's Memorial Church, which is open to the public daily and has a service each Sunday.
It tells us that St. Patrick built the first Christian church in Ireland on this same site in 432 AD
The church is small and beautifully made from light coloured stone.
Simple & elegant with a very tall round tower.
The adjacent small graveyard is also well looked after and just a few steps away from the arched front doorway to the church.
Even the front of this church is simple and elegant with it's arched doorway and brickwork framing the door and then as you lift your eyes up there is a small stained glass window.
As you look to the front of the church after entering you will not be disappointed because the interior is also elegant and simple and this was a welcoming place to walk into and stand and gaze around, which we did for quite some time.
There are three sections at the front but also there is the wooden stand just off centre which
holds the book of Sunday Service readings and if you look closely you may be able to see that it was open at the readings for the Sunday after Trinity which would fall within the week from 25th September to 1st October.
We were there on 25th September (our oldest son's birthday - it was his choice of where we would visit that day)
The Psalm for the day was Psalm 78 and the reading listed was from Ezekiel 18.
The left section at the front comprised of a simple wooden pulpit.
The right section at the front was the area where the Bible would be read.
In the centre at the front was the altar table and another beautiful simple stained glass window. This time arched and depicting St. Patrick.
Also in the church there is some information about the church.
Looking from the front back towards the entrance we saw the quaint compact organ for the weekly church services.
The stonework inside and outside made this little church just perfect.
As you can see from the side view of the outside the church is not very long and the windows are narrow yet with the sun shining in through these windows there was plenty of light inside.
It is on this side wall that we find the foundation stone of the new church built in 1933 on the old original site - a beautiful commemoration to St. Patrick.
Other Posts related to St. Patrick can be found on our
