ST. ANDREW'S

In 1868, the parish of St Andrews contained the following places:

"ST. ANDREW'S, (or Ballyhalbert), a parish in the barony of Ards, in the county of Down, province of Ulster, Ireland, 2 miles to the E. of Kircubbin. It is situated between Lough Strangford and the Irish Sea, and includes the several parishes of Ballywalter, Ballyhalbert, and Innishargy. A Benedictine monastery was established here, about the commencement of the 13th century by John de Courcy, as a cell to the abbey of Lonley in Normandy. On the suppression of alien priories it was given to the Archbishop of Armagh, with whom, after several changes of ownership, it finally remained. The land is good and highly cultivated; much bog has been reclaimed. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Down, Connor, and Dromore, value £404, with those of Ballyhalbert, Ballywalter, and Innishargy, which were united with it in the reign of Queen Anne, in the patronage of the archbishop.

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2018