placenamesCraigs
Na Creaga
Craigs developed within the farming and linen landscape north-west of Cullybackey, with its parish church recording successive generations of worship and remembrance.
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
- Na Creaga · Irish · main form · validated name
- Craigs · English · main form
Place & story
Farming beside the linen industry
The Cullybackey and District Historical Society describes Craigs as a townland where farming and linen production offered overlapping employment. Potatoes, oats and flax were grown, while the River Maine supported the expanding textile industry nearby. Bassett's 1888 directory recorded a church, schoolhouse, post office and a small group of houses. These features formed a modest service centre within a much larger rural townland, rather than a densely built industrial town. [2]
Lanyon’s church and Drew’s additions
Construction of Craigs Parish Church began in 1840 to Charles Lanyon's design, and Bishop Mant consecrated it on 14 July 1841. Dark stone with dressed-stone trim formed the original nave, small chancel, porch and vestry. Thomas Drew supervised the addition of transepts and a southern aisle in 1870. An organ followed in 1879, and an apsidal sanctuary in 1888. The church consequently embodies several Victorian building campaigns rather than one unchanged design. [3]
The Kirkpatricks and family memorials
George Kirkpatrick was the first rector and served until 1868, when his son Alexander Thomas succeeded him. A stained-glass window commemorates the elder Kirkpatrick. Other furnishings commemorate local families, including a marble reredos for John William Frazer of Hillmount and the sanctuary built in memory of six infant children of Edmund McNeill and his wife. These memorials connect the building's architecture with individual lives and family losses in the surrounding district. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Craigs. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Craigs Townland · Cullybackey and District Historical Society
- Craigs Parish Church · Cullybackey and District Historical Society
- Craigs Parochial Hall, former parochial schools, County Antrim illustration: based on a Craigs Parochial Hall, County Antrim 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.