In July, the parishioners of the Catholic Parish of Drumcree visited the Ulster Folk Museum - their first visit in over a decade.
Built in the late eighteenth century, the church was built more than fifty years before the repeal of the Penal Laws, which regulated the rights and status of Catholics in Ireland.
For generations within this church, Mass was held, babies were baptised, young people receive their First Communion, couples married, and the funerals of the dearly departed were held.
The parish of Drumcree moved into a contemporary church in the 1970s. Like the church now in the museum, it is dedicated to St John the Baptist. Although the parish now worships in this new church, they still feel a strong affinity for the church around which their ancestors and the elder members of their communities lived their lives. Some who married in the church before its deconsecration have even in recent years made the trip to Cultra to renew their wedding vows!
In June 2026, the parishioners of Drumcree visited the museum and celebrated Mass in Drumcree Catholic Church. We were delighted to hear the memories and stories from across the generations, as the community reaffirmed their ties to the church. Their insights continue to inform our interpretation and engagement with the Church.
Anita McGibbon, née Mulholland, shared with us memories of attending Mass with her parents.
This was my old church when I was a child growing up. I remember mummy and daddy, God rest them, bringing me here every Sunday and I always wanted to go to the balcony, because it was more fun looking down. So many special memories.
And today I was quite tearful because I was thinking of my parents and my grandparents who came here for years and years, and it's just so beautiful to be able to celebrate Mass here today in this beautiful church.
Brendan McCann's family has deep and personal ties to the church.
My mother was buried out of this Chapel here in 1971. And it brings back sad memories, but very pleasant memories before that.
It means the world to be here, to be here in this Chapel and to celebrate Mass and attend Mass, and it's, it's a wonderful feeling to be back in it, a wonderful feeling to be back and meet a lot of people that I hadn't seen for years.
Mary Taggart, née Mulholland, was one of the last to get married at the church, and visited the museum with one of her bridesmaids.
One of my earliest memories was going to Mass with dad at 7:30 in the morning. The men sat on one side and the women on the other. The women put on mantillas, the men took their caps off.
It's very nostalgic for me being here today because it was at this very altar that I made my wedding vows 52 years ago. In fact, it was such a wet morning that as well as the umbrellas, we had to take a lead across the graveyard because there was no electricity in the church. So we were - we had an organ, but because there was no electricity, because the church at that time was closed, it was closed for Mass. So I was very lucky to get permission to get married in the church, and today actually as I - at the Mass, I actually relived those moments again.
Joe and Margaret Mulholland married in this church 60 years ago, but their relationship to the church stretches much further back, with the Mulholland family purchasing a pew as a contribution towards the church when it was being built in the late eighteenth century!
Margaret Mulholland: We were married here 60 years this year.
Joe Mulholland: Yes, on the 13th of August we were married 60 years and we have a long family association and history with this church. Mulholland family were actually here in 1777 and the seat above the upstairs immediately in front of the altar was actually purchased by Mulholland family as a contribution towards the church when it was built and the family has been associated and buried in the graveyard here ever since. So it's a very, very long association.
It means so much to us to hand over a tradition to our family from here and some abroad to let them see where their heritage is, where their genes come from because we're all part of a long journey and we're only a small stop on a long, long journey.
But I've been very lucky in my lifetime to find Margaret and she was lucky to find me.
As McCusker's Pub opens for business at the Ulster Folk Museum, two of Hugh McCusker's grandchildren joined us for a very special visit.
Reawakening the Ulster Folk Museum means widening access to our collection.
Born 175 years apart, two folk bards from County Down have been brought together through music and storytelling at our 'The Last Folk Bards of Ulster' event. Learn more about how we connected Joshua Burnside (b.1989) and Robert Huddleston (b.1814) through our Library and Archives.
