Tamlaghtfinlagan

Both Ballykelly and Limavady were Plantation towns, founded by English and Scots settlers in the 17th century. Ballykelly was owned by the London guild of Fishmongers, who developed it as a ‘model’ village, to show how even this wild part of Ireland could be transformed into a civilised corner of dear old England. Of course, it didn`t always work out quite that way; Walworth bawn at Ballykelly is a rare, surviving example of a fortified farmhouse which would have been typical of that time, constructed with a high wall around it, to protect the inhabitants. The ruins of Ballykelly`s original church can be found near Walworth bawn – it was burned during a rebellion in 1641.

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The Earl Bishop commissioned the elegant, upright church that still proudly stands by the roadside in Ballykelly. Its first rector was Harry Bruce, a cousin once removed and the brother of Frideswide Mussenden, whose name graces Frederick`s temple at Downhill. Harry was very loyal to Frederick through difficult times and was well-rewarded, not just with this church and the rector`s job that went with it, but eventually with the entire Downhill estate, which Frederick left to him because he had fallen out with his own, more immediate family. Tamlaghtfinlagan is still in use to this day.

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Tamlaghtfinlagan Church was built between 1791-1795 at the joint expense of the Earl Bishop and a landlord, John Beresford. When the church was being built the Bishop counselled Beresford against making it too large. 'A small congregation in a large building,' he said, 'would be as uncomfortable as ridiculous. The building should decorate the country if it cannot receive it, and at least be a monument and an example to posterity how well the Squire and the Bishop could draw together’.

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The churchyard contains the grave of Blind Jimmy McCurry, a fiddler, who played the 'Londonderry Air 'in Main Street, Limavady one market day in 1851, when Jane Ross annotated the melody for the first time. Nearby is the grave of Tom Nicholl, a ploughman who discovered the Broighter Gold Hoard in 1896. There is also the grave of the Hamiltons, who were the ancestors, on the maternal side of Nobel Prize winner for Literature, John Steinbeck.

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When the Bishop died in 1803 he left all his Irish possessions to his nephew Rev Harry Bruce, who ran his estates during his absence abroad. Harry was in love with the daughter of the Barnards, who refused to let the young couple marry as Harry had no career prospects. The Bishop intervened, making Harry Rector of Tamlaghtfinlagan and thus giving him a regular income and the prospect of marriage.

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The Fishmongers, who received an estate at Ballykelly during the Plantation of Ulster (1609) constructed many fine buildings in the village such as the Presbyterian Church.