placenamesBattlehill
An Céide Mór
The churches around Battlehill connect a long-established rural Presbyterian congregation with later evangelical activity and the memory of William Tennent.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- An Céide Mór · Irish · main form · validated name
- Battlehill · English · main form
Place & story
Vinecash and the growth of Presbyterian worship
Vinecash Presbyterian Church stands on Battlehill Road, just north of the settlement. Arnold Sleator's history dates the congregation to 1697, long before a separate Presbyterian congregation developed in Portadown. He identifies Vinecash as the nearest country congregation to the town in the early nineteenth century. Its history places Battlehill's surrounding rural community within the religious networks that helped sustain worship before Portadown acquired its own meeting house. [2] [3]
William Tennent’s family connection
William Tennent worshipped at Vinecash and some members of his family were baptised there before their emigration to Pennsylvania in 1718. He later taught future Presbyterian ministers in a small wooden school known as the Log College. His pupils helped support the College of New Jersey, later Princeton University. A blue plaque unveiled at Vinecash in 2024 commemorated this connection, making a precise association with the church rather than claiming Battlehill as his birthplace. [4]
The Methodist mission of 1969
In spring 1969 Battlehill Methodist minister Shaun Clelland invited the Faith Mission to conduct a series of meetings. The organisation's fiftieth-anniversary account records five weeks of activity led by Eric Stewart and William Park, including children's meetings and a Sunday youth gathering. A prayer union followed, initially led by Bill and Agnes Newell. The retrospective documents a local religious initiative and its subsequent organisation across the surrounding rural district. [5]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Armagh
- Barony
- Oneilland West
- Civil parish
- Kilmore
- Within
- Bottlehill
- Coordinates
- 54.40725, -6.50598 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 136010 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Battlehill. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- The Presbyterians of Portadown,Review3:2,1976 · Arnold Sleator,Craigavon Historical Society
- Vinecash Presbyterian Church,photograph17January2010 · P Flannagan,Geograph
- Reverend William Tennent celebrated with blue plaque,11November2024 · Ulster-Scots Agency
- Clonroot Prayer Union50thanniversary,First1313,Autumn2019,p.30 · The Faith Mission
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2021-12-20. How this page was prepared.