placenamesFinvoy
An Fhionnbhoith
Finvoy’s Presbyterian church and its changing halls preserve a record of worship and community life south-west of Ballymoney.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- An Fhionnbhoith · Irish · main form · validated name
- Finvoy · English · main form
Place & story
A nineteenth-century parish
In 1837 Samuel Lewis described Finvoy parish between the Bann and the Mainwater, with bogs and ridges dividing its landscape. His account records a Presbyterian meeting-house connected with the Synod of Ulster, alongside the established parish church and a Catholic chapel at Killymorris. These references concern the wider parish and distinguish its separate places of worship. [2]
The Presbyterian church and halls
Una Culkin’s report of a September 2015 service at Finvoy Presbyterian Church records the opening of the present church in 1847, a lecture hall added in 1875 and a new hall in 1963. On 19 September 2015 the moderator, Dr Ian McNie, dedicated an enlarged and refurbished hall with additional rooms and a kitchen. The report describes hopes for wider community use, including by the Young Farmers club, rather than documenting every subsequent use. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Finvoy. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Finvoy:A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland,1837 · Samuel Lewis
- ModeratorvisitsFinvoy,23September2015 · Una Culkin
- Finvoy Presbyterian Church and hall, as photographed in 2008 illustration: based on a Finvoy Presbyterian Church and Hall by Kenneth Allen. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2021-05-26. How this page was prepared.