Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
A section of the crowd at the celebrations to mark 200 years of Borrisnafarney Church. Photo: P.J. Wright
BORRISNAFARNEY Church in Offaly held a special service of celebration and thanksgiving to mark 200 years of worship on Sunday June 15th last. Refreshments were served in Moneygall Hall afterwards.
Borrisnafarney Church was erected in 1825 under the patronage of Thomas Ryder Pepper, Esquire. The chancel was added in 1907. The church is located beside the Loughton estate and there is some evidence to suggest that a lodge on the estate was used as a church from 1822.
At one time, a girl’s school was located opposite the church where up to 50 girls were taught domestic science. That school was founded and partly supported by a donation of £20 per year from Mrs Pepper, sister of Lord Bloomfield and widow of Thomas Ryder Pepper.
In 1970, the church was re re-roofed with the help of a donation of £4,000 from Ms Thora Trench, and due to the cold, central heating was installed in 1992. The present organ was purchased with a donation left to the church by the late Ralph Hayes, Larchvale.
The parish was first joined with Bourney Parish. It later moved to join with Dunkerrin and then with Toomevara. Borrisnafarney then became part of the Templeharry group and in 1979, this joined with Cloughjordan to form the Cloughjordan group of Parishes.
In recent years, they’ve welcomed many descendants of those who emigrated and helped them find where their ancestors came from.
Over the years, the church has been a place of worship for many families and they hope it will be for many years to come.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
